Advent is marked by a spirit of
expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning
for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite
slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry
of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the
curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the
cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance! It is that hope, however
faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings
to the world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice
and righteousness over His people and in His creation.
It is that hope that
once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a
Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world. Part
of the expectation also anticipates a judgment on sin and a calling of the
world to accountability before God. We long for God to come and set the world
right! Yet, as the prophet Amos warned, the expectation of a coming judgment at
the Day of the Lord may not be the day of light that we might want,
because the penetrating light of God’s judgment on sin will shine just as
brightly on God’s people ■
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