Advent Joy: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O come Thou dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here.

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee, O Israel.

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. What a mystery to live in.

Israel knew great anguish – deep sorrow – and knew only one hope to cling to: rescue was on the way. They were not able to rejoice amid sorrow in the way we are, for they did not yet have Emmanuel, God with us, who would disperse the gloomy clouds of night and put death’s dark shadows to flight. They had merely the promise that He would come. So, they waited and pleaded and watched for Him.

We are altogether different and yet, in so many ways, we are just like Israel.

On the one hand, we have the indwelling Spirit, who came to us as our Helper after the long-awaited arrival of Christ Jesus. Our salvation has already been accomplished. We belong to God’s family and our condemnation has been buried along with the power of death itself. We can say with sincerity, “Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to us!”

And still, we ache. Still, we look to the horizon with expectation and plead with the heavens, “O come, Emmanuel.” We are not home yet. The evidence of a world rampant with sin and death is everywhere we look. With every grief and every injustice, we are more desperate for Christ’s return – the final fruit of His finished work.

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

We are carried along, in our pain, by the unspeakably beautiful reality that our Rescuer has come and will come again. Advent joy is not “happiness” as the world understands it; it is rooted in the knowledge that we have not been left to suffer without help, and we will one day be rescued out of our suffering forever.

As Christmas quickly approaches, we look to the joy of Christ’s birth as our first hope and await the joy to come in the fulfillment of our final hope - Emmanuel, God with us.

Consider these questions today:

1. Have you ever experienced joy in the middle of a painful situation or season? What was that like?
2. What is true, biblical joy? Do you see it marking your life today?
3. As you celebrate Christmas, how can you embrace the joy of Christ’s first arrival even as you acknowledge that you live in waiting for Him?