The season of advent is a time when we prepare our hearts and our minds to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world.
“Jesus is God’s gift to us. He was sent to us to free us from the eternal consequences of sin. You have been given a perfect personal gift. One just for you. ‘There has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2:11, NASB).
Would you do what Jesus did? He swapped a spotless castle for a grimy stable. He exchanged the worship of angels for the company of killers. He could hold the universe in His plan, yet He gave it up to float in the womb of a maiden. If you were God, would you sleep on straw, nurse from a breast, and be clothed in a diaper? I wouldn’t, but Christ did. If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care? Christ did.
He humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.
Why? Because that’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself.”
Max Lucado, The Lucado Encouraging Word Bible
The Bible has much to say about the advent of Jesus.
Advent Was Prophesied
“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” – Deuteronomy 18:18-19
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14
Advent Was Predicted
“Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.” – Daniel 9:25
Advent Was Announced
“Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!””
Luke 2:10-14
Jesus Came to Save Us
“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” Matthew 18:11
“He could have given up. No one would have known otherwise. Jesus could have given up. One look at the womb could have discouraged Him. God is as unbridled as the air and as limitless as the sky. Would he reduce His world to the belly of a girl for nine months?
And the stable. Is that not yet another reason for Christ to back out? Stables are smelly, dirty. Stables have no linoleum floors or oxygen tanks. How are they going to cut the umbilical cord? And who is going to cut it? Joseph? A small-time carpenter from a one-camel town? Is there not a better father for God? Someone with an education, a pedigree. Someone with a bit of clout. This fellow couldn’t even swing a room at the hotel. You think he’s got what it takes to be the father of the maker of the universe?
Jesus could have given up. Imagine the change He had to make, the distance He had to travel. What would it be like to become flesh?
Love goes the distance…and Christ traveled from limitless eternity to be confined by time in order to become one of us. He didn’t have to. He could have given up. At any step along the way, He could have called it quits.
He didn’t, because He is love. And love endured all things. He endured the distance. What’s more, He endured the resistance.”
Max Lucado, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible
Advent Will Happen Again
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” – John 14:1-3
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16
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Content in this article taken from the Lucado Encouraging Word Bible and the Open Bible.
The Open Bible
The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by many writers over a vast time period, and yet it’s the unified Word of God. The Open Bible offers easy navigation through the interconnected themes and teachings in Scripture with a time-tested complete reference system trusted by millions. Book introductions and outlines augment your study providing an understanding of context and themes from beginning to end.
