Therefore, on the cusp of Christmas the message of the fourth week in Advent heightens our anticipation and joy, but also the unvarnished truth about the challenge of following the crucified King.

More than that, as children of the One who is the Resurrection and the eternal Life, as children who have themselves been both justified and regenerated, live as if Christ has already reappeared, as if the parousia has happened.

We of all people, because of Christ, can build securely on the future because the truth of Christ runs from the past to the present, establishing a most certain future.

For Christians, Advent is the time when the Church patiently prepares for the coming of the Great King, Jesus the Christ.

For Christians, Advent is the time when the Church patiently prepares for the coming of the Great King, Jesus the Christ.

The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.

The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.

The Gospel outpaces all would-be and eventually fleeting identity-makers and brings in the truth of a renewed-in-Christ humanity.

Whatever else may be said about the Last Day it consists of these two inseparable things: Christ’s coming and His kingdom people being gathered to Him.

The phrase “works of the law” has an antithesis when it comes to righteousness—faith. What keeping the Law could not do, the gift of faith does.

Righteousness before God is possessed only by grace and that through the currency of faith.

Jesus speaks His Word, and a new world order emerges, with the possibility of uniting disparate parties in the true faith.