The Promise Still Stands

Revelation 7:9-17

Each December, a thousand little voices pull at our attention. The calendar fills. The inbox swells. The lights sparkle, but our hearts can grow dim. It is easy to forget where history is headed, and even easier to forget where you are headed if you belong to Christ. Advent is not only about looking back to Bethlehem. It is about looking forward to Zion.

John the Apostle was exiled when he received his vision. Alone, aged, and afflicted, yet God opened heaven to him. And what did he see? Not a small remnant clinging to faith. Not a discouraged band of weary pilgrims. He saw a vast multitude that no one could number, clothed in white robes, standing before the throne. He saw the final fulfilment of God’s promise to dwell with His people forever.

The image is rich with comfort. They are before the Lamb, not trembling but singing. Their robes are washed, not in their own works, but in the blood of Jesus. The same blood that stained the cross has now purified the saints. As John Chrysostom preached, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place. Do you see how much greater is the New than the Old? ... That blood is the salvation of our souls.”

Notice also what is absent in this scene: hunger, thirst, scorching heat, tears. All the wounds of this life are finally healed. The Lamb, who was once the slain sacrifice, is now the Shepherd. “He shall lead them to springs of living water.” This is what Advent points to: not only the first coming in humility, but the final coming in glory.

As we wait, we do not wait in vain. Every hardship now is preparing you for that Day. Every tear, gathered. Every groan, recorded. Every act of faith, however unseen, will be rewarded. Calvin wrote, "We shall not find in the whole of Scripture a promise which is not connected with Christ."

So do not lose heart. You are part of a people whom God is gathering from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Even when the Church feels small, she is not. Even when your heart feels cold, the flame still burns. Advent reminds us that we live in between two arrivals, but both are certain.

Lift your eyes. Christ has come, and Christ is coming again.