We have entered the season of the Church Year known as Advent. Webster’s 1828 dictionary gives us this definition:
“AD’VENT, n. [L. adventus, from advenio, of ad and venio, to come. See Find.] A coming; appropriately the coming of our Savior, and in the calendar, it includes four sabbaths before Christmas, beginning of St. Andrew’s Day, or on the sabbath next before or after it. It is intended as a season of devotion, with reference to the coming of Christ in the flesh, and his second coming to judge the world.”
Luke 2:12 reads: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” The first words of Luke 2:12 are very special!
“For unto you….” it changes our thoughts from an event in history and a prophecy of the future to the here and now. As you spend time reading, meditating, thinking, and singing of this event in history, reflect on this fact, it is for you. The Son of God came to earth for you. He didn’t come after requiring you to believe in him.
He came because he loves you with an everlasting love. He came because he is one with the Father. He brought light to a dark and difficult time in history. He will bring light into the darkest recesses of the human heart. He is the light of the world. John 1:16 & 17 reads:
” John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. ”
We receive of “his fulness” by faith in his redemptive work. It is through grace that we are given eyes to see this life giving gift. It is in Christ alone that we approach the throne of heaven itself, as sinners washed by the work of God, Jesus shedding his blood, and not by our own merits. The work of the Cross in which Jesus would die for sinners is pictured in the word “Saviour” in Luke 2:12. He rose from the grave victorious, and brings to us the Joy of Advent and Christmas. No, it isn’t limited to a season, but it is a blessing found in the Kingdom of God because we receive the righteousness of Jesus the Christ.
Romans 14:17- “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
May your time of Advent be blessed by knowing his love for you.
Pastor Stan
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