Monday, December 4, 2006
COME, LORD JESUS
During this initial season of the church year -- Advent -- we prepare for the coming of the Savior. It is the time of year when we begin the church year by looking forward to the birth of God's Son. Advent is as time of preparation, of thinking about our sins and repenting of them, and waiting eagerly for the coming of our Savior.
In Advent we prepare for three "comings" of the Savior. The first coming is the day when He was born as a baby and laid in a manger at Bethlehem. So we look forward to Christmas, the birthday of Jesus Christ. The second coming is within ourselves. Jesus has come to us in our baptism. Every day He sends us His Holy Spirit to feed our souls with the Word of God and supply us with the power we need to live as God's children. We are happy that He comes to us each day to live in our hearts. The third coming of Jesus is in the future. He will come again to receive us into mansions of eternal glory in heaven. We look forward to His coming on the Last Day to judge the world and take us home.
These three comings of Jesus set the theme for Advent, a time for looking ahead in eager anticipation for the arrival of the King of kings. During Advent we look back to the manger. We look at ourselves in our daily living as God's children. We look forward to our Savior's return on the Last Day.
Come, Thou precious Ransom, come,
Only Hope for sinful mortals!
Come, O Savior of the world!
Open are to Thee all portals.
Come, Thy beauty let us see;
Anxiously we wait for Thee.
