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The beginning of December is unavoidably associated with the coming of the Christmas holiday. It can be a time of stress, but it is also without doubt a time of anticipation. And as I think about the upcoming celebration of the Incarnation, I am also thinking about God’s anticipation of this glorious event.
When the Triune God first created the world and the man and the woman, there was uninhibited relationship between human and Creator, and harmony among all parts of creation. This was torn asunder with the fall. Adam and Eve’s choosing independence from God replaced the intimacy they had enjoyed with their Creator with fear and shame. The havoc their choice made echoed across all creation. God wept, and all heaven grieved.
Genesis 3 tells us that in the midst of this tragedy, as God pronounces the consequences of their choice, He also makes reference to His plan of redemption: a seed of the woman will crush Satan’s head. The promise of the Messiah becomes clearer as Hebrew history evolves, and the book of Isaiah is often known as the Fifth Gospel for a good reason: Isaiah proclaims with incredible clarity the coming Messiah.
And so the Hebrew nation begins a centuries-long wait for the Messiah. I don’t think we often consider that God is waiting as well. From the first, “Adam, where are you?” to His grief over His faithless people expressed by the prophets, we see in the Old Testament a God who hates the fall and its result. He, too, is waiting for the fulness of time to bring forth the Savior of the world.
We also see a God who remains intimately engaged in His creation as He moves history forward toward the Messiah. In fact, He is so committed that He makes “cameo” appearances. Scholars call these Theophanies: visible appearances of God to humankind. And many scholars speculate that those appearances are Christophanies: visible appearances of a preincarnate Christ to humankind. The thread is strong enough that many commentators identify the phrase angel of the LORD in the Old Testament (not in the New!) as a euphemism—at least at times— for the preincarnate Christ.
And so the LORD and two angels appear to Abraham before the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also appears to Hagar when she takes Ishmael and runs away from Abraham’s household. He appears to Abraham again as Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac. He wrestles with Jacob as Jacob returns to Canaan after running away from Esau. And He appears to Moses in the burning bush.
There are multiples instances in the Old Testament where it is at least possible and even quite likely if not certain that a pre-incarnate Christ inserted Himself in human events. I can only interpret this as evidence that Jesus was as eager to come as we were for Him to come. Our anticipation of Christmas can be a reminder that our Lord and Savior was as or more eager to take the step of the incarnation as His people were to have Him come. And now, centuries later, we can at least speculate that as we look beyond our celebration of Christmas to the second coming of Christ, we can consider that He is as eager to bring the church—His bride—to His wedding feast as we are to come.
Come, Lord Jesus…!
