Grace Long in Coming: Christ’s Birth and Our Family’s Future

As our family gathers together this season, we are reminded that God’s redemptive work of grace takes time — and this is how He meant it to be all along.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, God could have sent His son to this “Paradise Lost” then and there to sacrifice His life for the saving of mankind. But this was not God’s plan.

His plan from the beginning was a generational work of grace that would span thousands of years. Through Eve’s seed, Satan’s head would, in time, be crushed and Christ would prevail (Gen. 3:15), but the realization of this promise would be long in coming and incorporate many different families and kingdoms.

Over millennia, new markers of God’s unfolding work of grace would be raised through the lives of men in Adam and Eve’s line such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and beyond, as well as women such as Rahab of Canaan and Ruth of Moab, even as the prophets would foretell of the future coming of the Messiah who would bring salvation to both Jew and Gentile.

During this season, millions of Christians around the world are gathering to remember the Incarnation — the miracle of Jesus, who is God the Son from eternity, coming to earth as a man to “save his people from their sins” (Mat. 1:21).

Yet we would also do well to remember that this defining world event was the fruition of a long-term, generational plan, even as Christ’s Final Coming will be the same.

This truth casts hope in the midst of our present evil day. It gives perspective that should hearten us.

It should also prompt us to study the generational tapestry of God’s grace in more detail and rejoice in its rich and varied strands.

As you gather with your family this season, we would encourage you to take the opportunity to consider how God has worked over time to build His faithful witness in your family. Ask the older relatives among you the stories from years past that are part of your family history and carefully reflect on them, as Moses exhorted: “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you” (De. 32:7).

And as you look to the new year, remember that God’s not finished yet. In His grand work of grace, He has more to accomplish in and through your family. This truth should birth true peace in our wearied hearts, for we can, indeed, be “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php. 1:6).

Praise be to God that He’s not done sanctifying us and redeeming to Himself this fallen world.