Day 3: The Light Of The World Has Come ~ Advent Readings 2021 by Eve  S

 

 Week 1: Hope (or promise) ~ Light 1 purple candle

  3rd Day of Advent - Nov. 30^th, 2021
3^rd Night of Chanukkah

Advent Hymn:   Once in Royal David's City

A poem written by Cecil Frances Alexander and published in 1848 in her Hymns for Little Children, was set to music by organist John Gauntlett. The same hymnal includes her poem All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Verse 1: 
Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that Mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

Verse 4:
And our eyes at last shall see him
Through his own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heaven above:
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.

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“¹Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ He will delight in obeying the Lord.
    He will not judge by appearance
    nor make a decision based on hearsay.”  ~ Isaiah 11:1-3

Lineage of Hope

 

Family matters to God, therefore so many pages of the Bible list detailed genealogies. Two such genealogies link Jesus Christ with the line of David. Few of us can name people more than 3 generations before us, so why do we need to know from where Jesus came?

A Biblical genealogy displays God’s faithfulness to His promises.
God promised David to establish his throne forever as recorded in 2 Samuel 7:16 and Psalm 89:3-4. David, a man after God’s own heart, though he sinned, humbly confessed his transgression and received God’s forgiveness. The hope of eternal relationship with God was realized 28 generations later through his descendant, Jesus Christ as listed in Matthew 1:17.

From king David’s Jerusalem throne, to God’s forever throne, the King of kings reigns over every nation forever.

“ Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
                                                                                                       ~ Isaiah 9:7

Through faith in God’s gift, Jesus, we too, can be forgiven and grafted into God’s family line for all eternity.

Prayer:
Lord, I am in awe of Your eternal plan of forgiveness freely offered through Your only, sinless Son. I have never seen You, nor Jesus, yet I can live in hope because of the recorded promises in Your Word.
Transform me through the ongoing living hope of relationship with You both now and for all of eternity when I will behold Your face.