December has arrived. It only seems like yesterday we were looking forward to the start of a school year and a baseball post-season. Now the school year nears half-over and a World Championship resides in an arched town just across the river from us. We looked forward to these events, but they are now past. Now our attention turns to the next coming event. The Nativity.

It is a good thing for us to look forward to. As Christians, we don’t look forward to it because of the commercial aspect. The gifts and the garland, bows and bashes, can and do obscure the true meaning of the season. We Christians look forward to Christmas because of what it means. God, in the person of the baby Jesus, comes to dwell with His people. That’s you and me! Christmas is when God physically comes to be with us in the midst of our sin. He comes to dwell with us, abide with us, and save us. This is something we look FORWARD to.

But wait Pastor! Christmas was so many centuries ago. How is it that we can look forward to it? That is easy! We look forward to it because we can look back at the goodness of God. As we reflect on God’s goodness in sending baby Jesus, we find comfort in the fact that He continues to care for us in the same way today. He still comes to us in the flesh. We still have the blessed opportunity to receive Him as He comes to us in His body and blood.

How our Lord has acted toward us in the past is a direct reflection of how He will react to us in the future. The same Lord who came majestically in the flesh of a baby will just as majestically return in glory. The first time He came with you and me in mind. When He returns, we are still on His mind. The first time He came to deliver us from our sin. The next time He will deliver us into the eternity that He has prepared for us.

What God has done, He will do again. Therefore, in looking BACK to Christmas, we are looking FORWARD. And I look FORWARD to sharing in this with you again this year. I will see you in the Lord’s House and at His Table.