Awaiting the Fullness of Victory
Scripture
“For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness, I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. (Isaiah 61:8–11)
Reflection
Our God is the Lord of history. He is neither remote nor disinterested. Rather, he cares about his people and shows his love in the twists and turns of our lives and stories, both as individuals and as nations. Our choices matter to the Lord; our sin is an abomination in his eyes, and his passion is for our repentance and return to him. Throughout Scripture, we hear the voice of YHWH inviting his people to repent and return to him. “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart…” (Joel 2:12).
The Lord punished Israel’s faithlessness with 70 years of exile in Babylon, but that punishment was not for punishment’s sake; it was meant to elicit repentance and new life. In Isaiah 61, we hear the Lord speaking to the faithful remnant of his chastened people, newly returned from exile to their land. To them, he spoke words of comfort and hope: “I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.” In his Anointed One, the Messiah, the Lord promised that his people would be blessed, and that blessedness would testify to all people of God’s faithfulness and his power to transform even the most defeated and despised of people into a nation radiating new life.
This promise is fulfilled in Jesus, and God’s transforming love has embraced the world through him. We could never save ourselves; we have no righteousness but his! In him, we have the gift of the Spirit, and that Spirit makes life eternal emerge from the depths of our being, the life that only God can give. And so we are radically transformed; in Paul’s words, we become a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
What began in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection will be completed when he comes again, when he will usher in the new creation in its fullness and wipe the tears from every eye. The God who has made these wonderful promises will bring all this to pass. “The one who calls you is faithful!” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Prayer
Father, even now, as nations rise against nations and wars and rumors of war abound, you are working all things for the good of your beloved people, whom you have called according to your purposes. (Romans 8:28) When we walk the dark valleys, you walk with us, guiding us like a shepherd, and loving us like our dear friend. As we wait for the fullness of your victory, give us the confidence to know that the victory of goodness is assured in you, and we have nothing to fear. We ask this in Jesus’ name and through the power of the Spirit.
Activity
Reflect on your own story and on the world today. How do you see the hand of God present? Where has God been active in guiding your life; have there been times when you felt blessed by God’s loving care or chastised for your sin? Where do current events seem to be leading the world? Do you see God’s grace and love somehow shining in the darkness? Write about these questions and see where your thoughts lead you.
Watching and Waiting For the Lion of Judah: Advent Day by Day
Rev. Richard Hasselbach