The Advent of Love

Admin
10 hours ago
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Advent is the four week period leading up to Christmas. As we have learned in the previous posts, Advent is a time of preparation, of reflection, of expectation, and for remembering. Advent should be a time of longing for the kingdom that is to come and a time of meditation and prayer. It is also a time of penance when we examine our hearts and address what we find there.

During the first week of Advent, the focus is hope. Hope is the eager expectation for the fulfillment of what God has promised. The focus of the second week of Advent is peace. Peace is more than experiencing calm without conflict. Peace speaks of removing the barriers that separate us from having an intimate relationship with God, restoring our fellowship, and making us one with our Creator again. The third week is focused on joy. We are reminded that joy is not the same thing as happiness. True joy is a deep down “knowing.” It is a deep-seated confidence that every aspect of my life is in Father’s hands. Joy is about contentment. It’s about being fully satisfied, and then we rest in that knowledge regardless of how difficult or pleasant our circumstances happen to be.

During the fourth week of Advent, the focus is love. Love is a theme that is visited often throughout the year, not just during Advent. Love is the subject of most of the songs we listen to on the radio. It is the plot line of every rom-com movie that we watch. It is the inspiration for the greeting cards we buy, especially on Valentine’s Day. And love is the reason that we spend billions, if not trillions, of dollars on gifts throughout the year.

God’s Love

Love is also the subject of the most well-known Scripture in all the world. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” This is the basis for our faith. Love is the encapsulation of the gospel, and the reason for our hope, peace, and joy that we meditate on during Advent.

John 3:16 tells of God’s deep and wondrous love for each of us. What is this love? Contrary to what the world would have us believe, love is not merely some warm and fuzzy emotion that we feel for someone or something. Love is so much more than that. Paul uses this word in I Corinthians 13, and it has a very different definition. The love that Paul speaks of is a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional preference for others. Love is an act of preferring others over ourselves. It is a matter of considering and valuing others’ needs and concerns more highly than our own.

Love is both a choice that we make and an action we take. We choose to love by actively caring and getting involved in other’s lives. Love is an action that we can direct toward others to show affection or preference. It is also something that we give to and receive from others. True love is shown by doing what the one loved needs, not necessarily doing only what is wanted. This is contrary to what many people believe today.

The Angels’ Candle

During the first week of Advent, we light the first candle which is called the Prophecy candle. During the second week of Advent, we light the Bethlehem candle. During the third week, the Shepherd’s candle is lit. And during the fourth week of Advent, we light what is known as the Angels’ candle.

As mentioned earlier, Advent is a time to remember, and during this week of Advent we call to mind the angels who played a part in the Christmas story. We remember how Gabriel was sent to speak to Zechariah in the Holy of Holies in the Temple as he offered the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. This story is found in Luke chapter 1. We also called a mind Gabriel’s visit with Mary six months later as he told her about the miraculous baby that she would bear.

In Matthew chapter 1, we find Gabriel speaking with Joseph as he slept during the night assuring him that he should take Mary to be his wife because the incredible story she told him was true. And finally, nine months later, in a field outside of Bethlehem we find the angels once again delivering miraculous, wondrous news to shepherds tending the sheep at night. These angels, in each of these amazing events, were sent as messengers of love by the God of the universe, the Creator of all things. They were sent by the one we reverently and lovingly call Father.

Angelic Ministry

Throughout the Scriptures, angels are mentioned 273 times. While the Scriptures do not give us a lot of detail about the angels or about their ministry, we do know that angels are messengers sent from God. In fact, that is what the Greek word used for these beings mean: messengers or one who is given a message to deliver. We glean this bit of information from Hebrews 1:14 where the writer asks, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

Angels Interact With People

We also believe that angels intervene, interact, or become involved in human lives. We see an example of this interaction with Lot, Abrahams nephew, Genesis 19. We find angels again with Gideon in Judges 6, with the prophet Daniel in Daniel 6, and with Elijah in I Kings 19. This is in addition to the interactions that we saw earlier with Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph.

