Light
the Advent Candle one,
Now
the waiting has begun,
We
have started on our way,
Time
to think of Christmas day.
The first Advent Candle represents the anticipation and
expectation of Christ’s coming. Throughout the Old Testament you find the
people, kings, and prophets longing for something more. They knew that God had
something better, and they desired it. Today, as we see the current state of
our world; the wars, the killing, the disappointment in our governments and
systems, and the injustice, we long for something more.
Halloween is past, Thanksgiving is over, now we begin our
waiting for the Christ child who brings with Him the promise of a better way, a
better government, and a better justice and mercy. Really ponder this. Do you
want Christ and the New Kingdom he is going to set up? Do you live for it? This
is what the Advent season is about: Examining our hearts to see where we
despair, and rather than sitting in our despair, we turn to God and trust that
He has something more.
When Christ was born, there weren’t royal physicians in
attendance; instead, there were shepherds. Kings of foreign nations didn’t send
their courtesy compliments to his mother; rather, foreign astrologer/holy men cam
bearing gifts. The high priest didn’t attend to Jesus’ presentation at the temple;
but it was Simeon, a devout and righteous man who had nothing to do with the
temple, and Anna, a prophetess (a woman!), who revealed to everyone that this
baby will be the one to redeem Jerusalem. In his birth, Jesus was not what the
Jews expected.
But we know all this, don’t we? We have the blessing of
hindsight and can see what others missed. However, the Advent season is still a
time of waiting and anticipation for us because we long for the second coming of Christ. When Christ
comes again, he will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will rule
the nations with perfect justice and mercy, and His kingdom will have no end
(as foretold by the angel to Mary in Luke 1:33, see also Daniel 7:13-14). There
will no longer be injustice and broken systems. There will be, finally,
perfection. All will be as it should (Revelations 21:5). What a wonderful thing
to wait for!
But Jesus’ second coming has this caveat: He will judge all the nations, and all the peoples of the earth. You and I
will not be excused from His judgment because we call Him Savior. Sometimes we
get the idea that because we are Christian, we are excused from suffering. The
Bible never says anything like this! We are not excused from suffering,
persecution, or judgment by God. We are covered in the righteousness of Christ
(justification) and seek to be more Christ-like in all our dealings (sanctification),
but we will still have to answer for our deeds when the books are opened on
Judgment Day (Daniel 7:9-10, Revelations 20:11-15).
Thus, Advent is also a season much like Lent in that it is a
season that should be devoted to fasting, prayer, and repentance. Our King is
coming! Let us repent of our sins, seek righteousness and good, and act as His
advocates, so that when he arrives, he will say to us, “Well done,” and not, “You
did what?”
I would encourage you to forgive others during this time and
release your bitterness and anger. We serve a God of love who has commanded us
to love others (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:37-40). We cannot fulfill this if
we are still angry. Use the following prayer to help you work through anger,
resentment, and bitterness:
Father, I confess my bitterness/anger/resentment towards _________(person)
because of _________. I repent of this bitterness/anger/resentment
because it is
not how you have commanded me to live. I am wounded by my interactions
with
this person, but I desire to be right with you more than I desire to be
consumed
by bitterness. I ask you to forgive me for holding onto my
bitterness/anger/resentment
towards __________(person) for so long. As you forgive me, so I choose
to forgive __________(person) for what they have done. I renounce my
bitterness/anger/resentment
and send it to the foot of the cross. Father please heal this wound in
my heart, and
restore my joy and delight in your will. Amen.
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