GCV Blog

Grace Church of the Valley blog.

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Pastoral Word by Blake Boys 

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’
‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
- 1 Corinthians 15:54–57


Each Christmas season my attention is drawn to how much God's people longed for the Messiah to come in the Old Testament. There was so much hope and anticipation for that day when God's Deliverer would make all things right. On this side of the redemption story we can see that the Messiah came in a very unexpected way. We celebrate the mystery of Christ's life, death, and resurrection but do we still long for things to be made right? Do we look forward to the day when we can finally say, "O death, where is your victory?" Do we long for Christ to come again?


I find myself lacking in this desire far too often. Usually it is because I have forgotten how broken I am and how broken this world is. Paul Tripp’s advent devotional, Come Let Us Adore Him, has been reminding me this year that along with the wonder of the incarnation we shouldn’t forget that Christ came because we were hopeless! I want to remember that hopelessness, not to make my soul downcast but to help lift my spirit with the hope that the Prince of Peace will return and put an end to sin's turmoil in this world and my own heart!


Those moments of hope are my favorite times to sing with Christ's church. What a special time of year for God's adopted sons and daughters to respond in thanksgiving, wonder, and hope! I pray that you are able to sing from a heart that is overwhelmed by brokenness, overflowing with thanksgiving to the God of grace, and ever hopeful that He will one day complete the victory over sin and death.