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HE wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. (Isaiah 35:1-2)
The Gospel, and, in fact, the entire Bible, is like a beautiful rosebud unfolding before the eyes of the beholder. Petal by petal reveals more of the inherent beauty and fragrance of the rose (and of the Scriptures). Christ is featured from the beginning verse of Genesis to the final verse of Revelations. He is typified by the innocent animal whose life God took to provide skins to cover the nakedness (sin) of our first parents; the Ark also is a type of Christ into which God called Noah, his family, and the elect animals; Isaac foreshadowed, in both his miraculous birth and his presumed sacrifice, the only begotten Son of God who was sacrificed from the foundation of the worlds; and, now, John the Baptist, as the herald of His coming, pictures the same eternity of God’s purpose in his own miraculous birth – a mild example of that greater miracle of the virgin conceiving and bearing a child.
The first great Advent morning was the beginning of days at Creation. 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1:1-2) There had existed a night of eternity on this earthen sphere until that first night in which The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. This, insofar as mortal man can comprehend, was the BEGINNING – at least the beginning of all that we can see, hear, and feel. Genesis 1 & 2 describe the first night upon the earth. But then what did God do? 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen 1:3-5)
We can see from this text that God began His Creation in darkness – it began with the first night. Then God, by the power of His Word, spoke Light into being upon the earth. First, there was darkness, then light! What was the source of this Light? It was not the sun, moon, or stars, for they were not created until the fourth day. God Himself was the Light. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the Master Artist who set the world to life and Light. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
Observe that the ‘evening’ and the ‘morning’ were the first day. In biblical times, and still in the computations of the Jewish religion, day begins in darkness and ends in light. So is every work of God. Can you imagine the ambient Light emanating from our Lord on that first day? There could have been NOTHING hidden from that Light. Every day of Creation began in darkness, and ended with Light. Our lives are the same.
So, our Lord is the Source and Generator of Light – the ‘Dayspring from on High.’ The source of energy of the Sun is tremendous and beyond our understanding, but it all descends from the Maker of Light and Life Itself. 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19) The Church Year Calendar reveals the growing Light of the Gospel and reveals an increasing beauty like the rose bud blooming.