We also see an interaction with angels in Acts 5:19 as Peter and the other apostles are being held in prison in Jerusalem for preaching about Jesus. We read how during the night an angel opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. Finally, we find an example of angelic ministry in Hebrews 13:2 where believers are encouraged to show hospitality to strangers for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Angels Bring Instruction

Another thing we understand about angels is that they bring instructions from God. An example of this is found in Matthew 1:20 where we find the angel instructing Joseph to take Mary as his wife instead of divorcing her as he was considering. We find another example in Acts 8:26 where we read that an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, a man we are introduced to in Acts 6 to assist the apostles along with Steven, to go south to the desert Road. This is where he met the Ethiopian eunuch who was saved and baptized. We can ascertain from such events that angels are regularly dispatched to intervene in our lives.

Angels Follow Orders

We also believe that angels are given orders that they must carry out. David mentions this aspect of angelic ministry in Psalm 103:20, where he writes, “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.” Angels are also charged to protect and preserve. We see this in Psalm 34:7 where David writes, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and he delivers them.”

Angels are also sent to guard us. While there is no scriptural evidence for guardian angels per se, we do see in Psalm 91:11 the Scripture that Satan quoted to Jesus in the wilderness, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” And an angelic activity we are all very familiar with is Jesus’ statement at the end of the parable of the lost coin about angels rejoicing over lost ones finding salvation. We read that account in Luke 15:10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

And finally, we know that angels will be at the second coming, the next Advent of Christ. We find this fact in Matthew 24:31 when Jesus says, “God will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

We are Called

So, we can see that the activities and responsibilities of angels are quite varied, but the angels are not God’s only messengers. We are also called to be his messengers upon this earth, though few of us could actually be called “angels” as we define the term today. (I am speaking mainly of myself here.)

As messengers, we carry the message we have received. What is our message? Our message is simple. It is three words and found in I John 4:16 where it says, “God is love.” That is our message, pure and simple. Anything more or anything less muddies the water, invites confusion, and diminishes the impact of our message. And just like the angels, we have been sent to intervene, interact, get involved in, and share our lives with those around us.

Called to Interact With Others

Paul talks about many of those interactions in Romans 12 where he details the interaction we are to have within the Church. We also see this theme in Colossians 3:13-14 where it says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Like it or not, we are called to bear with or put up with one another. This is the hard work of being a believer. It is not easy to forgive one another, to lay down our right to be right, or to take the wrong like Jesus did. And yet the Word says to forgive as the Lord forgave you. And Paul goes on to say, “And over all these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Unity, which is being reconciled to God and with each other, was the sole purpose of Jesus’ ministry.

In Matthew 5:9, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” Peacemakers are those who bring peace and unity into their relationships through their interactions with others. These are the ones who are called the “children of God.” These are the ones who possess and demonstrate the character and nature of our Father.

Called to Bring Instruction

As messengers, we bring instruction from God to those that we live with, work with, and interact with. The highest and hardest instruction we bring to these is found in I John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God for God is love.” This is likely the toughest task we will ever be given. It is the most difficult instruction we will ever be called upon to share with other believers.

Called to Follow Orders

Like the angels, we are also called to follow the orders and directives we have been given. In I John 5:3, we read this statement, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands, and his commands are not burdensome.” We are told we are to follow his orders by obeying his Word, but those commands are not burdensome. That means that they are not heavy or difficult to carry, even though at times they seem exactly that.

Called to Protect and Preserve

As messengers of God, we are also called to protect and preserve that which we’ve been given charge over. Paul addresses this in I Timothy 5:8, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially those in their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

We also join the angels to rejoice in our salvation. Peter expresses this sentiment in I Peter 1:3-4, “Praise be to God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! And his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade.”

And finally, we too will be at the second coming, the next Advent of Christ. We find this promise in I Thessalonians 4:16-17 where we read, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.”

We are Reminded

Today, we are reminded of God’s love for us. Today, we remember the angels in the story of Jesus’ birth, and today we are being reminded of our tasks as messengers for Christ. We have been tasked with carrying Father’s message of love to this planet and to our community. That message is simple. We read it earlier in I John 4:16, “God is love.”

As faithful stewards of the Word of God, we also share John’s words in I John 4:9, “This is how God showed his love among us, he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” That is our message during Advent this year. Let us be reminded that Jesus is our message. Jesus is our mission. Jesus is our most sought after treasure. Jesus is the most precious gift we have been given, and the best gift we can offer this Christmas.

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