ADVENT: Jesus is coming, prepare your heart [Part i]
Advent is a season of festivities, joyful celebration, anticipation, expectation and hope. It occasions exciting time of worship, family reunion and association meetings/end of year activities. Some companies hold conferences on strategic refocusing. Stores are busy making sales of the year. The word Advent means ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’. The message is Jesus is coming. Many this season focus on the commemoration of the birth of Jesus to bring peace to our world [I st advent]. It’s also crucially a period to anticipate and hope for the return of Christ the King [2nd Advent]. Dennis Bratcher wrote, “In this season of anticipation and hope, we focus on past and future. Advent symbolizes the Spiritual journey of individuals and congregation as they affirm that Christ has come, He’s present in the world with us today and He will come again in power and glory.” The question before us is: how ready are we for the imminent coming of Christ? What was the import of John the Baptist’s message and how relevant is it today? How have we prepared our world for the 2nd Advent?
John means in Hebrew ‘the grace or mercy of God. It’s similar to English meaning of Jonathan- God is gracious. It also means ‘God shows favor.’ God called him [Luke3:1-4] to proclaim what was before hand prophesied in Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi3:1and Hosea2:16-18. John was a son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. He was born a special child to a family that was upright in the sight of God and serving God faithfully; already stricken in age. Yet a cloud of sadness hung over them because they were childless. He was raised in the desert area, wore cloth made of camel’s hair and eat locust and drink wild honey. This special gift God had predestined as forerunner to the coming of Jesus Christ: i] Call people to order and reconcile families. ii] To convert disobedient back to the way of righteousness. iii] Prepare the mind of the people to accept Christ and remove obstacles against the coming Messiah and His kingdom [Jn10:40-12].
Isaiah wrote in trouble times when the kingdom of Judah was being threatened by the Assyrians who had already conquered the Northern kingdom of Israel [11:1ff]. God promised Judah that a powerful leader born of the line of David will institute a universal reign of peace. The powerful leader would have seven anointing: The Spirit of the Lord; The Spirit of wisdom; The Spirit of understanding; The Spirit of counsel; The Spirit of Might; The Spirit of knowledge; and the Spirit of the fear of God.[11:2] Upon that promise, Isaiah pictured a period the kingdom shall enjoy universal peace that wolf will live with the lamb, leopard would lie down peacefully with young goat and calf and lion shall yearling together. It shall be so free of danger that a little child shall lead them. When shall our world experience such peaceful existence? Similar calling God made through Malachi [3:16-18] pleading for us to return to Him. They shall reference and glorify Him and have fellowship with God’s people. Such people are God’s jewels. Are you one of them?
December 7, 1941, reminds American of the bombing of Pear Harbor. This tragic event thrust the United States of America into the World War II in which some 60 million people lost their lives. Before that war, the 32nd President of US, Franklin Roosevelt addressed the congress, “We look forward to a world founded on four essential freedoms: i] Freedom of speech and expression, everywhere in the world; ii] Freedom for every person to worship God in his own way, everywhere in the world; iii] Freedom from want, everywhere in the world; and iv] freedom from fears, everywhere in the world.” Yet as America celebrated her 228th Independence Anniversary on July 4, 2004, our world is dominated by gross injustice, persecution, intense distress, anxieties and fears, terrors and gongs of wars. It’s engulfed by wars in middle-east, in Africa, in Russia, in India, all round the globe. Daily, great nations invade small ones and trillions of innocent people killed, dislodged and turned refugees. Fears of survival grips poverty stricken and war torn nations; many die of hunger and elegized intertribal wars, etc. Terminal diseases and natural disasters react against the molestation and abuses of man.
The situation is terrible, devastating, intimidating and totally insecure. The only peace our world has experienced is when one nation conquers another or accepts defeat and surrender. Yet the best way to stop war is not to start it at all. Every war starts with sin overcrowding sense of reasoning; it could be greed, covetousness or pride. Similar situation made God sent God’s bulldozer to prepare the way of the Lord; warn against the consequences of hardness of heart and of the impending judgment.
What would the Messiah see if He comes today? There’s a decline of biblical beliefs; dismissal of the scripture as Hebrew literature and dramatic drift in moral value and pursuits. Many today belief in God but also dine with Satan; members of Eastern religion such as Armoc, lodge, Ikakan and every form of secret society including witchcrafts, and Ekpe. To them it does not matter, it’s a cultural thing. They talk about Christ but doubt his Devine birth and resurrection. They are baptized but have no experiential knowledge with Christ. They claim to be born again but are scared of the Holy Spirit and His presence in worships and fellowship meetings. Our family values are dying because our marriages are sick; many ends in divorce while those that dare survive live in tension, conflicts and living lonely together. Fidelity in and chastity out is now an exception. Our Children have not seen, learn and experience selfless love in the family. They are left at the mercies of sex dominated TV screens and peer groups. They grow up to become disobedient, crazy, and unthankful, believe in anything that excites them. They battle with gay/lesbian, nudeness, abortion, rape, drugs, gangs, kidnapping, internet dating and murder etc. John’s message is more relevant today than when it was first preached.
Just like the Pharisees and Seduces, many go to Church as a routine just to belong or see what is going on there. They answer Church member but denies the power of the Church. Some trust on the fact that their parent was founder of the Church but we can not inherit salvation from our parents. God can raise stone to be His children. Little wonder John Challenged: O brood of vipers let your lives reflect true repentance-true change of heart. Already the axe is lying at the root of the tree, so that every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into lake of fire. The Messiah has a winnowing shovel to separate the wheat and chaff. Wheat is for barn and chaff for unquenchable fire. John baptize you with water but Jesus shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[Acts2:37-39; 19:2ff] No one calls Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Be prepared for the coming of the Messiah. Everyone shall be required to account for his/her life and what he/she did with God’s talents and provision. Prepare the road of the Lord; make his highway straight, every valley be filled and every mountain be level down. The crooked road shall be made straight and the rugged ways smooth. [John 14:28; Luke12:37;1 Thess3:13,2 Tim 4:8; Luke3:4-6].Only then shall all mankind see God’s salvation. Judgment is imminent; no one shall escape it. God is no respecter of persons. The wise shall always heed to warnings but fools ignore/ get caught up with it.
Elder Ogbonnaya can be reached by email:gkapin53@yahoo.com