Monday, December 1, 2025

            December is here.  We usually find ourselves looking at the last month of the year and wondering where the previous eleven months have gone so quickly.  But we also find ourselves looking at the early days of the Advent season.  Advent is when we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ by remembering the first Christmas and the incarnation of Jesus—God becoming flesh and becoming like us.  As we begin these days of Advent, Hebrews 13:8 is a good word to meditate upon and reflect on.  This verse says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  John’s gospel tells us that Jesus has always existed—His preexistence before Bethlehem is indisputable.  And now Hebrews tells us that Jesus is immutable—unchanging and unchangeable.  A few lessons stand out in Hebrews 13:8 that can help us as we journey through Advent to Christmas Day.
            First, we learn that Jesus is the Christ.  Our word “Christ” means the anointed one or chosen one.  It is another way of saying “messiah.”  Jesus is the Messiah.  There is no other messiah or Savior.  Jesus Christ is not our Lord’s first and last name like you or I possess. Jesus is our Lord’s name and “Christ” is His title.  The Son has been anointed and chosen by the Father to be the Savior of all who respond to Him in faith and surrender.  Remember the familiar words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Jesus alone is powerful and able to save and to sustain us.
            Second, we learn that Jesus is always the “same.”  In theology, we call this His immutable nature—not subject to change, whims or unpredictability.  Jesus has no need to change; He is God.  He is the crucified, risen and coming again Lord of all creation. Because Jesus never changes, Paul tells us that He holds all things together.  Consider Colossians 1:16, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  The rising and setting of the sun are controlled by Christ.  Our planet rotates at the proper distance from the sun because of Christ.  The ocean waters respond to the gravity of the moon that He made.  What a joy it is to know that the Lord is always the same.  We never have to worry about Jesus being moody, pernicious, prickly or reckless.
            Third, we learn that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Time is in His hands.  He is at work to unfold His plans for the future and to complete His plans for the present.  He is able to save us from the power and effects of sin—past, present and future. Because the Lord has proven trustworthy in the past, we can trust Him with today.  And because we can trust Him with today, we can trust Him with tomorrow.  As we enter the last month of the year, we can look back and see the evidence of His goodness and providence through the year.  Since we trust Jesus with our lives here and now, we can trust Him to get us to heaven and eternity when the time comes.
            Advent is all about Jesus.  Our decorations, music and celebrations are all because we love our forever Savior and Lord—Jesus Christ.  As you begin this Advent season, take time to reflect upon the majesty of Christ.  Our celebration of Jesus’ birth is to honor Him and to tell the old, old story of His coming, His birth, His death and His resurrection.  Advent reminds us that the story is not over.  There is more to come.  Indeed, our Lord will come again and gather us to be with Him forever. Advent lifts and raises our eyes to the future when He comes again.  Our hope for an everlasting future with Christ is grounded in His first coming that we celebrate this time of year.  May we enter Advent with rejoicing and thanksgiving as we herald the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Have a great Monday.  Remember you can worship any time at YouTube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.