Advent: Thankful Anticipation

Isaiah 9:1-9

Isaiah 9:1–9 ESV

1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel; 9 and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:

Advent

Did you know that Advent begins today? if not, it does. Do you know what advent means? its simply really. It just means the coming of something. For Christians, Advent is about the Coming of Jesus Christ the son of God. Its something that is supposed to be really exciting for us, not because of how cute baby Jesus might have been, or how miraculous his birth was, but because its a celebration of when the King of Heaven came to bring his kingdom here on earth.

lets look at some of the actualities that came with Jesus.

When Jesus was born the wise men came in Matthew chapter 2 to Herod and asked for the location of “The King of The Jews” so they could worship him it showed that even these foreigners knew that Jesus was a king and the bringer of a nation.

In Luke 2:8-14 there were angels that appeared in a field watched by shepherds. that declared the good news of a savior, the Christ in fact, had come to be a joy for all the people and they sang, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased

Mark 1:15 says “And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

even Daniel prophesied about this time from the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2!

The kingdom of God is here… and it never left. but I think sometimes we forget that. Yes, there is a future manifestation of the Kingdom of God that is unlike what it is here, but we can live in and experience the kingdom of God now. And this is Advent, the celebration of the King and Kingdom of God.

Re-framing Our Perspectives

Having visited some places in scripture, I have a question for you. Have you ever thought about what it would mean to be in the kingdom of God now? We become so concerned with a future yet to come we miss out on the present reality. As scripture says, the kingdom of God is already here, heralded by the coming of our saviour Jesus Christ.

The question is, why do we forget so easily?

I want to tell you a story told in a book called. Winning the War in your mind by Craig Groeschel. In the first chapter Craig tells his readers, Perception is reality.

Craig tells the story of working with his pastors on staff. they played a strange game of pranks on each other. there was one rule, no pranks before 8am at the office.

So one of his fellow pastors went early and hid in a closet to scare pastor Groeschel, but Groeschel also arrived early… too early for the prank to be enacted and he was discovered. Pastor Groeschel rammed himself against the door yelling to his fellow pastor, “I’ve locked the door! you wont get out of here all day!” he then attempted to put up a chair to the knob… but it did not reach it. He could find no way to actually lock the door… so he simply shouted all the more. “i’ve locked you in there. you can’t get out!” and then he simply left him there. nothing actually keeping him in the closet. An hour later, while pastor Groeshel is in the middle of marriage counseling hears loud noises in his ceiling. his fellow pastor calls out from the ceiling to be let out. He answers him, if you can wait till I’m finished with this counseling session is over, I’ll come and let you out. And so he did… but here’s the thing…. The door was never locked, he just didn’t try the handle. He believed a lie, and so he never even tried to leave it.