Advent Day One: If Jesus Had Not Come

We are wired for stories. They draw us in to enjoy, to engage, and to learn. With victims, villains, heroes, and extras, we follow along from the beginning, through the climax, and on to the grand finale. Stories of kings and kingdoms are meant to get our attention. The King of kings has written the most magnificent of all stories, and we are living in it.

Advent means coming or arrival of something notable. During Advent season, we ponder the wonder of Christ’s first coming. This year, we will meditate on it somewhat like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In this story, Ebenezer Scrooge has a visit from the past, present, and future. The perspective of what was, what is, and what will be wakes him up. With warnings and reality setting in, he realizes that what we do with these temporary life stories matters.

I’ve been meditating on a phrase from the beginning of John 15:22 where Jesus says, “If I had not come…”

Stop and think about that.

In these posts, we will worship from that perspective, considering what things would be like if Jesus had not come.

• It will give us opportunity to appreciate that He did!

• It will give us pause to consider what it means for now.

• And finally, we will hear warning, because the good news of His coming only applies to those who put their trust in Jesus. For those who refuse, they will endure the “what if” horrors that would have been for all of us, if He had not come.

I can’t wait for this journey. Lord, please reveal wondrous things from Your Word.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”

says the Lord God,

“who is and who was

and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:8