Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus both at Christmas and in the End Time. We are certainly in an End Time scenario now with Gog and Magog involved in hot wars against Israel. Preparation begins with repentance so we will be found “spotless, blameless and at peace with Him” (2 Peter14). Repentance is the doorway to Spiritual Life in Christ.
Easter is the celebration of one of the most important events in human history. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was God’s cosmic yes to all the teachings of Jesus. Jesus taught that God was making a new Covenant of forgiveness that fulfilled and expanded the Covenant of Moses to all believers. This Covenant offered believers forgiveness of sins through repentance and faith in Jesus sacrificial death. Believers connect themselves spiritually to Jesus and die with Him on the Cross before being raised to a new Holy-Spirit filed life of joy.
There was a song we used to sing during the charismatic revival of the 80s: “She Walks on the Mountain in the heat of the Day” that moved me deeply. I was right there, with Mary, filled with joy at the Holy child she was about to bring into the world. Like Elizabeth, I knew intuitively this was true. We say we believe Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” as the Apostles Creed. I wonder how many of us understand their importance. If we have trouble believing in the virgin birth and the divine fatherhood of Jesus; we might logically have trouble with the divinity of Jesus. If Jesus is not Divine we might question the sufficiency of His sacrificial death to pay for the sins of all people. The logical result is the popular modern non-divine, good man Jesus who doesn’t need to forgive our non-existent sins and was a great teacher. The Bible is very clear this modern teaching is heresy and completely inconsistent with the historical evidence:
