Will You Be Rejoicing or Regretting In 2023?

  
 

Good Morning Friends,

  
 

There are two big advents of course. The first is the incarnation of God and the second is Jesus’ return. And there are some similarities between the two, for I imagine the second coming will be greeted with hostility as with the first. The apostle John in today’s text shows he understands the prophecy of the Messiah’s coming and the dynamics of the situation in his comments on the witness of John the Baptist. And so, as with the Holy Spirit’s advent into our lives it is met with celebration by those who revere the Messiah in their hearts. But for those who see Christ’s coming, the Holy Spirit’s coming, as an intrusion into their lives, it is met with suspicion and opposition. So, it will be when Jesus returns. So, it will be with all the little advents we experience. Honestly when the time comes, and understand that time is a gift, we may be surprised at some people’s reactions, even our own. So, Will You Be Rejoicing or Regretting in 2023?

  
 

Scripture: Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.

  
 

1 John 2:22-28 (NRSV)

  
 

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,'” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

  
 

John 1:19-28 (NRSV)

  
 

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

  
 

Hebrews 9:24-28 (NRSV)

  
 

Message: Today’s message is all about what you think of Christ in this time between the first Christmas and the last and should guide us in the making of any resolutions for the New Year. For, you either like the idea of this Christianity or you do not. Honestly, I do not know how people find Christ. I think they must have a lot of help from ordinary people as well as God. John in his account of John the Baptist reminds us of this process of advent that took place during his ministry. Here John the Baptist at the height of his ministry, before the baptism of Jesus, joyfully prepares for the rise of the God’s glory by confessing, he is not the Messiah. Then, as John intimates, we need to acknowledge the joyful arrival of Jesus into human history as the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. All this is to result in a joyful, Spirit filled response from each of us. You see, all this is about an anointed fellowship with God, and how our relationship with Jesus is pivotal in it all things of life and death. Friends, the New Year, like all experiences of God, is either a day of rejoicing or regret. It all depends on the quality of our fellowship with God in this life preparing us for the next advent.

 
 

And So, we have a choice as to how we will live and spend the time we have been given. And the resolve we need is to abide in the love of Jesus manifested in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us to actions that glorify God each and every moment of it. Those who claim we can be so heavenly minded that we can be of no earthly good get it wrong. Most of us are so earthly minded that we are of no heavenly good. But that is not right either. The model and mystery of time is that it hinges on Jesus and the fullness of the reality that he is 100% human and 100% Holy. There is no dualism only redemption though the joy and love of becoming more like Jesus. This is the unifying existence we seek. When we look for heaven in the real world there is hope and peace, that makes life complete. Because we have Jesus in our lives, we have heaven and the world too in addition to a time and season ordained by God. That in the fullness of time Heaven has come to earth changes our relationship in a way that alters our perception. And because our ultimate destination of heaven, it is appropriate for our time now to keep our sights and minds and thoughts of heaven, for that is how God molds us and shapes us day by day to live the life of abundance in Christ.

 
 

Pray we realize that each and every moment is a choice. Pray in each moment we watch actively not just wait for the return of Christ but look for hints of heaven here and now. Pray we love the hope of Christ’s return and live for it as well enjoy and hope for the abundant life in the year to come. Pray we are prepared by abiding in the Holy Spirit, by studying the Word of God, internalizing it and sharing it but also in acting on it in love for those in need. Pray we are confident in our relationship with Christ. Pray we are never ashamed to be called Christians. Pray we have hope in the power of God to purify us. Pray that the Lord fill our hearts with an eager expectation of His coming and an eager expectation of the coming year. Pray we are prepared and disciplined enough to respond with joy and love in each of our lives, day by day. Pray we adjust our attitudes. Pray we make changes to our lifestyle realizing what is temporary and what is eternal. Pray we find help for our souls. Pray we work wholeheartedly to set our hearts and minds on Christ. Pray we realize this heavenly perspective helps in our current situation through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Pray our relationship with Christ gives us insight into the time of our lives and a perception, that enhances our relative awareness of how to choose each moment that which is best.

  
 

Blessings,

  
 

John Lawson