So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
[Matthew 1:22-23]
The recollection of the Christmas story brings us a lot of thoughts, doesn’t it? Shepherds, wise men, swaddling clothes, a manger, sheep, and shooting one’s eye out with a BB gun. In all seriousness, we think of a baby’s birth most importantly. And not just any baby but the very Son of God. It’s a wonderful story with an even greater meaning for those who believe in its truth.
Yet, when we read that story in Luke 2 or those verses from Matthew 1 above, we can’t help but correlate this Baby’s birth with a beginning of sorts. We do this with all births. We even have descriptive sayings in our modern society referring to a baby being born as “brand-spankin’ new” or declaring to the parents, “Congratulations on the new arrival.”
But what if I told you that Christ’s birth had as much to do with completion as it did with beginning? Don’t believe me? Then take a look at a very specific word Matthew used in verse 22. It’s a word he would use several times in reference to certain details of Christ’s arrival all throughout chapter 2 as well. That word is, “fulfilled.”
“Fulfilled” means to render full or to complete. So why was this word used in describing the birth and new arrival of God’s Son? Because His birth was not only a beginning but a completion.
You see the Bible from beginning to end is very much about tying up loose ends. On day 7 of Creation, “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). His creation was complete, and the task once begun was now finished.
At the Bible’s conclusion, Jesus reveals in Revelation 22:13--"I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the] Beginning and [the] End, the First and the Last." What He began, He will complete. What was promised will be fulfilled. What was in the beginning will surely end and end well.
Christ’s birth on that first Christmas completed a promise from the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14) quoted there in Matthew. It was an ending in itself. Yet, had Christ only been born, the fulfillment would have only been partial, and the promises left mostly incomplete. Which is why when He was dying upon that rugged tree thirty-three-and-a-half years later, He cried with His last words, “It is finished (Jn. 19:30).” A reminder that what began can now properly and fully be considered done, loose ends tied, very much complete.
How often do we think about our ending and ending well like this? Completing what we have begun. Fulfilling the reasons and purposes behind our birth upon this Earth.
Christ is the ultimate example of this obviously but even the Apostle Paul kept the finish line in mind when he said, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:6-7).”
There is something to be said about beginning something with the intention of completing it well. Christ knew this. Apparently, Paul understood this also. And we who follow in their footsteps of faith would do well in desiring the same.
As our blog comes to a close, I don’t know that we even knew what we were doing when we began this three-and-a-half years ago. I wish we could say we followed the advice I am giving now, but, honestly, apart from God’s grace in any of the effort, we did not. We didn’t consider when it might end much less how.
But somewhere deep down, we all knew one thing: we did not want the phrase “beating a dead horse” to be forever tied to our blog. And, with this, we knew there would be an ending eventually. I pray we ended well.
In a modern society fascinated by deconstructed faith stories, I am glad that Ben, Ron, and I can all say with the Apostle Paul that we have kept the faith through the duration of this blog’s writing. And I truly believe that’s the key to unwrapping the gift of ending well—by keeping the faith.
“‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”
[Matthew 25:21]
Imagine yourself at any and every moment leaving this life prepared and ready to enter the next. If you do this, you too can be unafraid of these two words that most of our world never consider until it is too late. And because they’re never considered, fulfilling them well is not even an option. Therefore, let this final Middlings post be your reminder to consider these words…
The End.
All in all, we trust that our posts have been a small help to you along the journey of ending well as we all seek to keep the faith.
We thank you for reading one last time.
And from all The Middlings—Farewell until our final End.
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