The Advent of Hope

Admin
Oct 21
6 min read

The history and origin of Advent can be traced back to the early centuries of the Christian faith. It has developed over time to become the season that we know today and is celebrated by millions of Christians around the world. In the simplest terms, Advent is the season leading up to Christmas, which was the first advent of Christ. It is the four-week period preceding Christmas Day with each week focusing on a specific quality or characteristic of the holiday. Pope John Paul II described Advent in this way: “In Advent, we await an event which occurs in history and at the same time transcends it.” It is a time in which we look back and look forward at the same time.

Deitrich Bonhoeffer made this statement regarding the observance: “The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.” This statement reminds us of the first Beatitude in Matt. 5:3 which speaks of those who are poor in spirit and are promised the Kingdom of Heaven. It is with this same poorness that we need to approach this season.

A Season of Reflection

The Advent Season is a time of preparing our heart, soul, and mind to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is about pondering the state of our soul and considering how we can prepare our hearts and homes for the celebration of Christ’s birth in the world as it is today. Celebrating Advent is an excellent reminder of what Christmas is truly all about – which is the advent of our Savior, our Messiah, and our Lord.

The celebration of Advent is also a time of reflection when we step away from what can be a frenzied time of parties, shopping, and holiday noise to consider how we commemorate the birth of Jesus in our hearts. Advent is a time for reflection, spiritual growth, and embracing the hope and promise of Christ's arrival, both in the historical event of his birth and in the future expectation of his return.

The Advent season calls us to be alert and ready, not weighted down and distracted by the cares of this world. It is a time to remember that this world is not our home and being reminded that we should not become too attached to the trappings of this world and the many temptations that exist around us.

Advent should be a time of longing for the Kingdom of God to be manifested in our lives, and it should be a time of yearning for the second advent or second coming of Christ. Advent is intended to be a time of meditation and prayer. It should be a time of repentance in the sense of preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas.

A Season of Hope

Advent is a time of hope, which is the first theme of Advent. The Greek word used in Scripture defines hope as a joyful and confident expectation. In layman’s terms, hope is a wholehearted expectation and looking forward to what is certain to come, not just a blind wish or an optimistic desire. The hope we know as believers has an expectation. Not just in the sweet by and by per se but in our average, mundane everyday lives now.

Hope is the confident anticipation that God is here with us in the moment and that he will take care of all that concerns us from the most inconsequential events to the critical, life-altering challenges we face. Hope is powerful and exciting. It becomes the adrenaline that pushes you through the difficult, through the mundane, and through whatever life throws at you.

The Prophecy Candle

The first candle that is lit during the Advent season is called the prophecy candle. Since Advent is a time to remember, during this season we call to mind many of the Old Testament prophecies that foretold the birth of Christ. There are, in fact, more than 200 prophecies in Scripture foretelling Christ’s birth, and this gives us the assurance and the hope we need to believe that the prophecies regarding Jesus’ second coming are going to come to pass as well.

We have all lived through troubling times, or perhaps you may be enduring an epic struggle or crisis of faith right now. In the world today, it appears that evil has the upper hand that we are surrounded by darkness, and all seems lost. Advent is a time to remember, a time to remind our heart and soul of God’s faithfulness.

We read the words of the sons of Korah in Ps. 42:5, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” And in Heb. 10:23 we read these words of encouragement, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” We see God’s faithfulness throughout the Scriptures as they foretell the coming of the Messiah –the advent of Emmanuel, “God with us.”

The first prophecy of a coming Messiah was spoken by God himself in Gen. 3:15 where God is cursing the serpent and giving the promise of one who would crush the enemy. In Deut. 18:15, we read about a coming prophet that the Lord God would raise up. In Is. 7:14, we find the prophecy about a virgin giving birth. We find in Micah 5:2 the name of the town in which the Messiah would be born. In Hosea 11:1, we see that Jesus would come out of Egypt. In Is. 9:1-2, we read that Jesus’ ministry would begin in Galilee. And perhaps the most well-known of these prophetic Scriptures comes from Is.9:6-7 where we read these words, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace,” and that gives us hope.

During this Advent season, we are waiting with a fervent hope for the second advent or coming of Christ. The Hebrews waited and watched for nearly 4,000 years for the first advent of Christ, and they wondered what he would look like. They wondered what he would do when he got there. They were hoping for a political messiah, a military leader to release them from the occupation of Rome. They were anticipating an uprising. They were hoping for a mighty warrior to lead the armies of Israel to victory to deliver them out of their captivity. But that is not what the Scriptures foretold.

Today, we too yearn for our coming Messiah, the one who will ride the clouds with the armies of heaven behind him. Believers have been watching and waiting for Christ’s return for nearly 2,000 years, and we wonder what he will look like and what he will do when he comes back. We read John’s words in Rev. 19:11-16 where John describes the moment when Jesus returns with his armies as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. This is what we are watching for. This is what we are waiting for. He will come as a conquering King rather than a suffering servant this time.

Now, it is true that we hope for many things in life. We hope for good health and for a love that lasts a lifetime. We hope for happiness in life, financial stability, success in our careers, and a sense of fulfillment in life. These are the things that people hope for the most, but our hope is in our God. During this Advent season, we are waiting with assurance, with an absolute confidence that these things shall come to pass just as the Scripture foretell. During this advent season, may we focus on the hope we have been given.

And that hope gives us strength to keep going. It gives us strength to hold fast to our faith. May this Advent season fill your hearts and homes with hope as we look forward to the second advent of our Savior.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®