Long-Suffering Indeed

Advent has come and gone and we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each Sunday we lit a new candle on our advent wreath until Christmas Eve arrived. That night, we lit the final candle. First came the candle of Hope, then Peace, then Joy, then Love, and then the Christ candle. The Christ candle reminds us that He is the life and light of man.

Love, Joy, and Peace we know from Galatians 5 – as the Fruit of the Indwelling Spirit of God. But what about Hope? Ever ponder that one? Christ is our Hope – He is the manifestation of the long-promised Messiah the Hebrews were waiting for. He has come, He has lived, and He has died for our sins. And now He lives at the right hand of our Heavenly Father.

There was a man, who had waited for the birth of Jesus. He had been told by the Spirit of God that he would “not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” He was a righteous and devout man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel – and the Holy Spirit was upon him. His name was Simeon.

Simeon’s patience and long-suffering won out. Led by the Holy Spirit, Simeon was there to meet Joseph and Mary when they brought Jesus to the temple and to offer a sacrifice of two turtle doves according to the custom of Mosaic Law.

On that joyous day, Simeon took Jesus into his arms and lifted up a great psalm of praise:

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon held in his hands, promise fulfilled. The baby was God incarnate, who manifested the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, and who would be “a light for the revelation” to the Gentiles who were going to be included in the promise of salvation with Israel. The child was/is the One who would redeem all people, all nations, tribes, and tongues.

We are currently living between two advents. It was foretold and came to pass that Christ would be born. He died for our sins, and He was resurrected out of the tomb three days later. It has been foretold He is returning at a time that only the Father knows.

For those of us who believe, we say “hurry, Lord come”, but we have work left to do. We need to go and tell those who don’t know Jesus about the significance of His birth, death, and resurrection. This is our opportunity as the Body of Christ to tell of His promises, and the Hope he represents. It’s a season of giving, so give the gift of truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to someone who needs to know Jesus!

A belated Merry Christmas from the Lind Community Church. As we move into a new year of new challenges, remember, God is in control. Place your faith in Jesus, our Savior, Who is God, and Who came to live among men so many years ago. He went on to die for our sins, that we may have eternal life. It’s never too late to relinquish your life to the One who gave it to you in the first place!

May God bless you in the New Year!

Pastor Rod Dennis, Lind Community Church.