COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING (appropriate for Christmas)

Most people would not recognize this as an appropriate hymn for the Christmas season.  But it really is.

While looking for Christmas hymns, one thing I noticed is that most hymnbooks arranges them topically, starting with Advent and then proceeding to hymns about the birth of Jesus. 

I’m not very familiar with the liturgical calendar, but, apparently, in many Christian traditions, these four weeks leading up to Christmas day is called the Advent season.

But ALL these hymns, regardless of how they are categorized, are about His birth, so I wondered what was it that distinguished advent hymns from other songs about the birth of Jesus?

I looked to the dictionary for a definition of advent and it is a word that implies expectation or the waiting for an appearance or an event. In Christianity, it is the anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah, the promised One from God.

I found that to be somewhat curious because He has already come so, I wondered, how is it that we are still waiting?   Well, in my research, I learned a few things about the advent season.

In church tradition, Advent reminds us of ancient Israel's anticipation as they waited and hoped for the coming of Messiah. This is a time to recount the stories of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, and all the pre-Church saints. We think about all the promises that God made and how they looked forward to their coming salvation.

But that is just part of the anticipation. The Advent season, today, is a reminder that there is still more to come. 

John Piper explains this two-part appearance like this:

“When Emmanuel arrives — when the Dayspring rises — we learn that redemption has only begun.

“To be sure, it is magnificent.

  

“The final blood is shed. The debt is paid. Forgiveness is purchased. God’s wrath is removed. Adoption is secured. The down payment is in the bank. The first fruits of harvest are in the barn. The future is sure. The joy is great.

  

“But the end is not yet. Death still snatches away. Disease still makes us miserable. Calamity still strikes. Satan still prowls. Flesh still wars against the Spirit. Sin still indwells. 

"And we still ‘groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ (Romans 8:23). 

"We still ‘wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 1:7). 

"We still wait for final deliverance ‘from the wrath to come’ (1 Thessalonians 1:10). 

"We still ‘wait for the hope of righteousness’ (Galatians 5:5). 

"The longing continues.”

The Advent season is a time for rejoicing; Our Savior was born in Bethlehem. But the birth of Jesus is meaningless and irrelevant without His sacrificial death, burial, and His resurrection. It was all part of God’s plan that will culminate when Jesus Christ returns for His Church and finishes His work of redemption. 

So, now we look forward to His Second Coming. And the next time He comes, He is coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  

COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING.