What is Advent?

The traditional view of the Advent season refers to the coming and birth of Jesus Christ, traditional known as Christmas. This is the first coming of Jesus. But is there more? Yes! Jesus is coming back again a second time, to meet us in the clouds, all of those who are born again and all of those who were born again and have died. We will meet the Lord in the air!  

Transcript:

Want to discover your freedom in Christ. Then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin Smith talk about it today on Grace Coach. Hello. Welcome to Grace Coach. My name is Mike Stone and I'm with Kevin Evan Smith. Hello, Kevin. What's up, Mike? Yes, it is just two days from Christmas, and it's an exciting time for Christians in the world knowing that this is the day that Jesus was born. And we're going to talk about Advent, which many churches and many pastors talk about. This time is the time of Advent. So I thought we'd talk about what Advent is. Yes. Well, Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, which means coming, and the Greek word Para Russo, which means coming also. And it's really something that the Christian Church celebrates. And this is pretty much many of the major denominations celebrating Advent season. And in our family, we actually do the whole deal. We have candles that we like, actually, because my son went to College for the first year. We haven't done it in probably 18 years. But we have a big routine we do during Christmas, first day of December. We have a book that somebody gave us and we read a section and they go and they get part of the Nativity scene. And it's all the animals. And we have it in a daily little cabinet and they pull the drawer out and they pick an animal and we would guess which animal. It's just a tradition we do in our family, but it's a way that many people just prepare their hearts for this great celebration that we call Christmas. So, yeah, I mean, there's a couple of ways that when we say the coming of Christ, there's a couple of different meanings. I just explained a very traditional way of doing it. But there's also the second coming, which Chris is going to do. The first Advent was him coming as a baby. The second Advent is when he comes to actually return to Earth for his second coming. And one of the things that we want to just maybe give each one of us a different spin on this phrase is the coming into your own heart, personally, that you can have a personal Advent if you don't know Jesus Christ, your personal savior. We would be just so overjoyed if you through this podcast, understood what it meant, what the real meaning of Advent meant and means. Yes. Like you said, Kevin traditional view of Advent is that Jesus came to Earth, he was born savior of the world, and he not only came to take away all of our sins, but he more importantly, came to rise from the dead, that anyone who would believe in him would have new eternal life. Really, Christmas is a great celebration of new life in Christ. And then, like you said, there's a second coming that's mentioned over and over in the New Testament about that Jesus is coming back and that event is known as the Rapture, although you don't see the word Rapture in the scriptures. But it's the day that we will meet Jesus in the clouds in the air, that everyone who is born again will be with Jesus and anyone who has been a Christian and has passed on from this Earth and died, they will also meet Jesus and us all in the air. And it says for us to encourage each other with these words. Yes. So that is a great hope. The hope I have really every day is to know that it could happen at any time, anytime. And I said to you earlier, it was an all blue sky. And I said to my wife, I go, I don't think he's coming today. There's no clouds. And now that's all we have is clouds. Pretty cloudy out there. Yeah. And then for sure, the coming of Christ to come live in your heart. Yes, that is Salvation. That is when you are born again and you cross over from death to life. So let's talk about a few things. One, let's talk about why did Jesus come the first time and then why is Jesus coming again? All right. Well, why did Jesus come the first time? Well, I would say the first reason is to forgive us of our sins. Hebrews 727 says, unlike other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. So Jesus Christ came as a baby, lived a sinless, perfect life, and he was the perfect sacrifice

Participant #1:
for the sins of the people. And that was to cover sins. And God instructed them to do that because Jesus hadn't come into the world yet. He hadn't come as a one time final sacrifice. But there's a big difference between covering your sins and then taking away of your sins. So we no longer have to worry about whether we are forgiven people or not. We are and it's based on the word of God. There's just so many scriptures talking about that Jesus came to take away all of our sins one time. The second reason he came is to rescue us from the Dominion of darkness and of spiritual death because that's how we came into this world. We're born into this world, spiritually dead, and that means separated from God. When Adam ate from the tree that God told him not to, God promised that he would die that day. Adam died spiritually, the spirit of God left Adam and we're all now a product of Adam's decision that we are born into this world in the same way that Adam's son Seth was, and that is spiritually dead, separated from God. So he rescued us from the Dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins that's Colossians one, one, three, and 14. So this is something he's already done for anyone who believes you are no longer in darkness, but you now are in the Kingdom of the sun that he loves. And that's awesome. That is huge. That is absolutely huge. And if we can get a hold of that truth, that we are no longer in that Kingdom, but we are in God's Kingdom. We are part of his family, forever sealed based on his words. Because I know we don't have this verse in here and we reference it sometimes, but God made the promise to himself because the people's failure to keep the Covenant that he made with person after person after person. In the Old Testament, the Jews, the Israelites, they could not keep the Covenant. And so in Hebrews, it says, I swore by myself. I swore by no one greater than myself. And so by two unchangeable things, God and God. God and Jesus, he made the Covenant that we enjoy. We can't mess set up all the way. Try.

