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Great to have you guys back. Merry Christmas Eve. This week we're looking at five Christmas carols and the rich theology and biblical truths they're in. Yesterday we looked at What Child Is This, and today we're looking at Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. Now, for the record, my favorite version of this song is from Shane and Shane, and it's from their Christmas album, A Worship Initiative Christmas, Volume 2 from 2018. Go check that out. This carol was written in England in 1744 by Charles Wesley. Now, during this time, there was a steep moral decline in England, which led to a great deal of poverty, which ultimately led to an orphan crisis. And during this time, Wesley was studying the book of Haggai, and he came across this message in Haggai 2.7, and I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. So this clear message of scripture seemed to move the heart of Wesley, and he and others were trying to address thee on the ground suffering in England at this time. So come thou long expected Jesus brings together an old testament longing with a New Testament fulfillment. Let's go to the lyrics here, first verse. 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. So the first line is the namesake of the song, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. Long expected Jesus. So speaking in a Jewish context, how long was humanity waiting for a Messiah? Well, we can answer that in a few different ways. So one way is they were waiting for about four hundred years, because Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet and he ministered about four hundred years before Christ was born. Malachi points to this future reality in his writings. We see in Malachi 3:1, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lorm, the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Another way to answer this is you could also say that it was around fifteen hundred years that they were waiting, because that's how long it took to get from Moses to Jesus. And you could even say that it was around 2,000 years that they were waiting for a Messiah, because the earliest recorded messianic promise was made to Abram, who lived about 2,000 years before Christ. We see this in Genesis 12, verse 3. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So this is the seed of salvation. And then we see the Apostle Paul in his writings to the church in Galatia identify this seed as Christ in Galatians 3 16. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, and to the in two offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring, who is the Christ. So there is the Old Testament longing. Now let's see the New Testament fulfillment. Let's go to the second stanza of the song here. Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. But thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone, by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne, born to reign in us forever. So Galatians two, beginning in verse 17. But if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. That is our reality when we become Christians, guys. We put our faith in Christ, and He will then dwell in us. And that is when our sanctification process begins. Sanctification is the progressive work of God in our lives. And where do we end up when God takes us on that journey? To his glorious throne.

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