Advent – Jesus Became One Of Us

The Church has celebrated the season of Advent for over 1500 years. The word “advent” is defined as “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event”. The Latin word “adventus” means “coming”. John wrote at the beginning of his Gospel (1:1-3, 14), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” In this season, we celebrate the awesome mystery of God taking on human form to rescue us from our sin.

Many Christian churches celebrate this season as a time of preparation, starting four Sundays before Christmas. For churches observing liturgical calendars, it’s the first season of the church year.

Advent celebrators often use an advent log or wreath with four candles corresponding to the four Sundays in the season, each with it’s own theme or scripture associated with it.
Here are the traditional themes and scriptures, from Crossway.org.

Week One – Hope (or Promise)

Isaiah 9:2,6: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned…For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Week Two – Preparation (Waiting or Prophecy)

Isaiah 40:3-5: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’”

Week Three – Joy (or Peace)

Matthew 2:10, “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.”

Week Four – Love (or Adoration)

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The Reason for the Season

The primary reason for the season is the birth of the Messiah, the miracle of the incarnation, or God taking on flesh in the form of a baby.

While the coming of Jesus as a baby seems to be the primary purpose of advent preparation in practice, the Church has also emphasized not only the first coming of Jesus, but also his second coming at the end of the age.

He’s Coming Again

In Acts:1:11, just after Jesus had gone back to heaven, the angels told the disciples, “…This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” They didn’t say when or how. As a result, many different beliefs about the second coming, specifically the when and the how, have arisen since then.

How one believes is largely determined by how one interprets various scriptures. I believe that every generation should expect him very soon, as the first century church did. We need to live like he is coming today! That’s part of the advent preparation; be ready! To read my opinion about Jesus’ return in depth, go to my rather long article, “Jesus is Coming Back!”

Let’s Celebrate!

It’s a beautiful season. Let’s go beyond the trappings and commercial aspects of Christmas and explore the depths of this mystery of God in Christ Jesus, who, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians 2:6-11, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.

That powerful statement describes what Advent is all about.