Most who grow up in church know what to expect when they show up on one of the four Sundays before Christmas. The church will celebrate the season of Advent by lighting the Advent candles, usually done by a family with small children.
Typically, Advent is a time that we read passages from the Old Testament that prophesied about the coming of Jesus. We read the scriptures and ourselves prepare for the coming of Christ. Yes, we who live 2,000 years after the birth of Jesus prepare for his coming.
It may seem like a strange tradition if we think about it. Why do we read scriptures and talk about the birth of Christ as if it has not happened yet? To understand this we must first stop and make sure we don’t take for granted the time in history we live in compared to the one of the Old Testament Prophets.
Yes, we now live after the birth of Christ, but that has not always been the case. We celebrate the birth of Christ in this way because we understand that there was once a time in which Christ had not yet been born.
In Luke 2:10-11, when the angel announced to the shepherds about the birth of Christ, he said, “Fear not, for I behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
The angel used a term that is familiar to us, he called Jesus a Savior. He said the news of this Savior was good news for all people, not just the Jewish people who had been waiting on him.
Many of us have heard Jesus referred to as Savior all of our lives. Some do not know Jesus as Savior, but know that others do. Some knew he was the Savior before knowing him as their Savior. But when Christ was born, He was born to a people that were waiting on the Savior.
It’s hard to fathom a world without Christ, but that was what existed before his birth. The prophet Isaiah when prophesying about the coming Savior centuries before the birth of Christ wrote, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in darkness, on them a light has shone.(Isaiah 9:2).
What this verse from the book of Isaiah shows is not only what the Savior would bring, but what the world looked like before the Savior. It was dark. The people walked in darkness and lived in darkness.
This darkness is the result of sin. Sin separates us from God and separation from God is inherently darkness. We celebrate Advent to reflect on the state of humanity before Christ. It was darkness due to sin, but Christ came to bring light.
Advent does not only show what the world was like before Christ, it shows what our lives are like before Christ. Those without a true relationship with Jesus are also separated from God. Before Christ, we too lived in darkness.
Advent is a season to reflect on the darkness of life without Christ, and the light that comes from life with Christ.
Bee-Attitude
Blessed are those who don’t take for granted life with Christ by reflecting on the reality that there was once a life without Christ.
Gabe Thomas
Gabe Thomas is the Campus Minister for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Gordon State College. He also serves as the student pastor at Maynard Baptist Church in Forsyth. He is married to his wife Morgan and together they have two daughters, Amelia and Piper.
