Advent 2024: Days Sixteen and Seventeen
Advent Day Sixteen: If Jesus Had Not Come, We Would Not Know His Goodness
There was a time when people only knew God’s goodness. Nothing contaminated or harmed. But the Serpent convinced them that there was something better, and the Creator was not to be believed. Causing indescribable loss, His lie lured the people to reject God’s wisdom, and horror crept in where only goodness had been.
What if Jesus had not come? We would have no hope of recovery, forever doomed to dwell in what is not good, away from the only One who is truly good. What an agonizing existence.
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.”
Psalm 14:1
But Jesus did come!
“'Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,
for the LORD is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!'
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 33:11b
When sin separated us from God’s goodness, Jesus came to restore. When God looks on a believer, He sees the blood of Christ, and once again is able to declare us good. So we are to share and declare His goodness! Matthew 5:16 says,
“In the same way,
let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Our warning comes as we revisit Romans 12:9,
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
He has restored goodness as a gift. May we cling joyfully to it!
Lord, thank You for making Your goodness available to us! May many choose Your goodness and declare,
“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:15
Advent Day Seventeen: If Jesus Had Not Come, We Would Not Know His Faithfulness
There was a time when people thrived under a King who could not be unfaithful. Though the people knew Him, they chose lies over truth. They exchanged His surety for infidelity.
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him;
they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
they are a crooked and twisted generation.”
Deuteronomy 32:4-5
What if Jesus had not come? We would forever be on that faithless, twisted trajectory. We could not be rooted in Him. We would not know the stability He provides to truly build, support, and foster eternal things.
But Jesus did come!
Our faithful Creator suffered to regain our ability to forever be under His faithful rule; to give us the gift of faith that produces faithfulness in His own. 1 John 1:9 says,
“If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We do not deserve His faithfulness! Because of it, Scripture says: He keeps covenant; provides escape from temptation; keeps His promises; establishes and guards us; allows us to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, and so much more.
Our warning for the future comes from 2 Timothy 2:12-13,
“…if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.”
Though He cannot be unfaithful, let’s not imagine that we can enjoy His fidelity outside of His Kingdom. Lord, may many choose Your faithfulness, and please make us faithful children to You.