Advent Devotional 2022

CONSIDER THIS

A third, important Advent image that feeds the roots of Jesus’ story is the image of God as light. Light is part of the biblical narrative from the very beginning of time. In the storyline of Jesus, we discover that God is always bringing light into dark places, clarity and truth into the dim shadows of a broken world. In Advent, Jesus comes to us as the Light of the World.

Jesus is the light that dispels the shadows that lurk in the human heart. From the garden to the Gospels, from the Great Commission to the great city of the New Jerusalem, God has been, is, and will be lighting up hearts, and lighting up the world.

There is a high probability that for those of us who put up Christmas lights in or around our home, one of our favorite things to do is to turn off all the other lights in order to see them glow.

Maybe you do what my family does; during the Christmas season we take drives around different neighborhoods in our town to see the hard work people have invested in decorating their houses with way too many lights.

Some well-known homes in our town are so lit up they can be seen from a few streets over, and probably from space. These domestic spectacles even have a radio station signal you can tune in to in your car to see their lights dance along with the music.

The point is this. Light is best seen, maybe even best understood for its value and power, when it shines in the dark. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). The darkness of the chaotic and meaningless void was lit up by the Lord of creation. The Gospel of John picks up this theme and says that God’s very being is light: “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Revelation ties a bow on the image by saying about Christ in the New Jerusalem: “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Rev. 21:23).

In the Old Testament, the people of God were called to be a light, shining the truths of the nature of God, the ways of worship, and how to treat one another, into the world. “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isa. 49:6).

When Jesus comes on to the scene, he declares: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). John spends a considerable amount of time reinforcing the image for us: “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:9). “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). “Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8).

Jesus turns to us and says: “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). We are to shine like stars in the sky (Phil. 2:15), living as children of light in our families, towns, and cities: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

You and I are lights in the world, following the Light of the World. Step into the darkness into which Christ walks with you, bearing the good news of Jesus’ love for all you meet, and shine like a star in our generation.

THE PRAYER

Light of the World, shine your love on our hearts this season. We know there are dark places for you to reveal, to bring your loving light to, so that we can be set free from those things that are still hidden within us. Let us shine the light of your love to everyone who meets us in this season. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

• What environments have you been called to be a light within, in your home, church, or city?
• How could you be an even brighter light in those environments this Advent season?

Roots: Advent and the Family Story of Jesus by Dan Wilt

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . .

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth..  John 1:1, 14

CONSIDER THIS

As we move through Advent and rediscover the roots of Jesus, we note once again that he came to us from a people, a place, and a story. A second, powerful image that runs through the story of Jesus, weaving through the Old Testament and culminating in the New Testament, is the image of Christ as the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14).

In Advent we prepare our hearts to receive the message anew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as the Word of God among us— the living Word of God. Jesus moved and communicated as the embodiment, the very expression, of the heart of God. That’s what words do, and that’s what Jesus did as the Word of God made flesh.

For the ancient Hebrews, words held great meaning and power. While we are often flippant about our use of words today, the Jews understood that God, by his Word, spoke the entire cosmos into being (Gen. 1:3). The decrees and laws spoken through Moses held power for keeping Israel in alignment with the character of God and the goodness of his covenant. In fact, the people needed Moses to do the talking for God because they were afraid to have God speak to them for fear they would die (Ex. 20:1–19). God’s Word holds power (Prov. 18:21; James 3), and when the first cries emerged from the rough stable in the Christmas story, that power was resident in Jesus.

Jesus is God’s speech to us. In the Bible, God’s speech is always creative, healing, penetrating, and transforming. Jesus is God’s Word to you, to me, and to humanity. God’s Word to us, in Christ, is creative, healing, penetrating, and transforming. In other words, God’s Word, Jesus, is life.

Hebrews 1:1–3a says this about the baby born in Bethlehem:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

In Advent we revel in the reality that “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

When we feel as though we can’t hear the voice of God, we can simply open our Bibles to the Gospels and watch God’s speech in full, powerful motion! The life of Jesus is God speaking to us; we can hear his words knowing that we are hearing the very words of God.

Advent is a thrilling declaration that God speaks to people. God speaks to you. God speaks to me. At the fullness of time, in Jesus, the Word made flesh, God spoke to us all.

THE PRAYER

Lord Jesus, you are the Word of God among us. We choose to hear you, to obey you, to follow you, and to be led by you into greater wholeness and awareness of your love for us this Advent. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

• What could you do to spend more time in the Gospels this Advent season, taking in the stories of Jesus, discovering (or rediscovering) how the Father wants to speak to you through the life of Christ?

Roots: Advent and the Family Story of Jesus by Dan Wilt

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.  Exodus 12:24–28

CONSIDER THIS

The Advent roots of Jesus’ story and the roots of the faith-family of Israel—as well as the roots of the body of Christ of which we are a part—are nourished by a few striking images from the Old Testament. One of these images is the picture of the sacrificial lamb, sacrificed for the sins of the people of Israel. While we won’t unpack such a powerful and complex image completely, it’s important that we take a few moments this Advent season to reflect on Jesus coming into the world as the Agnus Dei—the Lamb of God.

In the Scriptures, we hear Christ called the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). In the ancient Hebrew image of the sacrificial lamb, the Jews would sacrifice a lamb in the Passover celebration, as a life-for-life offering that would cleanse the sin of the nation and remind them of God’s great, life-saving deliverance of his people from the Egyptians. That sacrifice would cleanse the guilt and sin of the people of Israel as they stumbled to uphold their end of covenant obedience and loving-kindness intended to be shared between themselves and God.

