O Holy Night!

We read in Romans 8:19-22, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now."

The Bible is clear that when Adam fell, not only did we fall with him, but so did all of creation.  That is why the world does not work perfectly and why disease and natural disasters can rightly be said to be a result of sin, even when there is evidently no direct one-to-one correspondence.

Christ Jesus came to save us from our sin and to free us from its effects.  On one hand, he did this by paying the penalty we owed for our sin and by making us righteous before God.  But it is also true that he came to free creation itself from its bondage to sin.  We often think of the former but fail to recognize the latter, but if we do recognize both, it brings a new depth of meaning to the words,

O holy night!  the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope -- a weary world rejoices;
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

That new and glorious morn broke when Christ Jesus was born.  The sun of that new and glorious morn continued to rise even as the crucified Son of God rose from the dead.  And now, along with creation itself, we long for the consummation of this day, when when faith becomes sight and sin and its effects are no more!

Previous posts in this series:

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (part 1)

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (part 2)
O Little Town of Bethlehem