Living in Anticipation

December has arrived, and with it the countdown to Christmas has begun. Every year, I write the number of days until Christmas on the whiteboard in my classroom, and over the years, my students’ favorite part of the day has been when I erase the number at the end of the day and they get to tell me how many days will be left when they arrive at school the next morning.

Did you know that the anticipation of Christmas isn’t just for first-graders? If we take a step back and look at the story of the Bible from start to finish, we can see several common themes, among which is the theme of anticipation.

Way back in the first three chapters of Genesis, we read the creation account, followed by the introduction of the very first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and the description of the very first sin, the sin that separated mankind from its Creator and opened the door to an eternity in hell.

When God confronted Adam and Eve with their sin and told them of its consequences, He mercifully gave them hope for the future: He promised a Savior who would defeat the tempter and make a way for man to be right with God.

With that promise began long ages of anticipation, ages of hoping and longing for the time when we will see Satan defeated and sin and its consequences abolished, once and for all. The book of Romans describes it this way:

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have been the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (8:22-23)

Ever since that first sin, all creation has been groaning beneath the weight of the consequences of sin. Pain, sorrow, the constant struggle of our daily work, sickness, death, all these things are consequences of sin.

Because of sin, life is hard, and even Christians find ourselves groaning out our longing for the coming day when sin, sorrow, pain, and death will be no more. The last three chapters of the book of Revelation tell us in great detail of the beauty, purity, glory and joy of the heavenly New Jerusalem, in which Christians will dwell with God for all eternity to come. As encouraging and uplifting as it is to read about our heavenly home, it serves to increase our longing, for you and I live in the silent turning of the page between Jude and Revelation.

Still, the promises of God regarding our eternity to come in the perfect place He has prepared for us can turn our longing into anticipation. As 2 Corinthians says,

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (4:16-18)

This side of eternity, anticipation is a part of every believer’s life —or, at least, it ought to be. If you’re at all like me, you probably find it all too easy to get your eyes fixed on the temporal, becoming more and more overwhelmed by the hardships and heartaches of this world.

Yet, we don’t have to be overwhelmed, we don’t have to wallow in self-pity or despair —we just have to look up and fix our eyes on Jesus. Remember, this present life with all its trials and tribulations is after all “but for a moment” when seen from the perspective of our future eternity with the Lord.

So as this Christmas season begins, don’t leave anticipation for the children whose eyes are fixed on the presents under the tree. Let yourself ponder the promise of eternity with your Savior and celebrate His first coming with all the joy and delight of a heart reveling in the anticipation of His second along with all the glories that await when we finally step into those last three chapters of Revelation.

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

2 Peter 3:13