Is he really the one?

Everything was perfect.
The sun was shining
yet with a sweet coolness of the day.
Perfect peace was intimately known.
There was no pain.
No brokenness.
No suffering.
No death.
Life flourished -- plants, animals, the heart of man.
There was a romance that went unmatched.
Love was real -- and full.
Beauty exploded at every turn.
Joy knew no bounds.
It was as if everything was fulfilling its own unique purpose.
Everything was exactly as it should be.
Perfection.

And a question was posed,
"did he really say what you think he said?"
Doubt entered.
And a seemingly better option was on the table.

The sweet coolness of the day was replaced with a smoldering hot sun.
Eyes became blinded by the trees.
Deception crept in.
Darkness introduced itself to souls.
Brokenness violently moved in.
The once intimately known peace now felt like a stranger.
The once never known pain felt strangely familiar.
Distortion burst onto the scene.
Stinging the tongue was the bitter taste of death.
Memories of a wild romance felt like they belonged to a long-lost lover.
Freedom was pierced by guilt and condemnation.
Creation suffered bitter enmity with its creator.
Nothing seemed as if it were how it should be.
Imperfection.

And another question was posed,
"will you wait?"
Will you wait for the one who will restore to perfection?
Will you wait for the one who brings freedom?
Will you wait for the one who puts flesh to the word "love"?
Will you wait for the one who binds up the broken hearted?
Will you wait for the one who romances the prostitutes?
Will you wait for the one who puts everything as it should be?
Will you just wait?

Through brutal wars, seemingly broken promises, famines, clouds of darkness, and seldom encounters with mere angels, men and women of faith waited.  They waited for the Good King they were promised.  They waited, by faith, for the one who would save them -- the Messiah.

And in a dirty food trough the supposed King -- the Messiah, the one they waited thousands of years for -- entered the world as a crying baby.
Born, scandously, of a virgin.
Born, a Nazarene -- can anything good come from there?
Born from the lineage of women plagued by shame.
Born into a fractured world --
with immediate commands that he would be killed as a baby.

Was this really the ONE generations after generations had waited for?
Is this the ONE we celebrate as Emmanuel, "God (is) with us"?

By sheer faith, I am believing so.
I am believing "this, this is Christ the King."
I am believing he is the one generations waited for.
I believing in him as my Hope, my Peace, my Joy, my Love, and my Christ.
And, by sheer faith, I am believing this Emmanuel will come again to set all things right.