The Advent of Joy

When I was asked to promulgate the Advent message of Joy, I thought about just repeating my message from last year, but Pastor Ellery pointed out the picture on the back wall with the scripture from Psalm 30: 5

   For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may spend the night,
but there is joy in the morning.

In light of the season we are celebrating we can see the broader picture of the anguish of darkness mankind has been subjugated to since the fall and the indescribable joy of the dawn of the plan of redemption that those in the past looked forward to, and those of us today that look back to the hope He brought to the world in a lowly manger.

  When Adam sinned, he and Eve both died spiritually right then and there. The life-light of God was extinguished and the shadow-less grip of pitch black death pervaded their souls as it began working from the inside out. The curse of sin swept over the earth and all of creation has been writhing in agony ever since.

Let us look back to when the darkness fell and our sorrow began. When humans were first created they enjoyed direct fellowship with God. The only things we were required to do was to propagate the species (be fruitful and multiply), rule over all the creatures, and tend a garden. Unfortunately, it all went to you know where in a hand basket in short order. When Adam sinned, he and Eve both died spiritually right then and there. The life-light of God was extinguished and the shadow-less grip of pitch black death pervaded their souls as it began working from the inside out. The curse of sin swept over the earth and all of creation has been writhing in agony ever since. Only by continued gracious interventions of God has mankind been spared from complete self annihilation. Even the institution of the Law could not alleviate our eternal plight of darkened grief. The Law merely presents the standard by which all of us have fallen short. It does not have the power to bring about the perfection it demands; it cannot bring us the light. It can only reveal how entrenched in the anguish of night we really are.
But even in the midst of this worldwide despairing darkness, God in His mercy, gave humanity glimmers of hope through various people as illuminated in Hebrews 11.  Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and others scattered about in the great story of God were chosen, anointed, and used mightily for His purpose as they pointed to the Savior to come. By faith they clung to the hope of a promise that brought them joy, even though they all died (except Enoch and Elijah) before they saw the promise fulfilled (Heb.11:13). Even with these sparks and flashes of the light of God’s grace, things were still very dark. Despite all of the prophets, the kings, the judges and various other miraculous interventions the world seemed to sink deeper and deeper into dark, consuming hopelessness.

   God Himself took on a flesh and blood body by the miracle of birth through a human mother.

 Generation after generation existed without even hearing a single new prophetic word from their God. But all of that changed at one particular moment in history. At that one point, appointed before creation was spoken into existence, the word of the Lord was heard once again, not though a man, but directly from an angel. The first heavenly proclamation came to the priest Zechariah heralding the birth of John, the prophet that will prepare the way for the Lord Himself. The second miraculous announcement came to Mary that God will actually come Himself to earth in human flesh. Then we have the marvelous declaration of His actual birth to the shepherds on the hillside by an angelic multitude. This is the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise that the O.T. faithful had longed to see. This was the promise from God for a permanent remedy for humanity’s sin. The countless sacrifices that were done to atone for sin were just a temporary covering that had to be constantly repeated. They did however, foreshadow the coming of a perfect sacrifice that would once and for all satisfy the horrendous debt that our sin incurred. And that perfect sacrifice was God Himself in flesh and blood.

So why did God have to come in the flesh? There are of course recorded occasions in the bible where God appeared to certain people in a physically recognizable form after the original sin (such as Abraham and Sarah, Hagar, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Samson’s parents, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah and Nebuchadnezzar). Most of the scriptures in these occasions use the phrase “the Angel of the Lord”, but after the occurrences the people marveled that they had seen God Himself. These were special occasions where God revealed Himself but He was still the omnipotent God, outside of physical limitations such as death. Only physical beings such as flesh and blood people and animals, and plant life can die, which by the way, is the payment for our debt of sin. God declared this to Adam in the garden (Gen. 2:17). We also see it in the establishment of the sacrificial system, and it appears in the N.T when Paul reiterates it in Romans 6:23. The wrath of God required satisfaction and none of us born on this planet with our fallen sin nature could propitiate such an extravagant cost.

   We who have been redeemed can look forward to the next advent of Jesus when our physical bodies – as well as all of creation - will be cleansed and renewed to fully display the glory of God.

So God Himself took on a flesh and blood body by the miracle of birth through a human mother. Because He is and was God the Son, He did not have Adam’s inherent sin nature. So here was the unprecedented marvel of Jesus - fully flesh and blood human - capable of getting hungry, being fatigued, becoming angry or frustrated, feeling sorrow, and grief, everything you and I can experience with this body. Yet He was and is fully God – He performed miracles, knew what people were thinking, did not give in to the temptations of sin, forgave people of their sin, and fulfilled the unattainable requirements of the Father’s Law by perfectly loving the Father with his whole heart, soul, and strength and by loving His neighbor as Himself. Then at the appointed time He took our sin upon Himself and died in our rightful place of judgment. Then He rose from death for our justification, giving His righteousness to all who would believe the good news of His vicarious death and resurrection.

This is the source of our joy during this time we call Advent, when we celebrate His arrival. But even while we revel in the joy of our redemption, there is another advent we can anticipate that will complete the work He began. While we do rejoice that the light of salvation has brought eternal life to our once death darkened spirits, the world we currently occupy is still overshadowed by the effects of sin (Rom.8:22-23). Everything in the physical realm has yet to experience the joy of redemption. We who have been redeemed can look forward to the next advent of Jesus when our physical bodies – as well as all of creation - will be cleansed and renewed to fully display the glory of God.

Let us then be reminded to look back with joy this Christmas season at the Christ who came to rescue us from the despair and weeping of the night brought on by sin. He was the perfect gift who dawned within us the glorious morning light of our joy and salvation .

John Clark

John Clark is a husband to Julie, a father of one son living in Valrico, Florida. He has an Associate Degree of Theology from Life Christian University, and serves at Life Center of Brandon where he is a teacher and writer.