Day 3
The Dawning Light
The season of Advent is both about celebrating the first coming of Jesus and waiting in anticipation for His second coming. In Luke 1, Zechariah refers to Jesus as the “Dayspring from on High” or the “Sunrise” that has come to us from Heaven. This beautiful sunrise is twofold. We have already received Jesus as our light and salvation— He has removed any hindrance between us. At the same time, we hold in tension our longing and anticipation for the day when we will be with God in person and see Him in the full light of who He truly is. Our bodies and souls groan for the full redemption He has promised us. As we wait for Him to return, we are still in the “night”, longing for the Son to rise and comfort our hearts, healing the world from all it’s disorder (Habakkuk 2:14).
“But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in His wings…” Malachi 4:2
“For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:27
“No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.” Isaiah 60:19
"I, Jesus… am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star”. Revelation 22:16
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Can you imagine what that day will be like? When we finally see all that we’ve been believing in by faith? We won’t be looking at Him through a dim window anymore, we’ll be able to know Him as fully as He knows us (1 Corinthians 13:12). Our fading bodies will be transformed into bodies that can never die (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). God’s ability to come through on all His promises to Abraham and his descendants will put His enduring mercy and stunning faithfulness on full display (Ezekiel 37:21-28). All injustice and oppression will be answered (Psalm 12:5-6, Isaiah 42:1-4, 13-16). We will live together in peace with no more division or hatred (Isaiah 2:4). The Father Himself will heal all our pain and comfort all our sorrow (Revelation 21:1-4). I could go on... but can you believe that this is our future?! What will it be like to finally marry the One who has won us with His love? This is the future brightness that we hope for in His return.
“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3
As we wait, I’m grateful that we get to experience days of the high noon sun, where Jesus’ presence feels so close and everything else seems to melt away. But there are many in-between days, where we can’t evade the dull, consistent ache for all that we were really made for. There are also really hard days when we cannot find the Light and we hang on by a thread of faith. We have Him and we wait for Him. This is the tension we hold between the two comings of the Son.
The analogy found in 2 Peter 1:17-19 has helped me immensely on the hard days. Peter refers to Jesus as the ultimate “Prophetic Word” that we should keep refocusing on, paying attention to Him as to a “lamp shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in our hearts”.
There is something about this picture that has anchored me over and over again— the comfort that even if I’m completely paralyzed by my circumstances, if I can just (weakly) lift my eyes to Jesus, the Lamp who is still shining true in the middle of the darkness, I’ll somehow be ok. I try to remember that the chaos is fleeting and that no evil can overcome the Light. In faith, I make eye contact with Jesus and say out loud to Him: “No matter what happens between now and then, I will be with You forever.” This might not resolve my questions and problems in the moment, but it winnows everything down to the one thing I know for sure, offering me a ground beneath my feet.
“And I am sure of this: that the One who began a good work among you will keep it growing until it is completed on the Day of the Messiah Yeshua.” Philippians 1:6
This is our hope! As we wait for the brilliant glory of His return, we humbly hold His gentle light within us. He keeps us in His name, until that day. No matter how dimly He may seem to shine in a given moment, we continue to set Him before us knowing that the lasting day will dawn and the Morning Star will rise. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Reflective Questions:
Ask God what He wants to specifically speak to your heart about all of this. Do you feel an invitation from Him already from what you’ve read? If so, journal about this for a bit, teasing out your thoughts.
I mentioned a lot of verses above! Pick one of them to dive deeper into. The word for meditate correlates to the idea of “chewing on” and “digesting” something. So chew on and digest the verse, thinking about what it will be like when Jesus comes back. Let this hope begin to settle into your soul. Write down any reflections.
If you are experiencing difficulty, darkness, or distraction— practice the idea I shared of “peering through it” to the eyes of Jesus. In your imagination, visualize the darkness around, but call it’s bluff and stare straight through it to your lasting hope on the other side. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you anchor your heart in Jesus and wait on Him to speak or comfort you.
Waiting may seem passive, but it really requires a stubborn tenacity. What does waiting feel like to you? How can setting our hope on Him strengthen us to not settle for a quick fixes or counterfeits as we wrestle with our questions and longings? Invite the Holy Spirit into the places in your heart where the waiting has seemed long and you need His strength. Turn Psalm 27:13-14 into a prayer in your own words:
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
Creative Response:
Read the poem below:
After all the false dawns,
who is this who unerringly paints
the first rays in their true colours?
We have kept vigil with owls
when the occult noises of the night
fell tauntingly silent
and a breeze got up
as if for morning.
This time the trees tremble.
Is it with a kind of reckless joy
at the gentle light
lapping their leaves
like the very first turn of a tide?
Timid creatures creep out of burrows
sensing kindness
and the old crow on the cattle-shed roof
folds his wings and dreams.— “First Light” by Richard Bauckham
Now, try to create a visual reflection or response to what has impacted you from this poem and/or from what you’ve already meditated on in this prompt. What has resonated with you the most? Through painting or drawing, create a visual representation or “memorial” of what He has spoken to you.