Christmas Carol Special Edition
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
Advent is the time of preparation and celebration for the coming of the Lord. We just assume that means the celebration of Jesus coming into the world at his birth in Bethlehem. It does include that yet this is only a part of the story. Jesus promised He would return and that He would finalize His victory over evil and death. At Advent and Christmas, we should celebrate Jesus first entrance into this world and we should remind ourselves and prepare ourselves for the expectation of Jesus’ Second Advent. The return of Jesus is the Blessed Hope of every generation of Christians. The Second Advent of Jesus is what will bring about the fullness of our faith. The Second Advent of Jesus will leave no doubt for us that we serve a mighty and great God. Advent is about our great and mighty God coming among us and bringing us salvation that we so desperately need. This is what happened in Jesus’ first Advent and that is what will
happen in Jesus’ Second Advent.
