Monthly Study
December 2024Hope Is Born
Living Between Two Advents
We wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.—Titus 2:13
When I was a child, it felt like I spent the whole year anticipating Christmas. I would count the days until I could open the presents under the tree. When I began to follow Jesus in my late teens, the Christmas season took on a new meaning.
As believers, we celebrate two Advents. The first rejoices in the events surrounding the Savior’s birth. The second remembers that this is not the end of our salvation story. Jesus has come. Even more, He is coming again! I pray this study will help you look forward not only to Christmas but to the hope we have in Christ.
Your devotional author,
John Koessler
Volume 37Edition 12
Managing Editor: Jamie Janosz, Senior Editor: Elena Mafter, Contributing Editor: John Koessler, Writer: John Koessler, Graphic Designer: Rachel Hutcheson, Marketing: JD Hamby, Production: Rhonda AuYeung
About the Author
John Koessler
Dr. John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the "Practical Theology" column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor.
View MoreDecember Devotional Calendar
Podcasts
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Two Advents
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Many Christians observe the four Sundays before Christmas as the season of Advent. But what you might not realize is that there are two Advents. The first Advent rejoices in the events surrounding the Savior’s birth.
December 1, 2024
The Long Wait
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What does the word “advent” mean? It is based on a Latin word that means “to come to.” The word’s root is reflected in Veni Emmanuel, the name of the 15th-century melody behind the even older hymn we now know as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The words, probably written around the 9th century, express Israel’s initial longing for the coming of the Messiah to “ransom captive Israel.”
December 2, 2024
The Blessed Hope
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Hope is a posture of faith that faces forward. As Christ-followers, our hope looks to the future. However, the “blessed hope” that Paul speaks of in Titus 2 is based on something that took place in the past. When the apostle says that “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (v. 11), he is talking about the first Advent of Jesus Christ. The “blessed hope” for which we now “wait”, mentioned in verse 13, is His return and appearance in “glory.”
December 3, 2024
Creation’s Advent
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Many people observe Advent by lighting candles. Others open small doors on an Advent calendar to reveal a picture or Bible verse, or even a piece of candy. But creation also observes a kind of Advent! Romans 8:19 says that “creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” The apostle pictures creation as “groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” as it waits for the return of Christ and the new creation (v. 22).
December 4, 2024
Leaning into Hope
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Emily Dickinson called hope “the thing with feathers.” Hope, said the poet, is like a tiny bird that sings despite the storm. In Romans 8, Paul described the groaning of creation. It is not a cry of despair but an expression of longing for transformation. This painful groaning is not just evidence that the world is broken, it is a promise of the liberation that is to come.
December 5, 2024
The Hope of Israel
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A hymn by Charles Wesley is often sung during Advent: “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.” Wesley describes Jesus as both “Israel’s strength and consolation” and the “hope of all the earth.”
December 6, 2024
Hope of All the Earth
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Was God’s original plan of salvation only for the Jewish people? Was the gospel’s extension to the Gentiles an afterthought? Many of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were upset when they heard Paul declare that Israel’s hope would also be offered to the Gentiles (Acts 28:28). This came as a shock to them, but extending salvation to the Gentiles was never God’s Plan B.
December 7, 2024
Prince of Peace
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For over four decades, my wife Jane and I have made it a Christmas tradition to listen to Handel’s Messiah. One of my favorite moments is when the chorus sings the text of Isaiah 9:6, “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
December 8, 2024
True Peace
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Our longing for peace is nothing new. Just as in our day, the prospect of peace for Israel was a major concern in Isaiah’s time. The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom had been captured by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., and many of Isaiah’s prophecies predicted the eventual exile of the Southern Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians.
December 9, 2024
The Forerunner Foretold
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It can be hard to pray for others when it feels like God has ignored your own requests. The angel’s declaration to Zechariah that “your prayer has been heard” (v. 13), makes us wonder what he prayed in the Temple’s holy place. Zechariah’s once-in-a-lifetime task was to offer incense on the altar and to prostrate himself in prayer for Israel (v. 9).
