Not The Want, Not The Need, But The Provision

Posted on December 5, 2018 by America's Keswick in Freedom Fighters

“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” — Isaiah 9:7 (NASB)

According to it’s opening line, Wikipedia defines the season of Advent like this, “Advent is a season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas as well as the return of Jesus at the second coming.” Many denominations recognize this by the lighting of the Advent candles and by having members of the church go in front of the congregation to read assigned passages of Scripture, then the appropriate candle is lit. Sometimes I kinda feel that something gets left out here…

However, if you were to take a look at how Secularland recognizes it, you will see that its way different. In their mass media push, they portray it as a time for family (ain’t nothing wrong with that), that you need to get to the nearest retail shopping facility (the faster, the better) and buy family members (along with a whole cast of characters who will be looking for that thoughtful gift) what you think they want or need (if you don’t, then you’re an inconsiderate goofball). Now I know something gets left out here…

The thing I think that gets left out is a promise of God that He would make provision to atone for one simple act of disobedience. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel” (Gen 3:15). Yeah, I know, that don’t sound very Christmas-like and there would be a vexation in the congregation when the candle got lit after that passage was read, but we tend to forget that Christmas is more about what gets forgiven and not so much about what gets given, by you, to others, to show that you love, well like (sorta), kinda actually think about (maybe) them (hope you followed that). Anyway…

In our Christian simplicity, we take Christmas and put it in a safe little box where we know this simple truth. God sent His Son to live among us, to teach us, to die for us and at His Second Coming He is coming for us. So, because it seems to be all about us, when that Walmart greeter exclaims “HAPPY HOLIDAYS”, to us the us in us gets all “oh no they didn’t” and proclaim, with all the (pseudo) authority that comes with being a Christian, “IT’S MERRY CHRISTMAS” instead of being the Christ in us and extending a simple “Merry Christmas” back to them. It’s almost as if the season of Advent becomes our declaration of war against Secularland for its disobedience in its celebration of what it safely calls “The Holiday Season.”

Ya see, that simple act of disobedience in The Garden tainted the whole of Creation and there wasn’t much mankind could do about it. Only The Creator could fix what got broken and only The Creator gets the credit for fixing it. The prophet Isaiah, along with a whole host of other Biblical writers put to paper, only by divine inspiration, what The Creator planned to do to fix the whole creation. Everything that we are seeing become more corrupt by the day will be taken care of because “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” That is cause for celebration. Don’t believe it? Better go back into God’s Word and see where His promises were kept.

So, as we go through the waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas, let’s consider the responses we should have concerning God’s provision of His reconciliation with His creation. May we grow in hope, may we live at peace, may we express joy and may we abound in love. These are things that we all actually want in our lives. These are also things that we actually need in our lives.

But may we also understand that there is no escaping the fact that our heavenly Father made a way for us to be reconciled with Him. That by the provision of a sent Son to be among us, to teach us, by being one of us, to show us the true way, we can really find ourselves sharing in the unconditional love shown to us simply by creating us. Once we got our heads around that maybe we can find ourselves saying ‘Amen” whenever anyone says anything to acknowledge that we are truly in the Christmas season. Amen?

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris, a graduate of The Colony of Mercy (11-2003) has been married for 25+ years (Kathy), has a married son (Kevin) and a daughter in college (Karen). He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008.

The Daily Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 5-9 | You can download our 2018 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here

Daily Quote: “Life in a prison cell may well be compared to Advent; one waits, hopes, and does this, that, or the other- things that are of no real consequence- the door is shut, and can be opened only from the outside.” — Dietrech Bonhoeffer

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5

 

 

 

 

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