The Love Candle - Advent Week 2
CERTAINTY IN CHRIST
“It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.” - Luke 1:3-4 (CSB)
Turn on the TV, go to the store, talk to friends, and you will know the Christmas buzz is on; the songs, the movies, trees, and decorations are everywhere. During Advent, we celebrate peace, love, and rejoicing; yet for many, even Christians, it has become a time of stress, anxiety, and grief. But, as we revisit the story of Jesus, we can actually find certainty. Certainty is what Luke hoped for Theophilus as he read the story of Jesus; it is what should also come to us. It should be a place of rest for us.
When Luke wrote this story, there may have been many conflicting stories of who Jesus was in circulation, and he wanted him to be able to determine which accounts were reliable and which ones were doubtful. Jesus was not a myth, but the God-man who entered into time. Luke is sure that the birth, life, and death of Jesus actually happened, fulfilling God’s promises for a savior (vs.1). He had eyewitnesses (vs.2). The story was carefully investigated and put down in an orderly sequence (vs.3). In the story of Jesus, there was enough to secure Theophilus’s faith (vs. 4). In this story, we can also come to know the unchanging Emmanuel, “God with us;” the God who came to dwell with us and in us, and who will come in the future. The God who so loved the world that He sent His son. Thank God that this message is certain, trustworthy, reliable, and true.
Luke wanted Theophilus and his readers to find confidence in the gospel story they had heard. We need to hear the gospel daily to be assured over and over of what we have believed. Hearing it ushers us into a sanctuary where we rest in God’s love for us. Then, this Gospel reassurance results in
inexhaustible implications. One worth highlighting here is that we can honestly say with the Psalmist in Psalm 23:1 that “the Lord is our shepherd; we have everything we need.” In Jesus, we have enough, we are satisfied, and that dethrones anything that attempts to assail us.
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Discussion
- Examine the state of your heart. Are you anxious, restless,or uncertain? List those things and bring them to God with the certainty he hears your prayers.
- What will you do to make Jesus the center of your advent season? How will you rehearse the gospel to find confidence in God’s love for you?
Suggested Prayer
Lord, thank you for the good news of Christ and the inexhaustible riches we have in him. Amid all the uncertainties of life, lead us to rest secure in you because you are enough for us. This Advent, may the story of your coming reassure us that you are present with us and that you love us. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
- Raphael Mnkandhla - Church Planter, City.Church –Williamsport, Pennsylvania