The Advent of our Savior

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand (Isaiah 64:1-08).

Every time we reach January 1st, we turn our calendars to a new year. Every time we reach July 1st, businesses start a new fiscal year. And each time we reach the season of Advent, we Christians begin a new church year.

When the world flips to the first month of a new calendar, people reflect on the sorrows of the past even as they look forward to a better tomorrow. As business managers close the books on one year, the previous 12 months are carefully examined in order to improve profitability over the next 12 months. Advent follows the same pattern. These weeks leading up to Christmas are both a time of reflection and a time of anticipation. We look back at the sorry lives we’ve led, lives crippled by failure and stained by sin. At the same time, we also look forward with expectant joy—look forward to celebrating God’s gift of His Son to us, to take away our sins and offer us a bright future as children of God. Advent is a time of reevaluating our lives so that we can properly welcome the Savior into our hearts.

Let’s begin the process by considering this question: what is so special about Christianity? What does it offer that makes it so different from every other world religion? Why make a point of wishing people ‘Merry Christmas’ instead of ‘Happy Holidays’?

It’s all about forgiveness. Christianity brings a lot of good things to the table, but chief among them is the blessing of forgiveness. Now I’ll grant you that forgiveness is not found exclusively among Christians. All over the world there are people who try very hard to forgive others when they have been wronged. But what’s their motive in offering forgiveness? Do they forgive on a quid pro quo basis? For example, does a husband forgive his wife for having an affair, knowing that he’ll need forgiveness when she finds out about his mistress? Or do they offer forgiveness because it will help them out when they die? Do they show kindness to others in this life, hoping to reduce the bad effects of entering the next life with too much negative spiritual energy? Either way, such forgiveness is ultimately self-serving.

The forgiveness of Christ is completely different. The forgiveness offered by God’s Son is an expression of His unselfish love for us. Jesus doesn’t benefit from forgiving us—in fact, bringing us the offer of mercy cost Him terribly as He suffered on the cross and died. Jesus endured agony beyond our comprehension for one reason only—He wanted to forgive us. He suffered the divine punishment you and I deserve for being selfish and unloving, suffered so that you can escape the consequences of your wrongdoing just by saying, "Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Jesus demands nothing in exchange for His mercy. We don’t have to make right everything we’ve messed up. We don’t have to perform a certain number of good deeds to earn admission into heaven. All Jesus asks is that we cling to Him alone as most important in our lives. When we do this, He fills our hearts with His forgiving love and that forgiving love spills over onto the people who surround us. Guided by Jesus, we begin to offer mercy unselfishly; like Him, we start forgiving others just because love moves us to.

Forgiveness: it comes to us from God through the cross of Christ. Forgiveness is what frees our hearts from the burden of guilt and fills them instead with hope and joy. When we feel angry or lonely or afraid, forgiveness offers us peace and companionship and love. Forgiveness tears down the barriers that separate us from God and each other. Forgiveness—it’s what Christianity is all about.

The next question I’d like you to consider is this: what kind of faith do you have? Faith has a profound effect on how you live your life. If you have faith in your husband’s skills as a driver, you can sleep peacefully during a long road trip. If you don’t have confidence in the electric company, every night you’ll be winding up a mechanical alarm clock. If you trust the officials who are calling a game, you can relax and focus on the coach’s plan and each player’s performance. If you don’t trust your employees, you will frequently stay after work to do your own quality assurance.

Faith is part of our daily routine. Faith gives us confidence to make decisions and allows us to enjoy life; when we are lacking in faith, we become paralyzed by uncertainty and lose sleep due to worry. Faith affects both our decisions and behavior.

This is why faith in Jesus is so important to us. Jesus promises heaven to all who believe in Him. This gives us peace at funerals; when we know that our Christian loved one is nestled safely in Jesus’ arms, we find something to smile about even as we shed tears of farewell. And when the doctor reports that our own medical condition is extremely grave, we don’t react with fear because we know that the grave is only a revolving door that opens into paradise.

But sometimes we abuse faith. It’s one thing to be confident; it’s quite another to take something for granted. Some people are so confident they will be paid correctly and on time that they write checks on a depleted bank account, assuming those bad checks will be covered by the time they clear the bank. Many husbands assume that their wives will always love them no matter how badly they behave. And people also take Jesus for granted. They know that He promises to forgive sin, so they hardly think twice about doing whatever they want, figuring that they can always get forgiveness afterwards.

Such people confuse confidence with risk-taking. It’s seldom worth it to take foolish chances; relationships are at risk when you take someone for granted. This is especially true of our relationship with the Lord. Remember His warning: Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7). Our Lord knows full well when your repentance is sincere, and when you’re only saying that you’re sorry to try and avoid getting into trouble. Don’t take God’s mercy for granted; the last person you want to make angry is the One who decides where you go when you die.

Which brings me to my final question: what’s the worst thing that could ever happen to you? Having you car stolen? Losing your job? Having a storm flatten your house? No—as difficult as these situations would be to go through, such losses can be replaced.

What’s the worst thing that could ever happen to you? Going through divorce? Burying the person you married? Having your children move so far away that you never get to see them? No—as painful as these changes can be, there are still people all around who can fill your life with love.

What’s the worst thing that could ever happen to you? Being diagnosed with cancer? Going blind? Losing control of your body due to Multiple Sclerosis or a stroke? Losing your memory to Alzheimer’s disease? No—as terrible as such conditions are, there is always hope for a medical breakthrough to bring relief.

What’s the worst thing that could ever happen to you? It’s living without faith in Jesus. It’s dying without having your sins forgiven. It’s spending eternity in darkness without the faintest glimmer of light, where the only sounds are screams of pain and terror and anguish. It’s an endless existence with no love, no companionship, no joy, and worst of all, no hope that things will ever get better. The worst thing that can happen to you is hell.

This worst of all things can be avoided, but only for a time. You have until the day of your death to tell Jesus that you are sorry for ignoring Him. You have until the hour of your last breath to accept His invitation and let Him fill your heart with His love. But this offer of a new start ends when you die; to avoid hell, you must be one of Jesus’ friends before life flees your body.

How much time do you have to improve your relationship with Jesus? I don’t know—and neither do you. You might have 50 years or 50 minutes before your time is up. So don’t put Jesus off, thinking that you have plenty of time to get serious about religion—today might be your final opportunity to avoid the worst thing that could ever happen to you.

Christmas joins Easter as the most important holidays on the calendar because through them, God wipes the slate clean. On Christmas He sent His Son into this world to offer us an invitation: turn from your sins and embrace God. Stop holding grudges against people who have hurt you; it is time to forgive them. Stop taking God’s love for granted; it is time to show Him gratitude by listening to Him carefully and trying to live according to His principles. Repent of your sins, and Jesus will forgive you—He will wash you free of your guilt by the blood He shed on the cross, and will embrace you with the nail-scarred hands that have been warm with life ever since Easter morning. As Paul says in Acts chapter 13, Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

This is what we look forward to as the weeks of Advent draw us towards Christmas. Advent is not about gift buying or party planning; Advent is about realizing how desperately we need someone to erase the mistakes of our past and give us hope that the days ahead can be better. Advent shows us our sins so that we crave the coming of the Savior. Advent holds out the promise that God is not far off, but that He comes near to all who love Him. Advent reminds us of the advice offered by Isaiah when he writes, Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6).