The season of Advent traditionally begins with a look ahead to the Second Coming of Christ, followed by a look back to His first coming. Advent helps us live in light of the Second Coming by looking at the events surrounding the incarnation of Christ. Like the Israelites before us, we long for the Messiah to show up and inaugurate the fullness of His kingdom, for what is broken to be made right.
As those committed to King Jesus, our desire is to be found ready when He returns. We look back to His first coming to better understand what it means to be ready for the arrival of the Messiah. In the Gospel of Luke we find John the Baptist in the wilderness preparing the way for Lord (Luke 3:1-6). John came on the scene for a season to prepare Israel to meet her king.
His message was one of repentance, symbolized in baptism, for the forgiveness of sins. The concept of repentance is significant. Often we reduce it to the turning away of individual sins, but this is not the fullness of John’s message. Turning from particular sins is better understood as bearing fruit. This is clearly seen in John’s response to the crowd when they asked what they were to do in response to his command to “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8-14).
John’s message of repentance was calling for something much larger than individuals turning from their besetting sins. In light of the impending arrival of the Messiah, John was calling for Israel to completely reorient their lives, individually and corporately. He was calling them to turn their allegiance away from the World and to fully align themselves with Christ and His kingdom. When the King arrives there is no place for divided allegiance. He demands and deserves our complete loyalty.
The message of Advent is that the King is coming! If you want to be found ready you must tear your allegiance from the kingdom of this World and completely align yourself with Christ and His kingdom. Repentance is very much like rejecting the citizenship of your birth and living as a faithful citizen of a new realm. Those who heard John’s message had to make a decision and so do you. The King is coming. Are you ready to face Him?