The Return in Glory
Advent 2025 – Week Four Reflection - Christ has come. Christ reigns. And Christ will dwell with His people in fullness and glory.
The King has come.
He was born in Bethlehem, laid in a manger, and wrapped in cloth, yet from the first cry of His human voice His rule stood certain before God. Angels announced His birth and gave glory to God. Shepherds came in haste to see what the Lord had made known to them. Herod trembled on his stolen throne. Mary rejoiced in the God who brings down the proud and lifts up the humble.
Christ came to redeem and to reign. He came as the covenant Son who would purchase a people for Himself and rule them in righteousness. His work of salvation and His exercise of dominion belong together and cannot be separated.
This is the thread Advent must keep before the eyes of the church. The Son came to accomplish salvation for His people. His birth fulfilled the promises made to Abraham. His life fulfilled the Law in perfect obedience. His death broke the power of the serpent and bore the curse that lay upon us. His resurrection disarmed death and opened the way to life. His ascension was His public coronation as Lord and Christ.
He now sits at the right hand of the Father. He rules in the midst of His enemies. He is discipling the nations through His Word and Spirit. His gospel is going out to the ends of the earth. His government is increasing. His kingdom is advancing through faithful preaching, worship, obedience, and patient endurance. The world is moving toward harvest under His hand.
He will also come again. He will appear in glory. Every eye will see Him. The last enemy, death, will be destroyed. The dead will be raised. The final judgment will reveal the full extent of His righteousness and mercy, and the new creation will display His glory without shadow.
This is the joy of Advent. The church does not wait for the possibility of a kingdom. We live in the light of the King’s present dominion. The child has come. The Son has been given. The throne of David is occupied by the risen Christ. The increase of His government and of peace will never come to an end.
Let every knee bow before Him in faith.
Let every home rejoice in the certainty of His victory.
Let every believer take courage that Christ reigns.
“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over His kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
from then on and forevermore.”
(Isaiah 9:7, LSB)
Merry Christmas. He was born. He reigns. He is with us. Christ is King!
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