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Looking Forward with Anticipation to Christ's Return

1 Corinthians 1:8-9
“He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”

Why Advent? What is the season of Advent all about?

A little boy, shopping with his mother, went up to the grocery clerk and asked, “Do you have Advent?” The clerk looked at the boy and said, “I don’t think so, what is it?” The little boy responded, “I don’t know, but my mom said that we have to have Advent before we can have Christmas.”

Is that what Advent is, something that we do just so we can have Christmas?

Advent is a time of waiting and anticipation. The Advent wreath is a circle made of evergreens with candles which represent the eternity of God and eternal life. As we light the candles, we wait in anticipation as each one is lit week by week, building up to lighting a center candle – the Christ candle.

A custom started in Germany, the four candles represented a countdown. People looked forward to celebrating the Christ birth, His first coming, and the second coming. In recent times, the four candles signify the meaning of hope, love, joy and peace – all describing the relationship that we have with God, in Christ, as we look forward to Christ returning and taking all the faithful to be with Him in heaven.

Advent is a time of patient waiting, for we do not know the day or the hour. It is also a time of preparation. As sinners, Advent is a time when we are reminded we need to be on our guard against the temptations and lies of this world that deceive us and lead us astray. Advent is a time when we meditate on God’s promises as we wait for the coming of Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Faced with sin, hardships, temptations and struggles in the lives of the Corinthians, Paul reminded them that it was God who would keep them strong and faithful to the end. Paul reminds them that it is God who will keep them blameless. Not that they wouldn’t sin, but that when they stood before God on judgment day He would see them through the eyes of our Savior – cleansed with the blood of Christ in our baptism.

That is God’s promises to us today as we to deal with sin, hardships and struggles. It is God who will keep us strong and faithful as we wait for Christ's coming. It is God in whom we find favor, not because of what we have done, but because of the greatest gift that could ever be given, Christ Jesus, who gave His life that we might have life.

“Heavenly Father, by Your grace continue to remind us of Your great love for us as shown in Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Keep us firm in that faith that we might look forward to that day of resurrection with hope, love, peace and joy. In Jesus name, Amen. ”