The Thrill of Hope

10 November, 2025

Christmas is coming.

I’m writing this in the middle of November. That means that all the decorating, party planning, and shopping needs to happen in just over one month’s time. And Thanksgiving has to happen, too. Don’t forget about Thanksgiving.

Most adults will read that last paragraph and respond with a sensation that may mimic a bough of holly constricting the chest. Most children will consider a month and a half to be a paper chain that stretches to eternity. Their Buddy the Elf hearts can’t handle the Jacob Marley shackles of time.

Calling little boys and girls “eager” this time of year is an understatement.

Much could be said about commercialization, materialism, and the Christian response to the western conception of Christmas’ impact on our children. But for the sake of today’s argument, I want to cut the thick wedge of pumpkin pie that only represents the wholesome and sweet eagerness of kids anticipating the joy of Christmas morning.

There is beauty in that wonder and anticipation. There is a contagious excitement that permeates parents, grandparents, and patient passersby. There is even a singular focus that, albeit juvenile, makes us all long for a day when the bulk of our concentration could be allocated to the essential question of “what is in that box?!?”

We ought to have that perspective. In a very real sense, we should possess an eagerness for the opportunity to celebrate the incarnation. Why wouldn’t we throw a party to commemorate “when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

There is no Biblical command to hang tinsel, froth up some egg nogg, or dress our children up as angels for a precious rendition of Away in A Manger. But it is clear that we are supposed to rejoice in the Lord (Ps 92:4, Is 61:10, Phil 4:4, 1 Thess 5:16, etc.).

What else is clear from scripture is that we are to be eagerly awaiting Christ’s return.

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Philippians 3:20

For a culture that has been force fed decades of rapture horror films and tribulation suspense novels, this might come across as a bit macabre. We’re supposed to want all of that to happen? The end of the world is a… good thing?

Unequivocally, yes. For the Bible tells me so.

For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God... And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
Romans 8:19-23

…you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:7-8

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:11-13

There are more. There are more that are this specific. There are even more that imply the eagerness Christians ought to have for the coming of Christ. The overarching narrative of the Bible undeniably points God’s people to the thrill of hope for Jesus’ return.

The bride of Christ should have an ecstatic expectancy for her wedding feast. The bride doesn’t hide in a bunker with mimosa rations. Nor does she bide her time swiping dating apps because it is taking soooo long. Eagerness is the posture. It should factor into corporate worship and individual devotion. It must shape and orient hearts, minds, and hands on a practical level.

Quickly, here are examples of each:

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17

Our hearts love what God loves as God loves. That means our greatest affections are directed towards Him. Properly ordered, other affections emanate from that love. To put it another way: You love a crisp fall morning because God created it. You love family gathered around the table because God provided the food, ordained the family structure, and baked enjoying the warmth that comes with all of it into you as His creature.

You don’t, can’t, and shouldn’t love any of it outside of Him. We don’t love that which He doesn’t love, and we don’t love anything outside of His revealed love. Doing so would be loving the world.

We echo Hannah’s song, where she doesn’t dote over Samuel’s chubby cheeks and ten little toes but sings “My heart exults in Yahweh” (1st Samuel 2:1). We hold what God gives us in this life as firmly as He asks us to, but we cling to Him and His coming with all our hearts.

…in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
2 Peter 3:3-4

Our minds are transformed according to what God has said. Doomsday cults and overly ambitious Christians have made a mockery of Christ’s return. Exegeting the newspaper and backmasking the Bible is about as unbiblical as it gets. However, the results are fodder for some great music.

Yet we can’t fall off the other side of the fence, resigning ourselves to this world and the hopeless humdrum of a groaning creation. We can’t say we believe in Christ’s return and not actually believe in Christ’s return. We can’t say we believe in resurrections and then live like the first resurrection is a promise of more resurrections (1 Cor 15:23, Phil 3:11).

We have to whittle the knots of our perception of reality clean off, smoothing and straightening the way suffer, grieve, and celebrate according to the truth that Christ has come and is coming again.

…and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Yes, amen.
Revelation 1:6-7

Our hands have to be about His work. The priests of the old covenant were obedient, not simply spinning their wheels, when they offered sacrifices. Those sacrifices looked forward to Christ, but they were commanded and used by God.

Today, the church is His royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9). We don’t sit around and twiddle sanctified thumbs, occasionally glancing at a news app to see if  trumpet has blasted in an earlier time zone. We work. Redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice, we have zeal for good works (Titus 2:14). Passive faith where nothing gets built isn’t an option.

No one tells their toddler that they can’t build with blocks because it will all get torn down at the end of the day. Why has modern Evangelicalism bought into the mindset that we can’t build powerfully testifying things because one day Jesus will return? Talents buried in the dirt has become the investment strategy de jour.

---

Christ is coming.

I’m writing this in the middle of His inaugurated reign. Christians should hear that and respond with a sensation that may mimic a child running down the stairs on Christmas morning.

Calling the adopted children of the King “eager” in this age of redemptive history ought to be an understatement.