What sets Christianity apart from all the religions of the world? The answer is Jesus. He is God with us, as us, for us, and he wants to be in us. He has come to make God personally known and to invite us into his Family.
The people of God are called to live countercultural lifestyles that reflect the values of the Kingdom of God that are incomprehensible to the world. The Mightier One is Coming, and all people will either be immersed into the fullness of his life or the fullness of his wrath.
God never bases his forgiveness on the good things that you and I do, but only ever on the completed and all-sufficient work of his Son. But if you have truly turned to him in repentance and faith, in total surrender, what should the fruit of that look like in your life today?
God still speaks through his word. It is not some secret truth, reserved for the elite or the privileged. No, it belongs to the public domain, applies to us all, and always comes at just the right time. Hear him speaking into your own wilderness. Not a message of condemnation, but a loving, urgent call for you to turn away from your sin and to turn back to him.
Advent might begin the church’s liturgical year, but the coming of Christ is the climax of the great salvation of God that began in his own heart from before the beginning of time.