The first snowstorm of the year doesn’t have much sting. Coming from a long summer and on the tail-end of fall, the ground is still warm and that first snowstorm is usually short-lived. We expect it to melt in a week or less. There are usually a few nice days or weeks of fall still to come. So, we just kind of shrug that first snowstorm off.
Likewise, that last snowstorm of the year feels like getting bit by a toothless dog. By the time it hits, there is green grass already on the ground. No matter how much snow falls, there is an assurance that it will melt in short order and be used to provide moisture for the growing vegetation. So, we chalk up the final snowstorm as a short inconvenience as we welcome something far more exciting, spring.
In a way, the winter weather reminds me of man’s sin on earth. It starts with the Fall of Man, the first snowstorm, and ends with the final snowstorm, the Great Tribulation. As we read about the first sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden, the consequences are devastating. But that first sin is softened by the fact that it follows God’s wonderful Creation and it is immediately followed by a promise of something good to come. But the next winter storm comes as Cain kills Abel. Winter is firmly established on this earth, cold and hard, as all of man, except Noah’s family, is worthy of a worldwide flood. Even after that tremendous storm and fantastic salvation by God, there is rebellion, the Tower of Babel, followed by more rebellion. As we go from the unfaithfulness of Israel wandering in the wilderness to the unfaithfulness of Israel inhabiting their land to the unfaithfulness of Israel crucifying their Messiah – all of this being set in the midst of an unfaithful world of Gentiles – it seems as though this frigid winter will never end. Even today, it seems to us that the snow of sin just keeps getting deeper and deeper as the world uses all of their new tools and gadgets to inspire and enact further rebellion against God. Swords and spears have been replaced by guns, missiles, and drones. Alcohol has been joined by a myriad of natural and synthetic drugs. Every evil intention of man’s heart can be searched, fulfilled, and shared in a matter of seconds by way of the internet. When we imagine the rebellion of the Great Tribulation and the devastating events promised immediately before Christ’s return, we cannot help but shudder.
But then again, perhaps starting with the Resurrection, we know that spring is on the way. Even though there are still snowstorms of sin and destructive drifts of rebellion, there is always that glimpse and hope of good things to come, the Return of Christ. And there is something good about being so far removed in time from that first snowstorm of Adam. The further we are from that first winter storm means the closer we are to Christ’s Return. Even though the storms of sin appear worse today than ever before, our experience of salvation is real and our proximity to Christ’s return is closer than ever. This final snowstorm, as bad as it might appear, has no teeth. Jesus is coming soon and sin will give way to the kingdom of God, forever!
“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8
Amen