Participant #1:
Yeah. God will never leave us once now that he lives in us. So if you're born again and you're listening to this podcast, you have to know that no one can snatch you out of God's hands. No one can snatch you out of Jesus hands. Yes. It's because of the word of God. And it's really because of the fact that all of your sins are forgiven. There is nothing that will cause God to leave you. You are saved completely and eternally. As long as Jesus lives, he will be advocating for us. Yeah. And it says that he lives forever. He lives forever. Yeah. And then one, John, one five, Kevin, this is the message we heard from Jesus. And now to clear to you, God is light. And in him there is no darkness at all. And so if you've come to Christ again, you've been rescued from this Dominion of darkness. There is no darkness if you are in Christ. Right. So that's another thing. There's no darkness if you're in Christ. But think of it, flip that around. There's no darkness in God. Okay. There's no darkness in God. So we are in God. We are in God, and God is in us. John 17 I'm in them. They're in me. And so you have to look at ourselves in a new way. You can't look at yourself as this sinful. Oh, my gosh. I can maybe go on a rant here, but let's just say I've heard of preachers say that, opening up sermons and saying you're a sinner and speaking in general terms to the congregation. And I'm just like I was holding myself back. Anyway, we may send I send you. We all do sinful things. But that is not the point anymore. Our identity is no longer a sinner, just as the people in Corinth, even though they were still struggling and doing stupid stuff. Paul didn't address them as you sinners in Corinth. How did Paul address the people in Corinth? Saints. Okay. We are Saints, beloved children of God in whom there is no darkness. And we have to start owning that and really believing that about ourselves, even in the midst of our worst despair and situations and blowing it. That is true. We do blow it. And I tell you, I think as a Christian, when I think about sin and just thinking about it, that's tough because it's like this pressure, this thing that comes into your mind and you don't want it there. But I tell you, there's really joy in resisting it. And that for when it happens, when you can resist the thought of sin and then following through with it and whatever it might be, there's so many different ways we sin, but there really is joy in walking in love and walking in truth and keeping your eyes on Christ Jesus, keeping your eyes on the hope and the return of Christ one day. It does squash the sinful desires of our hearts. And I tell you, it does feel good. Yeah, absolutely. I hope nobody listens to our podcast and says walks away not really wanting to say no to sin. That is not what we're trying to say because we know sin. Whatever we do, it's never going to please us. We've got a reset in our heart right now, and we may not believe it, but sin no longer pleases us like it once did. The moment you have a fit of rage or anger or jealousy or divisiveness or you gossip or you lust or you do anything excessively, we know we're not fulfilled by that. And so that's the proof that sin just doesn't work for those who are in Christ. And so we can do it. But it's not going to please us like it once did. I want to just do a bit of a rabbit. I'll keep this really short, but a friend of mine gave me an audiobook on Andrew Murray and I haven't listened to the whole thing. I know I've read Andrew Murray before, years ago, but I haven't really one in depth with them. But I only listen to one chapter, the first chapter of this book. The main point, what I want to try to say here is that idea of our sin is pride. And I know you and I, we don't talk about that a lot on our podcast, but pride is the root of basically so many of our sins. If you just take a minute and think back on it, pride, it was what Satan felt in heaven. He wanted to be like God. And if you just look back, the root of our sin comes when we're thinking more about ourselves than what we should or incorrectly thinking about ourselves. Pricefully. So I just put that out there to you. Yeah. And that's why Kevin love cast out a multitude of since Amen to that man. Hey, so number three reason why Jesus came the first time was to give us new life. And John Ten says that I have come, that you might have life and have it to the full. Amen. And then John 524 says, I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God, who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death to life. Right. There kind of encapsulates what we've just been talking about. Those who listen to my message and believe have eternal life. And there's another verse that says in John that if you don't believe it's basically, John 317, if you don't believe, you remain condemned, you stand in judgment, you stand condemned. Yeah. John 316 says the same thing just before that, for God so loved the world. And you can just fill in your name right when you use the world to say, Mike, God so loved Mike, that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish. Right. Spiritually. You will not perish spiritually, but you will have eternal life. And that's because we've crossed over from death to life. Okay. Well, we've covered. Why did Jesus come for the first time to forgive us our sins. He came to rescue us from the Dominion of darkness and to give us new