Photo by Huzeyfe Turan on Unsplash
This was written for Christmas Day 2020 but the words are still true. It is another hymn written by one of the Wesley brothers–Charles.
Think of the words of this beautiful hymn. Jesus was born to set His people free–from our fear and sin. Then, it talks about how He is born to deliver His people, to bring in a new Kingdom where He alone would rule in our hearts. It would only be through His merit that we would be able to stand before Him at His throne. What wonderful truths to think about when so many around us want to think about Santa and jingle bells.
Christ came to set up His Kingdom. It just didn’t look the way everyone expected it would look.
Jesus didn’t simply come to be a sweet sentimental baby at Christmas. He came to set up an amazing Kingdom! He describes much of it in Matthew 5-7. It was about that time that many people who followed Him drifted away. They loved His miracles of course, but really didn’t want to have him tell them how to live their lives.
Can you identify with their thinking? I can. I want to live my life the way I want to live it, with GOD answering my prayers to make me more comfortable. But that isn’t what He talks about when He talks about His Kingdom. It is one where we take up our cross and follow Him; Where we love others in the same way we love ourselves; Where we sacrifice for those in need; We care for the poor, sick, and needy; We speak up when we see injustice. Truthfully, do we really want to do that?
In case we weren’t sure what that would look like, He lived it out when He was here on earth in ways that were often surprising.
In the end, He literally took up the cross when He had the power to call down angels to prevent that horrible death.
Why did He do it? Because that was the whole reason He came. He did it to redeem those who would receive His free gift of salvation.
He wanted His people to be free from sin and fear and the power they have over us. He took on Himself all the sin of His people past, present, and future. For us in this generation, it was all future.
Enjoy this song as you listen to the music below. Have a wonderful Christmas!
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
–Charles Wesley
It is this sigh of longing that we express when we sing the words of Charles Wesley’s beautiful Advent hymn, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.” For though we know that Christ goes with us and before us every day, we long for the day when we are with Him in all of the fullness and glory He will bring. We long for the day when we are with Him in a New Heaven and New Earth, when all things are made new. And just as a four-year-old crawls into his father’s arms after an extended absence, so too we long for the day when we will be at rest in Christ, enfolded in the embrace of our Savior.
thank you anekcahapa for your beautiful comment. i love it. i’m sorry i didn’t respond sooner, but it was stuck in my spam folder. i’m sorry my daughter isn’t handy to correct my anglicized spelling of your name. She speaks Russian and lived in Ukraine for about 8 years. But she doesn’t live near me.