Summary: What if there was no Christmas? What if Christ had not come, along with the hope, peace, joy and love that he brings? The resurrected, living hope in Jesus (I Peter 1:3-4), that’s an anchor for our soul (Hebrews 6:19), would not exist. Peace, overall well being, harmonious relationships with God and people, peace on earth, would only be there stuff of fairy tales. There would be no joy in being rescued from a life or death situation. There would be no “good new of great joy” if a Savior wasn’t born. If Christ hadn’t come we would not be the recipients of God’s extravagant love (Romans 5:7-8). But Christ did come! He was committed to coming because He loves sinners! Ponder and treasure Christmas with a heart of love for the Christ child.
Summary: Most of us have never needed to be rescued from a physical life or death emergency. An yet, all of us have a spiritual need to be rescued. All of us need ongoing forgiveness of our sins and peace with God. When Jesus came at Christmas, He came to be our Savior, our Rescuer. The more you need to be rescued, the more joyful the Savior is. Jesus’ birth is good news of great joy for those who need a Savior.
Summary: We live between the times, between the 1st and 2nd Coming of Christ. God’s kingdom reign has started, but we will not experience it fully until Christ returns. This means we live with tension while we wait. We can experience God’s peace – an overall state of well-being and wholeness, but the world will not know peace on earth, but it’s just a matter of time. God is passionate about it.
Summary: Advent is a season of waiting, a time to be patient. Waiting and patience can teach us humility, we are not in control. And, we can learn to trust God’s timing. We wait for Christ to come, not just the birth of Christ at Christmas but also His second coming to earth. We wait in hope. The resurrected Christ is our living hope. May that Christian hope be an anchor for your soul, especially during rough weather. Wait in hope.