eternal life. Now let's talk about the second coming. Why is Jesus coming again, coming again on the cloud? Well, there's basically a few reasons to bring Salvation for those who are waiting for him to enter our final destination, place of heaven, to receive our new spiritual bodies, which is really cool, and to live with the Lord forever and with other believers. And that's forever and ever. So if somebody, a loved one of yours who passed on and has died but was born again and in Christ, you will see them again. And that is the day that Christ comes. He calls it the day we read the Scriptures, the day of the Lord, the coming of the Lord. There's a lot of different ways that the second return of Christ is mentioned. But I think first, Thessalonians 416 to 18 really says the best and clearest. And it says for the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a cry of a command, with the voice of an Archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever and therefore encourage each other with these words. So this is when you think about Advent. What we're saying this podcast is, yes, it's about Christmas and yes, Jesus was born in the manger, and it's a beautiful story of redemption and forgiveness and new life and being rescued from the Dominion of darkness. But man, he's coming again to take you to be with him. Yes. Face to face with Jesus Christ. And we will see God Almighty. Yeah, that is amazing. I'm going to pop down here and unless you have something else you want to say on that, I want to read Hebrews 927 and 28. This is one of my favorite verses. Just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ will sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. And he will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring Salvation to those who are waiting for him. Some versions say eagerly waiting for him. The more you believe this message, you eagerly wait when you understand the real deal. There's an eagerness I mean, pretty much every morning in my devotions, just like you were saying he could come back today. I just think about that. Today could be the day. This moment could be the day. I mean, it's going to be that at some point it's going to be like that. And I know the scripture says it comes as a thief in the night. So maybe in the night. Sounds like that's the time when the Lord says to Jesus, Go get your children. Yeah. Also says in the days of Noah, just like when they were marrying and given in marriage, just like today, people are marrying and giving in marriage. The flood came. Nobody knew it was coming. That's the way it's going to be with Jesus. That's right. And the verse you just read, Hebrews 927 and 28, it says that just as people are destined to die once, we know that's true. Right. And after that, to face judgment, I mean, every person is going to be asked the question, what did you do with my son? Did you put your faith in Christ and believe in him or did you not? Right. That is the question. And if you did not put your faith in Christ, just like we said a second ago, you stand condemned already because of your deeds and your sin. It's really the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden that separated mankind. So it doesn't matter whether you are a serial criminal or not or matter whether you're an outstanding fine citizen, you still stand condemned. And that's for people who just think that they are a nice person and their good deeds are going to outweigh their bad deeds. It ain't going to work that way. It's not about you. You are already condemned because of the Apple and the Garden of Eden that broke our relationship with God, the mankind's relationship with God. So very powerful point. Yeah. One John 511 says if you have the sun, you have life. And if you do not have the sun, you do not have life. So our citizenship. Kevin is in heaven and we await a savior from there. The Lord Jesus Christ that's Philippians 320 the way I thought we could conclude and end this podcast is to encourage all of our listeners to keep your mind and hearts on things above. Don't let the burdens of this world and this life we live in because there's good and then there's bad and keep your mind and heart on things above because Jesus is coming back. Yes, absolutely. And that is such a powerful message. I know you were sharing about somebody you were talking about that was depressed and not feeling good and you told him it's really about what you thinking. What you're thinking really determines your feelings. And in this season our thinking can be all over the place. You see so many people hanging out with family and loved ones and if you don't have that, you're thinking can go south really quick and just the busyness that we find ourselves into. We're running. We're frantic. We don't have time to sit down and do some serious meditation on the word. I mean, we're trying to buy gifts and go to parties but we just want to encourage people just to take a moment yeah, on a regular basis and remind ourselves of the truth that we've talked about and that's in the word. Absolutely, guys. And you can always just go to our website, gracecoach.org and get any message anytime you want some encouragement. Merry Christmas, friends. Thank you for listening to Grace, coach. If you want to connect, connect with us. We would love to engage with you. Email us at the [email protected], visit our Facebook page or visit our website gracecoach.