A wedding, a funeral, a birth.
My son was married in March. My mom died in May. My grandson was born in June.
Three of the most significant events in our lives, a wedding, a funeral, and a birth, involving persons near and dear, and all three took place inside 121 days. I had one kind of life on March 1 and by July 1 it was all different.
But these events are not only literal. They are illustrative, as well.
A funeral. Mankind died when Adam fell and was doomed to eternal spiritual death apart from the redemptive actions of a merciful God. And then Christ comes to a believer, and there is another death - the old man dies. There is a new creation and the desires change. The believer is not the person he used to be.
A birth. Christ has come, “born to give us second birth” as the carol goes. My second birth depends on Him and His coming to me. He comes by His birth as a baby boy in Bethlehem, and by His coming as Savior by His Spirit.
A wedding. Some day, a day which the Father alone knows the date for, Christ will come and gather His elect from every nation, His Bride. There will be a great wedding feast and an endless loving and knowing between Jesus and His Bride will commence. The proper consummation of His redemptive work will be revealed. The longing will cease.
For now, though, the longing continues. And our longing is not too different from the longing that Israel felt as she awaited Messiah. We feel our need, our lack, and know that it will not be met from within, but from without. Someone outside of us must intervene.
And He did.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
