The Advent II

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The Advent II, The Coming of Christ, to indwell our souls.

  As I said last week I want to discuss what Advent really is, according to the Bible. I have made my focus the 3 aspects of Advent, The one we generally recognize this time of year, the First Coming of Jesus, which we discussed last week, the second the one we argue over but spend little time being thankful for and that’s the promised second coming of Jesus, which we will discuss next week, and a third, one we think very little of in way of taking a time of year to be thankful for it and that’s the Advent, or coming of Christ to indwell our eternal Souls. It’s this Advent we will discuss this morning. Just maybe, as I said last week, when I get finished the Advent, our Christmas will have a much deeper and spiritual meaning for us.

   The Advent, the coming of Christ, told of by God and the prophets for thousands of years, celebrated 2000 years ago by royalty and Shepard’s alike, celebrated today on a day we call Christmas because it is the day the world received Gods promised gift.

   What about that gift, what does it mean for us today. This Christmas, this Advent lets get beyond the manger, too many of us are stuck on the infant, its time we moved on to the man at Christmas time. It like those who can’t get past the cross at Easter, Easters not about a cross, it’s about an empty grave. Christmas is not about a baby, its about the coming of the Savior, yes 2000 years ago to a barn, but 33 years later it was to the hearts of man, that’s what the Advent is today, the coming of Jesus to live in mans heart.

Psalm 16:8-11  have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,  or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Acts 2:25-31  For David says concerning him, " 'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,  or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.' "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 

    The prophet Joel prophesied that the Spirit would come; Jesus fulfilled that promise when He sent the Spirit (John 14:16). If Jesus was dead, He could not have sent the Spirit. Therefore, He must be alive. Furthermore, Jesus could not have sent the Spirit “unless He had ascended as Lord to heaven.” Therefore, Jesus is both our Master and our Savior. let me speak freely: Peter knew (v. 29) that no one could dispute the point he was about to make from Ps. 16:8–11, in which the Messiah is described as not decaying. Because David had been buried and had not come back to life, the psalm had to be speaking about someone else, David’s heir.

Peter pointed out that this heir is Jesus, who was put to death and resurrected. Not only had Jesus been raised from the dead, He is now at the right hand of God. As further proof of this Peter quoted David again. According to Ps. 110:1, the Messiah would sit at the right hand of God. David had not ascended to the heavens. But the apostles declared themselves to be witnesses of the very ascension spoken of in this psalm, the ascension of Jesus. Based on these points, Peter’s conclusion is clear: Jesus, the One who had been crucified, is both Lord and Christ.

 Jeremiah 31:31-34, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Hebrews 8:6-13 

   The new covenant is the “better covenant” of v. 6. This covenant was made with Israel and Judah, yet the church enjoys the spiritual blessings of this covenant now. The Abrahamic covenant was made with Abraham and his physical descendants, who would inherit the land. Yet the Abrahamic covenant also contained spiritual promises in which the church participates. The New Covenant in fact is a fulfillment of the spiritual redemption promised in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants.

   Thousands of years of Jewish history were built on God’s covenant with Israel. But Christ came to rewrite the script of history. He offers a superior covenant rooted in better promises and without fault. As the prophet Jeremiah had foreseen, under the new arrangement wickedness will be forgiven, sins will be forgotten, and the old covenant will fade into the shadows before vanishing altogether, WHAT an amazing message! We can have a fresh start. Bondage to old, seemingly unbreakable patterns can be broken and replaced. But first we must confess our condition and accept God’s provision, which includes His agenda for change. Therein lies a fresh start for our lives.

   There are four provisions of the New Covenant: (1) God’s law will be written on believers’ minds and hearts. This is in contrast to the Mosaic Law, which was written on tablets of stone. (2) Believers will have a relationship with God fulfilling the promise of Lev. 26:12 (2 Cor. 6:16). (3) All will know God. No longer will Pharisees and scribes have to teach the intricacies of the Law to the people. (4) God will forgive the sins of believers and remember them no more. The continual sacrifice of animals for the atonement of sin will cease.

The presence of a new, better covenant not only demonstrates that the first covenant is not sufficient; it also shows that the first covenant is obsolete and ready to vanish away. At the time the author of Hebrews wrote these words, the ceremonies of the Mosaic covenant were still being conducted in the temple in Jerusalem. In a.d. 70 the Roman general Titus destroyed the temple, fulfilling these words.

Luke 24:44-45 (ESV) Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 

The plan of God is outlined in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms was fulfilled in Jesus. These 3 categories of the ancient Scriptures summarize the contents of the OT. Verse 45 opened their understanding: The disciples’ comprehension, and ours today involves, in fact it is dependent upon our seeing how God’s plan, as outlined in the Scriptures, perfectly fits together.

When we receive Jesus we receive our manger, we are born, we move from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light. We become His children; this is the beginning of a two way relation ship with God our Father.

Jesus explained in John 14:28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.,The Advent of Christ into our souls, If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.  

   There is a second step, we have to receive Jesus, Salvation established the relationship, settles the matter of our eternal security, gets us out of hell and into heaven, BUT, and it’s a big but, at the same time we move on from salvation into an identification with Jesus. He is not only our savior but is also our LORD. His life is now ours, our lives are now His. Paul said Galatians 2:20 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

  The Advent of Christ, the fulfillment of ancient prophecy, by the coming of Jesus, the coming of Jesus to indwell us, Christ in His Kingdom, God in man, that’s what Christmas is really about. In fact that what Christianity is all about, Christ in the man, our only hope of eternal glory. The greatest gift this Christmas, Jesus Christ. If we will only, Luke 24:45   Then let Him open our minds to understand the scriptures.

   Celebrate the birth of the Child in the manger in the weeks ahead, but know that the manger is only part of the Advent, the fulfillment of only part of prophecy, see the world will let you have the manger and Jesus the baby and Jesus the man, but it doesn’t want you to know the rest of the story, that the manger was only the beginning of the coming of Christ, the world would rather you not know that the manger, was temporary, it made possible the resurrection which made possible the coming of Christ to live permanently in your life.

    My prayer for you this Christmas, is that you come to the manger, see the Child, but accept the savior, if you have never done that do it today as we that have celebrate the Advent of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And if you have, give Jesus what He wants this Christmas, make Him your Lord.

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