AN UNPREACHED SERMON (157)
[Photo by Elena Mozhvillo on Unsplash.]
In many churches the four Sundays leading up to Christmas are designated as the season of Advent. The word itself is of Latin origin (adventus) and simply means “arrival” or “appearance”. The impression can sometimes be given that it is to get us ready for Christmas but that is a very small part of its significance. In fact, as part of the church calendar it didn’t really make an appearance till about the 5th century, when so many superstitious and non-biblical practices had started to creep into the church. If you had asked any Christian what they understood about the word advent they would have explained it in terms of Christ's second coming, not His first. Far from being a time to prepare for Christmas, advent is meant to be a period of solemn reflection on the truth of Christ’s return to this planet; and to plan accordingly.
The unmistakeable advent emphasis of the NT is on the glorious truth that the Christ who came once in humility will return in glory. There are over 300 references to this fact scattered throughout the NT, and out of the 27 books it is only not mentioned in 4 of them. There is one passage which brings the proper emphasis together in a very clear way (Hebrews 9:23-28). A good way to think of these verses is by calling them “The Three Appearances of Christ”.
HE HAS APPEARED (v26)
Clearly, this refers back to when Christ first came: “He has appeared once for all”. The writer is pointing us back to the incarnation (Christmas) and the crucifixion (Easter), but the main emphasis is on the cross. It was in that one, decisive act He appeared in order to remove sins and to do so by the sacrifice of Himself. Further, what He did was “once for all”;it is unrepeatable.
In the same way that some of the decisive battles of history like Marathon, Waterloo and El Alamein changed things for ever, so Christ’s first appearance has completely altered the future of this planet.
HE NOW APPEARS (v24).
“He went into heaven itself, and now appears on our behalf in the presence of God”. The writer’s meaning is not hard to see. He is making a contrast between what Christ has done and the annual rigmarole of the Jewish High Priest. His work was never ending, year after year, again and again, in and out of the Temple’s Holy Place.
Jesus, by contrast, has gone into heaven itself. It is there that He appears on our behalf (as our Representative) in the actual presence of God (as our Mediator). The word for presence means “face to face”. As the old writers used to insist, “there is a Man in the glory” and He there to plead our cause at God’s right hand.
HE WILL APPEAR (v28)
This is where the advent theme really comes into its own. “He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for Him”. There is to be a second coming of Christ so different in character from His first arrival on this planet. And incidentally, strictly speaking this is the only specific NT reference to use the term second coming. It will be both a time of judgement and of salvation. This is the real focus of all our waiting and expecting during the advent season.
It is not for us to put a date on this momentous event, nor to speculate for ultimately the time is unknown and unknowable. It is this that constitutes what we often call “the Advent Hope”.
Don’t settle for a watered-down, sentimental version of Advent. It cannot be accidental that as the church has moved further away from its biblical roots, more and more of the superstitious practices which were all swept away at the time of the Reformation have crept back in. It is almost as if we have taken our lead from the department store Christmas displays which seem to arrive earlier and earlier each year. As a result, the true meaning of Advent and Christmas have been swamped in a deluge of fairy-tale fantasy that leaves no room for Christ Himself.
The proper biblical balance is to hold the two aspects in creative and inspirational tension. Christmas is our celebration that He came; Advent is our anticipation that He will surely come again. “Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
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