Four faith leaders revealed the real meaning of Advent as Christmas approaches.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jake Bland, president of Youth for Christ located in Englewood, Colorado, explained the sacredness of the Advent season.
“The season of Advent is a time of ‘holy expectation,’ remembering and rejoicing, watching and waiting. It’s a time of looking back and looking forward,” he shared.
Additionally, Bland said it’s “a celebration of the first coming of Jesus in humility … and our hopeful awaiting of His second coming in glory.”
“It’s about reflecting on our own shortcomings and our need for a Savior. It’s about looking around at our broken world and understanding why we need ‘Emmanuel’ to dwell among us, reconciling all creation back to the Father, by the Spirit,” he continued.
Dr. Erik Thoennes, a professor at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, Calif., quoted the Bible verse from 2 Corinthians 2:9.
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“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich,” he read.
He also spoke about Jesus Christ’s humanity.
“To understand the true meaning of Christmas, we must try to wrap our minds around the eternal divine Son of God becoming a man,” he said.
As a man, Thoennes said, “Jesus willingly surrendered the continuous heavenly display and acknowledgment of his glorious divine nature. Only when the glories of heaven are finally revealed will what Jesus gave up in coming be fully understood.”
Furthermore, Thoennes spoke about hope in Christ despite many worldly challenges many have faced this year.
“2023 has been filled with war, political rancor, disappointment, sickness, loss, heartache, loneliness, financial loss, conflict, frustration, anger and fear,” he noted. “We have seen human depravity and the sad effects of the fall clearly on display this year.”
He continued, “We must remember that since the fall, this cursed world has been groaning, awaiting the redemption that Christ brings.”
During the interview, Thoennes revealed the Christmas song that has brought him comfort.
“I’ve had a line from ‘O Holy Night’ running through my head for weeks: ‘A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,’” he shared.
He continued, “Even though we are often weary in this cursed world, we are able to be ‘sorrowful and always rejoicing’ (2 Cor 6:10) because Jesus became the ‘Man of Sorrows.'”
Thoennes told Fox News Digital the Advent season “reminds us that the world needs saving and that only God can save us.”
“When we trust in Jesus who is Emmanuel, God with us, we will be able to enter the new year with confidence, faith, and renewed hope,” he said.
Tim Spivey, vice president of spiritual life at Pepperdine University in California, said he recognized how Advent “anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives.”
“It offers both the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming,” he added.
Spivey told the outlet, “It is, in a way, a season of spiritual discipline, of centering, on what it means that God broke into human history in Jesus to begin the process of making all things new.”
Spivey also cited Bible verses 5:4-5 from the Old Testament book Micah, which reads, “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And He shall be their peace.'” The verses prophecy the expected birth of Christ.
“So, during Advent, we look forward with hope to the comforting words of the prophet Micah,” he further stated.
Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, referenced the book of Titus which talks about the first Advent in the Bible.
“In Titus 2:11-13, Paul tells us how we should be living in light of the very first Advent: ‘For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the Glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,’” Ginn shared.
To Ginn, Advent signifies the “real, eternal Christmas story.”
“If this season of Advent teaches us anything at all, it is this. We ought never to gaze upon the manger without it being overshadowed by the cross,” he explained.
Ginn also emphasized, “We ought never to consider the darkness of the cross unless it is silhouetted by the bright light emanating from the empty tomb.”
“And we ought never to ponder the wonders of resurrection without internalizing the reality of the imminent return of Christ,” he said.
