Background
Advent
The English word advent originated
from the Latin word adventus, meaning
arrival, or coming.
Advent is the beginning of the
Church Year for most churches in
the Western tradition. The four-week
period before Christmas is known
as Advent. Advent lasts anywhere
from twenty-one to twenty-eight
days. It begins on the fourth Sunday
before Christmas. Christians are
encouraged to prepare themselves
spiritually for the Lord.
The exact time that Advent began
is uncertain. There is some documentation
that Advent was celebrated in Spain
in the year 650 A.D
The focus of the church during
the Advent season is Christ's threefold
coming – past, present, and
future. First, we remember the Lord's
humble first coming in Bethlehem
two thousand years ago. This is
what we celebrate on Christmas.
Second, we give thanks for His present
and continual coming to us through
the Word and Sacraments. Finally,
we look forward with hope and patience
to His victorious second coming
as Judge and King at the end of
time.
Advent is the first part of a larger
liturgical season that includes
Christmas and Epiphany and continues
until the beginning of Lent. Viewed
as a whole, this time celebrates
God the Father's wonderful gift
to the world of His only-begotten
Son, sent to save us from sin and
death.
The
First Coming Of The Messiah
The Son of God came the first time
to be sacrificed as "the lamb
of God." The Son of God is
coming the second time to rule the
world with absolute power and authority.
When Jesus was born, God became
man. The One who flung the stars
out into space, came to earth and
dwelled among the human family.
The tiny arms of that Baby in the
manger were the arms of the One
who laid the foundation of the universe.
The coming of Jesus Christ into
the world was the time when God
came to earth. God took on a human
body and dwelled among us.
For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, which
is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11)-
The brightest message that has ever
been delivered to the human family
is the glad news that in some mysterious
way (which we will never be able
to quite fully comprehend), Jesus
Christ puts himself underneath our
sin, and lifts it off from our souls,
and takes it away. The Apostle John
declares that Jesus Christ was manifested
"to take away our sins"
(1 John 3:5). The words "take
away" simply mean that He removes
the guilt and punishment of sin
by paying the price. The angel said
to Joseph, "And she shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus: for he shall save
his people from their sins"
(Matthew 1:21).
God did not become a man merely
to teach us how to live. Christ
did not come into the world primarily
to perform miracles. Jesus came
into the world primarily to journey
toward the cross. And Jesus' death
on the cross was an act by which
He made it possible for us to be
delivered from the dominion of darkness
and transferred into the kingdom
of the beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
The Meaning
of Salvation
What is restoration? In one word,
it is re-creation. To save a sick
man is to restore him to health.
To save a drowning man is to rescue
him and restore him to the state
he was in before drowning. Therefore,
God's restoration of man means for
Him to restore fallen mankind in
this sinful world to the original
world God had intended in the very
beginning.
God's goal of restoration is to
realize the ideal individual which
He originally planned, and through
him realize the original family,
and based on that family, the original
society, nation and world.
For this goal of salvation, God
sent His only Son, Jesus Christ,
as savior to this world. Therefore,
the Messiah must stand before God
as the origin of the ideal individual
and thus be able to establish the
ideal family, the goal of God's
creation and the object of His love.
The Messiah would then realize the
ideal nation and world to bring
about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
A Savior
Right to the end of his life Jesus
firmly enunciated the idea that
he would come again, for at his
examination before Caiaphas he said,
"you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the
Mighty One and coming on the clouds
of heaven" (Mark 14:62).
There will be "praise, glory
and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed"
(1 Peter 1:7; cf. "glories,
" v. 11 ). In the opening of
Revelation we read, "he is
coming with the clouds, and every
eye will see him" (1:7) and
from then on right through the book
we are left in no doubt as to the
majesty of the Christ whose place
is supreme in heaven, but who will
come back to this earth.
Indeed, The return of Christ will
usher in the era in which goodness
will be triumphant, a truth that
is brought out in many ways. This
is the expression of hope. We have
been saved "in hope" (Rom
8:24), a hope that is not centered
on this life (1 Cor 15:19), but
is "stored up" for us
in heaven (Col 1:5).
This hope is "held out in
the gospel" and it can be spoken
of as "Christ in you, the hope
of glory" (Col 1:23,27). Christ
is himself our hope (1 Tim 1:1).
Christians wait for "the blessed
hope—the glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ" (Titus 2:13). Peter
speaks of the "living hope"
given to Christians and goes on
to refer to "the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in
the last time" (1 Peter 1:3-5).
He exhorts his readers: "set
your hope fully on the grace to
be given you when Jesus Christ is
revealed" (1 Peter 1:13). Believers
must always be ready to give a reason
for the hope that is within them
(1 Peter 3:15). In 1 John we find
that "When he appears, we shall
be like him" and we are told
that "Everyone who has this
hope in him purifies himself"
(3:2-3). Instead of hope the writer
may refer to confidence: "Love
is made complete among us so that
we will have confidence on the day
of judgment" (4:17).
©
2006 Grace Baptist Church |