Biblical hope is not optimism. In fact, the most hopeful people in the Bible often had very few reasons to believe that things would get better for them any time soon. But biblical hope is based not in circumstances but in the unchanging character of God.

It’s this kind of hope that anchors the entire hymn. Israel waits in exile, just as we often wait in our own wildernesses. The “not yet” is real—things are still broken—but the promise is just as real: “Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” The refrain calls us to rejoice not in what we see, but in what is promised. Our hope is not wishful thinking—it’s rooted in the faithfulness of God who came once in Bethlehem and will come again in glory.

We can rejoice, not because all is fulfilled yet, but because fulfillment is coming. This dynamic tension of the now and not yet is the essence of Advent… and the reality of being a Jesus-shaped church. Will we embrace the hope being offered this Christmas season?

cccog.com/beyond-sunday