We have come to the third Lord’s Day of Advent, and so we continue to prepare our hearts.
This is not just a religious festival that we Christians observe. In all that we do in the presence of non-believers, we are making cosmic claims, and we believe them to be true. Put another way, the celebration of Christmas presents a challenge to all the historians and thinkers who want to reckon without Christ, who want to interpret what is going on around them without reference to Him.
But the Bible teaches us the meaning of history. What is it all about? In what context should we seek to understand the Crusades, the Age of Exploration, the Reformation, the Colonial Period, the Industrial Revolution, the War Between the States, the first moon landing? What is the basic context of all this? What are we doing here?
The history of the world cannot be understood apart from the history of the kingdom of God. History must be organized with reference to the Church, the center of the kingdom of God. And what is the kingdom of God like? We have it on reliable authority that the kingdom of God is like a certain king who arranged a wedding for his son (Matt. 22:2). There it is. The history of the world, and of our nation, is like wedding preparations.
Sometimes chaotic, sometimes disorganized, but with joy driving it all, the wedding day approaches.
At first we know nothing of it—but then the invitations go out. The Lord Jesus is born of a Virgin, and arrives among us. He proclaims the truth, and a handful start to get ready. He pays the dowry in His own blood, and more begin preparing themselves. The Spirit is poured, and we realize that the banquet is intended to include all men. The preparations will be far more extensive than we first thought, and so we get to it.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the preparations that we forget the wedding, and we lose our place. In such times, it is good to get out the invitation and look at it again. That is what we are doing every Christmas. Unto us a Son is given.