Signs of Advent are all around us. We will be exploring a number of the signs of Jesus’ coming during Advent 2012 at Sanctuary. I have never done an Advent series like this before. It comes to us as a gift from the Scriptures, and from the imagination of some wonderful folks at Neeland Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids. Our staff heard about this series from Geoff and Ashley van Dragt and got really exited about it.
When we read the Old Testament, we encounter a God who is creative, loving and powerful. We meet a God who is a relationship (covenant) maker and gatherer of people. The Old Testament has much value simply on its own merits. But, the thing that continually blows me away in the Old Testament is the way it POINTS AHEAD TO JESUS. The signs and symbols of a God who enters human history in a sure and redemptive way – a world changing way – pops up symbolically again and again in the Old Testament. There is a great saying, “What is in the Old Testament concealed is in the New Testament, Revealed.” I like this a lot.
Let’s think of the first sign we will explore on Sunday December 2nd. It’s the sign of LIGHT. God said, “Let there be light” and out of that utterance, all that is began in an explosion of light. God later calls on his nation of Israel to be “light to the nations.” At another point, the Prophet Isaiah poetically declares, “Arise and Shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is upon you.” Then as the New Testament Gospel of John opens, a strange man called John the Baptist declared that he was not the LIGHT, but that it was his job to point to the LIGHT (Jesus) who is the “light of all mankind.” Jesus later said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will no longer live in darkness.” The sign of light in the Old Testament from creation to burning bushes, to prophets points to THE ONE who IS THE LIGHT in the New Testament in the person of Jesus!
Just soak up the richness of this one sign. Every time you see light…from any source, you just might be brought to your spiritual senses and provoke to awe and wonder as you are directed to live in the face of LIGHT HIMSELF.
Buckle up for the Advent ride, and keep an eye out for the SIGNS!
Much Love,
Randy Rowland