Comments on: Wondering through Advent http://arongahagan.com/wondering-through-advent_884/ For His glory and our joy Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:03:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Scott Pearce http://arongahagan.com/wondering-through-advent_884/comment-page-1/#comment-10274 Scott Pearce Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:29:05 +0000 http://arongahagan.com/?p=884#comment-10274 Becca and I celebrated the first two weeks of Advent tonight. That we didn't have candles in our house until yesterday night is the short answer to the question Why Didn't You Celebrate These Two Sundays Prior? In the same reading from Revelation, we reacted to the same portion of the passage as did you: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God." We were each overcome with a hushed sense of awe as if we were children being told unimaginable good news. What an incredible gift the "already" is, to know that God has been made man and dwelt with us. What an indescribable, undeserved inheritance the "not yet" will be! Becca and I celebrated the first two weeks of Advent tonight. That we didn’t have candles in our house until yesterday night is the short answer to the question Why Didn’t You Celebrate These Two Sundays Prior?

In the same reading from Revelation, we reacted to the same portion of the passage as did you: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God.”

We were each overcome with a hushed sense of awe as if we were children being told unimaginable good news. What an incredible gift the “already” is, to know that God has been made man and dwelt with us. What an indescribable, undeserved inheritance the “not yet” will be!

]]> By: Joel http://arongahagan.com/wondering-through-advent_884/comment-page-1/#comment-10273 Joel Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:44:02 +0000 http://arongahagan.com/?p=884#comment-10273 Good thoughts, Aron, thanks. I, too, have been thinking about the Sunday of Judgment recently, with Malachi 3 forefront in my mind: "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord." Your reminder that Christ's first coming was to cleanse his church made these verses even more meaningful. Verses like all we mentioned and your discussion are a sobering reminder that Christmas isn't just about cuddly sheep and gentle Mary, but that there is so much more to its meaning. Thanks. Good thoughts, Aron, thanks. I, too, have been thinking about the Sunday of Judgment recently, with Malachi 3 forefront in my mind:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.”

Your reminder that Christ’s first coming was to cleanse his church made these verses even more meaningful. Verses like all we mentioned and your discussion are a sobering reminder that Christmas isn’t just about cuddly sheep and gentle Mary, but that there is so much more to its meaning. Thanks.

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