The following article was adapted from “Hope, Love, Joy, Peace: An Advent Study Guide” by World Vision Resources.
Copyright © 2009 by World Vision, Inc., Mail Stop 321, P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716. wvresources@worldvision.org. All rights reserved.

Foreword by —Mike Yankoski, Author of “Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America” and executive editor of “Zealous Love: A Practical Guide to Social Justice”

The central theme of the Advent season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus at His First Advent; as well as the anticipated return of Christ the King at His Second Advent. Advent is more than celebrating the 2,000-year-old event of Jesus’ birth. It is celebrating the revelation of God in Christ, whereby mankind might be reconciled to God.

Advent also symbolizes the fact that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power.

Advent expresses a spirit of expectation, anticipation, preparation, and a yearning for deliverance from sin and evil. But it also celebrates the hope of deliverance by our loving God.

It is this hope that brings the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth, justice, and righteousness over His people and in His creation.

The season of Advent is a four-week period preceding December 25th during which Christians both remember and anticipate: we look back to Christ’s first coming as a babe in the manger and forward to the Second Coming as the King of kings.

Advent reminds us that we are somewhere between these two arrivals. Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life, has already come in the flesh. He has already been crucified. He has already been resurrected. He has already defeated death. The victory has already been won.

Yet the great HOPE of Advent is that there is another Second Coming.

And in the meantime, we wait, but not passively. In the New Testament, Jesus gives us parables that suggest that waiting must be active. After all, it is the lazy servant—the one who buries the talent he’s been entrusted with by the master—who receives a harsh punishment when the master returns (Matthew 25:14-30).

By looking into the past, we’re reminded of all that Christ has done. By looking into the future, we’re expectant of all Christ will do. Advent helps us remember that we’ve got work to do while we wait. Not so that God will love us, but rather because He already does. We love, after all, because “he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Christ has come. Christ is risen. Christ is coming again. He’s given us work to do in the meantime. How are we living: selfishly or selflessly? Are we caring for our world? Are we loving our God? Are we loving our neighbors?