Wonderful Anticipation - The Spirit of Peace
This past Sunday we started our Christmas series called Wonderful Anticipation, a series that will be following the Church’s tradition of Advent. There are many different things that Advent represents, and some things that we should not associate with it. Pastor Robbie began by speaking about the Spirit of Peace, as told in Isaiah 11:1-9. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Coming up on the Holiday season, and particularly the Christmas season, the day celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, gets closer and closer. For some of us, this can be an incredibly joyous time, while others of us wish everything wasn’t so busy and stressful. The celebration of Jesus’ birth is important, and something that Christians have been doing throughout the centuries. The problem is, in our culture, that in our rush to celebrate the fun stuff and even to celebrate the Birth of Christ, we want to hurry up and get to the big day. The church, historically, has used this time not to speed up, but to slow down, to slow down and to actually feel the angst and the longing, the anticipation of the coming Christ. Historically, this time has not been an overly busy one for believers, but the exact opposite in-fact. Ps. Robbie stated that ‘the most descriptive word I could use to describe this season is anticipation. That’s really one of my favorite aspects of Christmas, it’s the anticipation, the wonderful anticipation. You look forward to it and that really is at the core of what Advent is. The word literally means coming. It is an anticipation of the second coming of Christ by us reflecting on the first coming of Christ, or Christmas.
Most of the sermon specifically surrounded Isaiah 11:1-9, but some context is needed to really be able to appreciate what’s going on here. At this point in the people of Israel’s history, split up into two nations (Israel and Judah) and both of them are being judged by God for their continued sinfulness. Both of these nations will eventually be taken in exile by either Babylon or Assyria and God’s wrath and judgment will come upon them for their injustice and faithlessness. From the earliest book of the Bible, multiple covenants with God have been made, and even though the people of Israel are being judged and taken into exile, this does not mean God does not intend to fulfill those promises! The Messiah is still coming, and the unique expression of the ‘Spirit of the Lord’ surrounding this coming figure is unlike anyone before it.
Isaiah and many other prophets talk about the nature of the coming Messiah, but the book of Isaiah, in particular, gives us a unique insight into God’s character and the Servant’s also. The Spirit of the Lord is described by ‘And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.’; these traits, when acted on perfectly bring about true and genuine peace - this would have been a tremendously encouraging promise to those living in exile! Isaiah 11:5 says this ‘Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.’ - the Messiah is literally clothed in that which is righteous and faithful to God, peace necessarily comes through this figure! Jesus quite literally produces peace through everything that he intends to do - this isn’t always the most clear, but this always comes out to be true! Psalm 34:14 reiterates this idea as something that each and every one of us should be pursuing for ourselves saying, ‘Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.’ The power of the Holy Spirit in us calls us forward, away from evil and into good, away from chaos and into peace!
Ps. Robbie powerfully concludes with, ‘Peace is not so much about a state of affairs that we live in. It has everything to do with the state of being that you rest in. The Holy Spirit is the true spirit of Christmas and He is the Spirit of Peace. He brings peace to us and as we reflect and as we elevate and celebrate the character of Christ and we ask the Holy Spirit to conceive that character within us, as we rely on the power of God to bring together those things that don’t belong together; as we allow our lives to point to Christ, we may be able to see a window of that peace that is promised.’
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Wonderful Anticipation - The Spirit of Peace: The spirit of Christmas should surround the anticipation of the second coming of Jesus, by celebrating His first coming!
Main Scripture Passages: Isaiah 11:1-9; Psalm 34:14
Advent is Important in the Christian Church: Advent is not about the hustle and bustle that we often experience during this time, but about focusing on our anticipation and longing for Jesus’ ‘second’ coming by remembering His ‘first’ coming.
The Christ Child will be the Source of Peace: The coming of the Messiah is something that each and every Israelite should have been looking forward to, for He would bring about peace in their lives and in the world around them!
Peace is about a restored order, the way that God intended it to be: Sin destroyed so much in our lives and in the way our world operates, we can break away and free from the bondage and damage that pure chaos can bring in our lives; peace is as much about restoring God’s originally intended order as it is about how we get to dwell in it.
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
To keep up to date with Legacy City Church and everything that God is doing in our community, please follow us on social media:
Facebook: LegacyCityGWD
Instagram: LegacyCityGWD
Twitter: LegacyCityGWD
Join us next Sunday as we continue our Wonderful Anticipation Series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!