Do you suffer from the Christmas blues? You know the feeling – for a whole month you’ve been driving yourself and your family crazy to ensure that Christmas is the best one ever, and then the day arrives. Your table looks Pinterest-perfect and the food is delicious. Every “amazing” gift has been opened and everyone is stuffed with food and Instagram moments. But as the sun is setting you wonder what to do next. Will you have to wait another 356 days until we get to have the Best Christmas Ever? What is the point?
With this Advent devotions study, I have tried to emphasize the point that our ultimate joy is only found in Jesus. So, just in time for Christmas Eve, let’s open the Advent calendar door to Joy.
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Throughout this study, we have opened gift after gift pointing to our reasons for perfect joy in Christ. We’ve learned we have hope, not worldly wishful thinking hope, but an assurance of spending eternity with Christ. We opened the gift of faith which God has so graciously given us to meet his requirements to be justified before our righteous Judge. Through the gift of expiation, our sin has been removed from us as far as the East is from the West because Jesus took the punishment for our sin upon himself on the cross with the gift of propitiation. Now that we’ve been reconciled with God we can have a peace that surpasses all understanding. We get to remind each other of these gifts and learn more about the Giver in our local church, where we also practice loving each other as Christ loves us. The gift of the power of the Holy Spirit transforms us daily to put off what doesn’t belong in Christ’s kingdom.
By the gift of imputation, our sinful nature was debited to Christ and his perfect righteousness was credited to us on the cross, which must result in contentment because we have received endless riches that nothing in this world can bring us. Because we know Christ we get to open the gift of wisdom which reminds us that the victory over sin and death has been achieved. It is finished! We are reminded of all these gifts regularly when we rest with God on the Sabbath. No striving is needed, just sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his word.
However, because Jesus has given us all these gifts we want to overcome the sin and death that does not belong in his Kingdom with the gift of sanctification, in partnership with his Spirit. Our final perfection will be reached through the gift of glorification when Christ returns and we will be vindicated as his own. Therefore we are free to serve Christ with our priestly duties of sacrifices of praise and by fulfilling our commission to spread his gospel to everyone we meet. As Advent draws to a close we anticipate the Second Coming of Christ and remind ourselves that we will have eternal life with Christ because he assured us nothing can pluck us from his hands.
With all these gifts neatly stacked around us, we cannot help but have our hearts overflowing with joy. Unlike every single present waiting to be opened under the Christmas tree, these gifts will never fade.
Tomorrow, when all the experiences and good feelings have dissolved into over-full tummies and exhaustion, these gifts will remain beautiful because of the One who gave them to us. “The incarnate Christ is real, he is alive, and he is doing work inside of our hearts that will make us thrive when we’re weary, hope when we’re grieving, and even rejoice when we’re suffering.” – Jared Wilson
Jesus is the source of eternal joy. No matter what Christmas brings, whether happiness or disappointment, Christ makes it possible for you and me to face another day. Jared Wilson concludes our Christmas Eve devotion with a reminder that “He is good forever and always. He is more than worth our discovery of enduring happiness in him alone.”
With just one more gift to open, do you have a favourite Advent gift so far?
Let me know by clicking the link below or leaving a comment below.
My favourite Christmas hymn is Joy to the World, and this is one of my favourite arrangements.
