Have you ever awaited something with great anticipation and excitement, longing for the day it would finally arrive? You’ve prepared and prayed and planned, and now you wait with eager expectation. Perhaps it was the birth of a child, the homecoming of a loved one from a faraway place, the completion of a degree, or a much-desired vacation. Your heart longed to see the arrival of the event for which you’ve been waiting.
When Charles Wesley wrote the hymn, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” in the late 18thCentury, his heart was also filled with longing, but one that ran deeper than any human event. The words he penned reflect a desire to see Jesus set the world right, reflecting both what He already accomplished and looking forward to what He was yet to do.
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Two and a half centuries later, we enter this Advent season with the same longing. This is s a time of celebrating the first coming of Jesus while simultaneously anticipating His second, and everything that means for us.
His first coming was the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah, “born a child and yet a King.” His coming fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies that God’s people had been anticipating for generations. Jesus came to set people free from sin and rule in their hearts. Celebrating His arrival is celebrating everything He accomplished in coming to earth to save His people.
The Advent season also points to Jesus’ second coming. When Jesus returns and calls believers to Himself, we will truly and eternally be set free from “our fears and sins” and He will fulfill the “joy of every longing heart.” How we anticipate fully experiencing His “gracious kingdom” and “glorious throne”!
Written by Randi Walle, editor & communications manager of the Charis Fellowship, as part of an advent series titled, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.”