Advent is…for me…the best part of the whole Christmas season.

What is Advent?

Advent simply means “coming.” That is exactly what we are celebrating! We are preparing for the “coming” of Jesus. The Jewish people waited for centuries for the First Advent, and we now wait for the Second Advent. It is all about expectations! Advent is the season of expectation. We expect Jesus to return at any time, and observe Advent as a way to remind us about the importance of the birth of Jesus, and as a way to prepare us for His second coming.

When is Advent this year?

Although Advent does not officially start until December 2, I want to start today so that I can get the full 28 days to celebrate His coming. Usually Advent is reserved for the four Sundays preceding Christmas and is most often observed in a church service. However, for those that observe Advent in their home they have the opportunity to make it a daily time of devotion to be shared with the family. The idea is that each of the four weeks involved, the devotions focus on a certain virtue of Christ. The usual four virtues are Hope, Peace (sometimes Preparation), Joy, and Love. Each Sunday is usually associated with the lighting of a particular candle on the Advent wreath.

Wait…What wreath?

The Advent wreath is a simple small wreath of evergreen that contains four candles set in a cross. Three of those candles are purple and one is pink. There is also, sometimes a white candle placed in the center of the wreath. As Advent progresses each candle is lit according to its meaning. It starts with the candle opposite the pink candle and then proceeds in a clockwise direction so that the pink candle is lit on the third Sunday. The white candle is not lit until Christmas day.

Why are we lighting the candles?

As I said before, each candle has a specific meaning.

The first candle is purple and represents Hope. It is lit to remind us of the Hope of the coming Savior. It is lit in anticipation of His arrival, and is meant to help us remember His promise that He will come again.

The second candle is also purple and represents Peace. It is lit on the second Sunday of Advent along with the first candle and reminds us of the Peace that comes with the Messiah. The Jews longed for peace for many hundreds of years as they waited for prophecy to be fulfilled. We also long for Peace as we wait for the second coming of Christ. I mentioned that this candle sometimes represents Preparation as well. That is because we are not supposed to be idle as we wait, but rather preparing for His coming.

 

The third candle is pink and represents Joy. It is lit on the third Sunday along with the previous two candles. This candle reminds us of the Joy that is brought to us through Jesus. Without the first coming of Jesus this world would not know Joy! We remember that it is only through Him that we find Joy, and so we light the pink candle for this reason.

The fourth candle is purple again and represents Love. It is lit on the last Sunday before Christmas and is lit along with the other three candles. It serves to remind us of the never-ending Love God has for us. In the First Advent (or coming) “God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son…” (John 3:16). And in the Second Advent God will show His love for us again when His One and Only Son returns to rule His people. Love is the last of the four candles because it completes the other three virtues of Christ.

 

The white candle is lit on Christmas day. It is referred to as the Christ Candle because it represents the birth of the Messiah. It reminds us of Jesus’ birth and of His second coming. It is lit at sunrise and burns for the entire day to signify the everlasting Kingdom of God.

So…Where do we start?

Today is November 26 and if we continue to study the coming of Jesus at the First Advent for the next 28 days, we will find ourselves finished on December 23. This allows us to observe Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our family. The devotion I use has a plan for Christmas Eve, but traditionally it is reserved for the family as all expectations are made for the following day when the Messiah is born.

There are many prophesies in the Old Testament that point to the coming Messiah. One of the most overlooked is found in the first book of the Bible; Genesis. So, let’s begin there…

 

“Then the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

-Genesis 3:14-15

At first glance, this does not seem like a prophecy, but rather just the consequence of the sin of the serpent in the Garden. In that thought you would be right…and wrong. You see, God did punish the serpent by making it to crawl on its belly and taste dirt with its tongue, but He also told Satan (who was possessing the serpent) that he would be crushed by the Son of woman. Jesus was not born to a man and woman, but rather to a virgin (woman alone through the Spirit of God). 1 John 3:8 says:

“The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works.”

-1 John 3:8

Hebrews also tells us:

“Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death – that is, the Devil-…”

-Hebrews 2:14

You see; through the prophecy God gave in Genesis He promised Hope! He gave all humanity the Hope that one day, a man born to a virgin would conquer Satan by giving His life for all mankind. Jesus fulfilled that promise on the Cross! We now have the Hope that in His Second Coming, He will conquer Satan for good and end all suffering on earth. We have a reason, in Christ, to look forward and have Hope in the Second Coming.

Prayer

Our Heavenly Father,

Allow us to see the Hope that you have given us this season. Allow us to follow Your lead and go where You go. Give us sight to see that through Your prophecy You gave us Hope in the coming Messiah and that through this fulfilled prophecy we have Hope in the Second Coming. Send Your Spirit to comfort us as we wait on the Advent of Christ! We ask these things in Jesus’ name.

Amen