And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3,4).

It’s a classic storyline: princess is living her best life when she meets a wicked witch, witch curses princess, prince arrives on the scene, prince breaks the curse, prince whisks the princess away, and they live happily ever after. 

At the risk of oversimplifying: in our story we’re the princess, and the serpent in the Garden of Eden is the wicked witch. The difference between ours and the classic storyline is that the serpent didn’t actually curse the princess; the princess made a choice (to eat the forbidden fruit) that brought the curse upon herself! Jesus is, of course, the prince who came to break the curse.

At the very heart of our story is a God who loves us so much that He sent his son to a cursed Earth to save us all (John 3:16). God isn’t some faraway king who abides in the heavens and only watches the goings on of Earth with occasional disgust and general indifference. God also didn’t send an armed Jesus to ride in on a white horse, vanquish our enemies, save the day, then ride off into the sunset on his mighty steed. 

God sent his son to us as a defenseless baby to dwell with us: to grow and learn and experience humanity firsthand. There was no grand militarized gesture. This was not a glorious moment where the dashing prince confronted the captors of his love, the princess. There was just the quiet birth of a baby boy in the humblest of settings, and that moment reversed the curse from the Garden forever. 

The curse was canceled, and that made room for something new.

The prince (Jesus) didn’t whisk the princess (us) away the minute she was saved, because something important still has to happen. The princess isn’t quite ready for the prince’s kingdom, and there is hard work to be done: there are still “pieces of the princess” scattered all around the world needing to hear the Good News of the prince’s glorious rescue! At this point in our story Jesus makes his home with us. He dwells with us, and even now he transforms our hearts with his presence. 

The birth of the baby Jesus gives us hope for a true happily-ever-after with him in eternity, and even as we look forward to the fullness of the prince’s promise of no more death, mourning, or tears, we get to start working toward our unconventional happily ever after in the here-and-now.

Thank you, God, for our unconventional rescue story! Thank you for the hope of our happily ever after with You in heaven, and thank you for making all things new. Amen.