To me, I sometimes think of the Advent season as just another tradition that we perform in the month of December that does not really strike the heart. My church does not celebrate Advent (with the wreath and candles, etc.), and I have never really participated in the events of it since I a was a little girl, and I did not really get it then. Communion, Advent, Lent, The Lord’s Prayer, and other practices that many Christian churches do on a weekly (or annual) basis can inspire, in and of themselves, great reverence, awe, thankfulness, and humility. However, at the same time, these practices may also cause apathy, indifference, and a lack of attention to the purpose behind the acts or events because of their repetition.
Although it may seem that I have gotten off tract in regard to the title of this blog, I haven’t. Christmas has become so commercialized and so formalized that it seems like we don’t really get to the heart of the season, the reason why we celebrate. As my cell group had been studying the book of Genesis, and the promises of God had been a recurring theme throughout that book, this season, I have looked at the birth of Jesus quite differently. In light of the book of Genesis, God’s provision of Jesus to save us is so awesome to realize.
Looking back at the book of Genesis, covenants were contracts between two parties who each agreed and made promises and, if they were not fulfilled, the party who did not fulfill their part could be (would be) killed. In the Covenant between Abram and God, Abram never walked through the blood sealing his promise, but God walked through twice. God made a promise of His own and then promised to keep Abram’s part. Abram’s part was that he’d “walk before me [God] and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1b) Impossible? Yes. But God promised when he went through the covenant blood that he’d keep Abram’s part. And it was not just Abram’s promise, but “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.’” (Genesis 17:9) God told Abraham (his name got changed here) that not just he would need to be blameless, but all who would have God be their God would need to be blameless.
How can we do this? Be blameless? We can’t. But God, knowing that Abraham/Abram (and us) would never be able to keep that promise, walked through the covenant blood for us and would keep that promise for us. How? Jesus. Because we couldn't keep the promise of blamelessness (and God chose to keep it for us), the covenant would be fulfilled with the death of Jesus. To me, it is so amazing that Jesus was willing to do this. To be a sacrifice for me who has never been, nor never will be here, blameless.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NLT) reads that: “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory.” God fulfilled all His promises to His people with Jesus choosing to come and be a man and Him choosing to be our sacrifice (see Philippians 2:6-8). The Promise of God was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus and in His choice to submit to death. This idea has hugely influenced my outlook on Christmas this year and on how important this birth was. It had been thousands of years in the making, and we only celebrate God’s willingness to be like us and to die for us one day a year, and that has been made so commercialized it has become unrecognizable. The celebration of the Advent of Jesus should be recognized for what it used to be, the anticipation and longing for our God’s sacrifice.
The term “advent” means the “arrival that has been awaited (especially of something momentous).” I realized this year that I don’t celebrate the birth of Jesus through the whole month in anticipation of celebrating that He came to live and die for me. I worry and I fret about money and buying gifts, about having time for Christmas parties and friends and family. I need to re-prioritize my life and realize that it is the advent of Jesus that has given me forgiveness, grace, and mercy. That it is due to that covenant between Abram and God, that God kept both parts, that I am saved through that choice God made to love me unconditionally. Shouldn’t I take that realization and let the Holy Spirit work in me to make me a new creation? Shouldn’t I let go of the old man and put on the new? (See Ephesians 4:17-24) I need to let the Advent of Jesus and the celebration of His life and death change me, make me new, and make life about Him, not me.
