Thrill of Hope Part 3
O holy night the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
(O Holy Night by Adolphe Charles Adam, John Sullivan Dwight & Placide Cappeau)
If we place ourselves in the time of Jesus’s birth we find many tensions. Tension between the powers that be (Roman Empire) and God’s people (the Hebrew people). Tension between the wealthy and the poor. Tension between the clean (holy, healthy, etc.) and the unclean (sinful, sick, etc.). Tension between the good God created in the beginning (Genesis 1) and the dark forces that covered the earth. The world was “in sin and error pining…”
pine | pīn |
verb [no object]
suffer a mental and physical decline, especially because of a broken heart
The world was broken and in need of a savior. So Jesus stepped out of the heavenly realm into our broken world as a human, starting from the very beginning of human life in the womb of a woman, then born in a manger, raised as a Jew, killed as a criminal and raised as a King.
If you look around you may say that the world is still broken, still “in sin and error pining.” I would agree. The wonderful news however, is that we live in the time after Jesus’s conception, birth, death and resurrection.
Instead of being like the Hebrew people of the Old Testament waiting for our Messiah to bring light into the darkness, we can stand on the truth that He already came down and saved us, establishing his light in us. The world however will still seem broken.
We live in the now and not yet of God’s kingdom. It has come and lives in us. It will come in fullness in God’s timing to cover all things. As C.S. Lewis beautifully wrote in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
Our Savior has already come and declared God’s kingdom on earth. We now live with the hope of the world inside us. So how can we bring about this hope? How can we be a thrill of hope to others?
Putting it very simply, we pray and we shine.
WE PRAY.
“Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:9-10 HCSB
Pray that the Father’s will would be done not only in our lives but in the world around us. This prayer aligns your heart and mind with His. Instead of praying what you think is “good,” pray that in all things it would be God’s will.
WE SHINE.
“So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that your commendable works will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16 TPT
We have the hope of the world living inside of us. By the power of the Holy Spirit we can bring hope into this broken world. Our light shining is an invitation to others into the kingdom of God.
Although we cannot always see it, the kingdom of God lives on in us. Where we go shadows disappear, “yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”