12-06-05-First Sunday of Advent-Anticipation
I’m sure everyone in here can remember a time when they looked forward to their birthday or Christmas day. (I know once the gray hairs come, maybe we don’t do that anymore, but try to think back to when you were younger). You say, well that’s just because we were kids and didn’t know any better. Oh! Well, when Joe and Amber when getting ready for their wedding recently, you could ask them when the day was, and they could tell you how many days until the blessed event. In fact, at one point they could not only tell you how many days, but how many hours were left until they tied the knot! Ask any wife, how long before their anniversary and I’m sure they can tell you! (I won’t ask the husbands because I don’t want to get you in trouble by not even knowing what the day is of your anniversary.). Why do we count the days to these events in our lives? What makes them so important is that we look forward to them with excitement and anticipation.
Today is the first day of what we call Advent. The word Advent comes from the Latin. adventus “coming”. . . . In the Church, it designates the season immediately preceding Christmas; in the western church it comprises the four Sundays prior to Christmas.. . . [i] It is the time of looking forward to Christ’s birth. This morning, I want to show you why we should be looking forward to Christmas 2005. The word I want us to look at today on this first Sunday of Advent is anticipation.
Jer 23:5-6 (NIV) “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.
This is only one of many scriptures that told the Jews, that there was a better day coming for them. The very first such promise is recorded in Genesis 3:15 when God spoke judgment to the serpent for tempting Eve.
Genesis 3:15 (NIV) “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Every Jewish boy grew up knowing this scripture. Why? Because it spoke of the promise of one who would come to set them free—the Messiah (Christ). The birth of a boy was such a blessed event in Israel, because who knew if this particular boy might not be the promised one. For centuries, Israel lived with the anticipation that one day their Messiah would come. In fact, even today those who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah are still looking for Him.
Let’s look at Luke 2:25-32, 36-38. In this passage, we see Simeon & Anna named as those who were looking for the “redemption of Jerusalem.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation (salvation) of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” . . . 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
In vs. 30 & 32 Simeon quotes from Messianic passages in the Psalms and the prophets (Psa 119:166, 174; Isa 9:2, 42:6; 49:6, 9: 51:4; 52:10; 60:1-3). You can see the realization in his prayer of all that he had waited in anticipation for to be fulfilled. There was an anticipation—an expectation—that one day, they would no longer be in bondage. But not only was there a promise of redemption for Israel, there was also a promise of salvation for the Gentiles. Thank God that is true, because otherwise none of us would be able to enjoy the salvation we have today.
Waiting for the fulfillment of prophecy is something that Israel had to learn. Sadly, not all were like Simeon and Anna—waiting on the redemption of Jerusalem. Many had given up, some had taken things in their own hands (Zealots), some had made their own rules and regulations to save themselves (Pharisees, Scribes), and some just no longer thought that God cared about them.
Advent is a season of waiting. We learn to wait as children for Christmas day—whether we believe in Santa Claus or not. We have to wait until December 25 finally comes on the calendar before we are allowed to open our presents. What does this waiting teach us? Does it teach us to expect something better? Does it teach us patience? This is a time when we can see that waiting for something is not necessarily a bad thing. Waiting at Christmas time teaches us to have anticipation for the better things that are coming.
In our walk with the Lord, do we wait on Him in anticipation that He will fulfill His promises in our lives? Have we waited on God with anticipation that He will do exactly what He said He would do? Or have we gotten tired, like many in Israel did, and no longer look for His salvation in our lives? Have we decided to try to save ourselves with our own good works (rules and regulations) like the Pharisees and Scribes? Is waiting on God too hard for us? Listen to some scriptures that talk about the virtue of waiting on the Lord:
Isa 25:9 (NASB) And it will be said in that day, “Behold, athis is our God for whom we have bwaited that cHe might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; dLet us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
Isa 30:18 (NASB) Therefore the Lord 1alongs (waits) to be gracious to you, And therefore He 2waits on bhigh to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a cGod of justice; How blessed are all those who 3dlong (wait) for Him.
Notice that God waits (longs) to be gracious and to have compassion on us. God can’t wait to shower blessings on us. However, we have to wait, with anticipation, to receive those blessings.
Isa 40:28 (NASB) Yet those who 1wait for (hope in) the Lord Will again new strength; They will 2bmount up with 3wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Isa 64:4 (NIV) 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.
(NASB) For from days of old athey have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who bwaits for Him.
Paul echoes this verse (Isa 64:4) in 1 Cor 2:9
1 Cor 2:9 (NIV) However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
(NASB) but just as it is written, “aThings which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Do you see in each of these scriptures the blessing that goes with waiting on the Lord! We must know that to wait on the Lord will be good for us. Why? Because just as God fulfilled every promise to Israel, He is faithful and will fulfill every promise to us. In His time and in His way! The fulfillment of prophecy that the Messiah would come shows us that if we wait on the Lord, we will see His salvation in our lives.
You see when the Bible talks about waiting on the Lord, it uses words that mean to have expectation, or to eagerly wait with anticipation for the fulfillment of God’s promise. Just like how we know that when a woman is pregnant, we must wait 9 months for the child to be born. Then the day arrives that she is rushed to the hospital and we wait with expectancy for the news that our child/grandchild is going to be born.
Of course, Jesus has come already. So what are we waiting for now? His return! We have a promise from God that one day a trumpet will sound and Jesus will return for us, His bride to carry us home to live with Him forever.
1 Thess 4:13-18 (NIV) 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep (died), or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep (died) in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep (died). 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Friends, there is not much good news in the world. We are told that things will only get worse. Despite the recent drop in gas prices, it is believed they will go back up soon. It will cost more to heat our homes this winter. The price of food is going up. The bird flu pandemic may hit us this year. . . . Let me tell you today to not give up on God’s promises. Wait with anticipation on Him to fulfill them. Even if it is at your last breath, like Simeon, that He does it, don’t give up!
This is the message of Advent that we wait with anticipation for the coming of our Savior’s birthday. Then we will celebrate His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection, and His return. When we learn to anticipate the good things that God has for us, it will be Christmas every day of the year! We will wait eagerly for what God is going to do next in our lives.
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Lat. Latin
[i]Myers, A. C. (1987). The Eerdmans Bible dictionary. Rev., augm. translation of: Bijbelse encyclopedie. Rev. ed. 1975. (Page 25). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.
a Is 35:2; 40:9; 52:10
b Is 8:17; 30:18; 33:2
c Is 33:22; 35:4; 49:25, 26; 60:16
d Ps 20:5; Is 35:1, 2, 10; 65:18; 66:10
1 Lit waits
a Is 42:14, 16; 48:9; Jon 3:4, 10; 2 Pet 3:9, 15
2 Lit is on high
b Is 2:11, 17; 33:5
c Is 5:16; 28:17; 61:8
3 Lit wait
d Is 8:17; 25:9; 26:8; 33:2
1 Or hope in
a Job 17:9; Ps 103:5; 2 Cor 4:8–10, 16
2 Or sprout wings
b Ex 19:4; Deut 32:11; Luke 18:1; 2 Cor 4:1, 16; Gal 6:9; Heb 12:3
3 Or pinions
a 1 Cor 2:9
b Is 25:9; 30:18; 40:31
a Is 64:4; 65:17