Come, Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional

by Paul David Tripp

He would suffer every single day of his life so that he could, with his life, give grace to rebels, extend love to those who would deny his existence, impart wisdom to those who think they know better, and extend forgiveness to everyone who seeks him.

May your celebration today be bigger and deeper than awesome Christmas decorations, wonderful Christmas food, and cool Christmas gifts. May you glory in the real glory of this season. May you celebrate your glory-liberation while you recognize your need for further

freedom, and may you remember your Savior. His humiliation is your liberation. And may you always be blown away by the stunning catalog of glories that have been showered down on you because of the amazing goodness of God and the humble willingness of Jesus.

story is about a God of glorious grace on the

He is angry at what is destroying us, and in love he rescues us. The Christmas story preaches to us both the holiness

and the love of God.

The Christmas story reminds us that hopelessness is the only doorway to true and eternal hope. It’s only when you give up on you that you seek and celebrate what God, in holy love, offers you in the person and work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s true that hope isn’t a thing; it’s a person, and his name is Immanuel. Celebrate hope this Christmas.

dependency. The Christmas story tells us that we need help. The Christmas story tells us that spiritual need and spiritual dependency are universal and inescapable. It makes no sense to celebrate the birth of Jesus when you strive for independence. Here’s

will ever be.

We need God’s faithfulness, we need his patience, we need his wisdom, we need his power, we need his mercy, we need his rule, and we need his love. None of these things are at stake. None of these things will wear out. None of these things will quit working. God will never get tired of blessing us with these things. God will never get impatient and decide to quit. He will never get so irritated with the things we say and do that he’ll turn his back on us and walk away. He will not get distracted or become weary.

God stayed faithful in every way and in every moment to his purpose to send his Redeemer Son. God exercised his power and authority to guide human, natural, and international events so that the time and circumstances would be as they needed to be for the coming of the Messiah. The biblical narrative is filled with hope. The years between the fall of Adam and Eve and the coming of Jesus present a powerful promise to us that God can be trusted. They tell us that no matter what it takes and how long it takes, God will always do exactly what he’s promised to do.

You see, the Christmas story is the world’s best love story. It’s about a God of love sending the Son of his love to live a life of love and die a death of love, so that all who believe in him would be welcomed into the arms of his love forever and ever.

You can do the dumbest thing, and God will still love you. You can have a day when you ignore his existence, and God will still love you. You can fail to do what he’s called you to do, and he will still love you. I am not arguing that sin is okay or that you should not take it seriously. I’m arguing that the security of our relationship with God has never

depended on the faithfulness of o...

The sovereign Savior came to earth because sin causes all of us to live as self-appointed self-sovereigns. We all put ourselves in the center of our world. We all are way too focused on what we want, what we feel, and what we think we need. We all want control over things that we will never control. We all get angry when someone or something gets in the way of our self-designed sovereign plans. We all want to write our own rules, and when we break God’s rules, we want to be able to do it without negative consequences. We go through days without consciously thinking about God’s will or his glory.

We allow our hearts to be captured by the idol of idols: self. When you buy into your own sovereignty, you not only compromise your spirituality,

but you also lose a piece of yo...

Remember today that the Christmas story is a sovereignty story, and because it is, you and I have hope of real life and true freedom!