While an image like a sacrificial lamb can feel offensive to our modern sensibilities, it is important that we approach images like this with tremendous historical humility—we are not better or smarter than they are—they lived in a time and in a place, in a world that would be very unfamiliar to us today. God speaks in history, in time, to people in ways that are meaningful to them, using powerful images like a sacrificial lamb to show us just how far God will go to win us back, heal us from our sin, and keep us aware that we are in need of a savior who will offer his life in exchange for our own.

Advent is the Father’s action to restore the covenant relationship, broken in the garden of Eden, between God and humanity, between us and our Creator. By giving his one and only Son to live, die, and rise to life again among us, the Father was bridging the gap between himself and us, a gap created by our sin and widened through our endless rebellion and misuse of the precious gifts of creation—including one another.

At Christmas, Christ came to us as the Lamb of God. On the cross, he would make the supreme sacrifice for you, for me, for all of the human family. When Jesus was born, one of the gifts given to him by one of the Gentile kings was myrrh, a spice with many uses, one of which was its use as a burial spice (Matt. 2:11; John 19:39). Myrrh is mentioned a few times in Jesus’ story, foreshadowing that he will give his life, as a sacrificial lamb (Rev. 13:8), as a ransom for us all (Mark 10:45). As the song says, “Mary, did you know?” Did you know that Jesus was born to die for us all?

First Peter 1:18–20 says: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” The Lamb of God was slain for us, a sacrifice that forever breaks the power of sin, brings forgiveness, and triumphs over the powers and authorities of this cruel world, making a spectacle of them on the cross where the Lamb of God suffered and died (Col. 2:13–15).

Advent reminds us that Jesus is, and will always be, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We will worship him as the Lamb, forever (Rev. 5:12–13).

THE PRAYER

Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world—and our own right along with it. We rise today, clean and cleansed in spirit and conscience, brought into sweet intimacy with you, because you took our sin on your shoulders in your death, and rose to defeat its power forever. Thank you. We worship you, Lamb of God, in this season of Advent. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

• Have you ever meditated on Jesus as the Lamb of God during the Advent season? If not, take some time to reflect on what it means for Jesus to be the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” and how his sacrifice for you has changed your life.

Roots: Advent and the Family Story of Jesus by Dan Wilt

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  Genesis 50:19–20

CONSIDER THIS

As we continue our journey through Advent and its themes of hope, love, joy, and peace, why are we spending so much time in Genesis? The Lord Jesus who appears to us in his Advent, at the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4–7), is a branch from a family tree that shoots its strong roots deep into the soil of the earliest recorded human history. Jesus’ family tree and family story have withstood the most violent spiritual weather events of the ages. The gates of hell will simply not prevail against the church, whose story is now a part of the story of Christ (Matt. 16:17–19).

Joseph is an important figure in the faith root system of Jesus and of each one of us today. From his humble beginnings, to his technicolor dream coat, to his slavery and imprisonment, to his revelatory gifts, to his remarkable ascent to political power, to his commanding presence as the vizier of the great Pharaoh, Joseph’s story of faith reveals many profound truths that can keep us on the path to life (Ps. 16:11).

In Genesis 50:19–20, when Joseph finally reveals himself to his betraying brothers, he uses these halting words: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Though Joseph’s path was treacherous and life-threatening, it led him to a place where he could save his people, along with the Egyptians, during the bleak years of a widespread famine.

Jesus, Master of the human heart and Great Deliverer from the bondage of sin, was done tremendous harm on his journey. The story of the life of Joseph must have sprung to mind often in early church gatherings, having seen their Lord unjustly treated at the hands of the empire and even a close friend, and then rising as the ascended Lord before their very eyes!

Yet, as Jesus walked his own harrowing journey in his first Advent coming, the Father had a purpose pulsing behind it all. With the name Jesus (“the Lord saves”) guiding and framing his mission, Jesus’ path led him to the place where he could intervene to save every single one of us who trust in his name. Like Joseph before him, all that the enemy intended for evil in Jesus’ life was turned to good.

We know the stories that followed Jesus’ triumph, because they are our own. Evil manifests itself in many lives in many different ways, and our enemy intends to steal, kill, and destroy each one of us. That’s the enemy’s plan, and it’s on the agenda every day. But what does Jesus do? He intervenes.

He takes all that evil and pain and suffering and hopelessness in our lives and “works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). You and I are living examples that Jesus brings good from evil. Pause here to worship with me! Our Advent Lord turns evil to good! The enemy has no cards left in his hand for all eternity!

This Advent, Jesus is at work for your good and mine. You need not be enslaved to the power of evil or its effects anymore, nor does fear have the authority to command your daily thoughts, emotions, and actions unless you give it that place of authority. Today you can celebrate that you are beloved, you are a cared-for soul, and God is working all things for your good—to his glory.

THE PRAYER

Lord of the Great Conversion, we thank you that you are always converting the hard stories in our lives into radiant testimonies of your faithfulness. This Advent, we defer and surrender to your work in the midst of the challenges we are facing. We revel in your promise to “make everything new” (Rev. 21:5) when you come again in all your glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

• Is there a hard story in your life that Jesus turned for good, that is now a beautiful and important part of your testimony of God’s faithfulness?
• Like Joseph, how has God used that story to impact the lives of others around you?

Roots: Advent and the Family Story of Jesus by Dan Wilt