As we embrace yet another Advent Season, we are again reminded as a Church and indeed the world of the ‘coming’ or ‘arrival’ of Jesus, the Son of God and Saviour of the World. This is a time of spiritual preparation for the believer in Christ. Too often, as we become overly familiar with the various sacred and special observances within the Christian Calendar, familiarity can erode the rich significance of these religious celebrations.
It, therefore, calls for us to never underestimate the Biblical accounts of the ‘saving work of God’ in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. This great act of God, done as a result of His love for a sinful people is best reflected in the text, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have Eternal Life’ (St. John 3:16 RSV). This came against a backdrop of moral, social and spiritual decay in that their moral and spiritual compass no longer existed. Utter darkness had engulfed the lives of all those who had benefited from the love, care and compassion of a faithful and merciful God. Those who had been called upon to lead God’s people into a holy way of living had failed in carrying out their God-given responsibility.
God, in exposing His nature, or in other words, having seen the plight and having heard the cries of His chosen people, sent Jesus. As recorded in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, ‘’But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to Sonship’’ (Galatians 4:4-5 RSV).
The Advent Season reminds us of the most important gift which has been given to the world. We often get distracted by all the extravagant trappings of this sacred season rather than allow the ‘’Christ-Child’’ to be born anew within our minds, hearts, lives and homes. May we, as believers in Christ, challenge ourselves to eliminate those pockets of darkness which have developed within us so that the Light of Christ will permeate our lives.
On behalf of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church, I extend greetings to you and your family on the occasion of this Holy and Sacred Season and God’s richest blessings for the New Year, 2024.