December 10, 2024
An Unexpected Guest
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Some people seem to be born with a sense that they are destined for great things; Mary was not one of them. When the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared to her and told her she was “highly favored” and that the Lord was with her, Mary was perplexed. She wondered what the angel’s words might mean (vv. 26–29). Clearly, she did not anticipate becoming the mother of Israel’s Messiah. Engaged to Joseph at this point but not yet married; her only ambition was to be a carpenter’s wife.
December 11, 2024
Mary’s Song
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It would be hard to imagine a Christmas without our favorite carols. These much-loved songs focus our hearts on the reason for the season. In Luke 1, we find the very first Christmas carol. Mary’s song in verses 39–56 is sometimes called the Magnificat. This title is based on the Latin translation of Mary’s first sentence: “My soul glorifies the Lord.”
December 12, 2024
Path of Peace
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When the angel Gabriel told Zechariah he would have a son, John the Baptist, Zechariah asked for a sign. Gabriel rebuked Zechariah but granted the request in a surprising way. “And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens,” the angel predicted, “because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time” (Luke 1:20).
December 13, 2024
God’s Peace Treaty
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The U.S. Department of State has a publication titled “Treaties in Force.” It lists treaties the United States has on record and in force. In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul describes God’s peace treaty with sinners that unites Jews and Gentiles by reconciling both with God.
December 14, 2024
A Light to the Gentiles
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At Christmas, twinkling lights add beauty to our evergreen trees and illuminate the outside of our homes. The tradition of lights seems the perfect way to celebrate the birth of our Savior. After all, Jesus described Himself as the “light of the world” (John 8:12).
December 15, 2024
Joy of All Generations
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Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the beautiful Baroque choral piece titled Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, celebrating the joy that comes from knowing Christ. In Isaiah 60, the prophet seems to express a similar statement: “I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations” (v. 15).
December 16, 2024
Mourning Turned to Joy
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When a newly elected official gives an inaugural speech, they usually outline the values and goals that will mark their administration. When Jesus preached His own inaugural sermon, He chose portions of Isaiah 61 as His text. Jesus began by saying: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”
December 17, 2024
Joy of the Whole Earth
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The Christmas carol we know as Joy to the World was written by the 18th- century pastor and hymn-writer Isaac Watts. Although we may think of it as a song meant to welcome the infant Jesus, it actually celebrates His coming reign. In other words, it is a song of the second Advent!
December 18, 2024
The Salvation of Israel
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When circumstances seem dismal, where does our hope come from? For Abraham, it came from his belief in God’s eternal purpose. He believed what God had promised, that he would become the “father of many nations” even when he was “as good as dead” (Rom. 4:18; Heb. 11:12). He believed what God had promised even when evidence pointed to the contrary. This is hope!
December 19, 2024
Rejoicing in Disagreement
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Church splits are nothing new. For centuries, they have happened because of differences of opinion within the body of Christ. Often church divisions grow from different perspectives on important doctrinal issues.
December 20, 2024
The Mystery of Godliness
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My wife, Jane, enjoys reading a good mystery. But she occasionally likes to begin with the conclusion, so she knows how the story will turn out. Most people think of a mystery as a puzzle that needs to be figured out or a truth that is hard to comprehend. But when the apostle Paul uses the term “mystery” in 1 Timothy 3:16, he meant it in a slightly different sense.
December 21, 2024
God So Loved
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In O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi,” Jim and Della Young, a poor young couple, each sells something they treasure so they can purchase a Christmas gift for the other. The story’s title comes from O. Henry’s assertion that the magi, who brought gifts to Jesus, “invented the art of giving Christmas presents.”
December 22, 2024
Living in Love
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Gary Chapman’s best seller, The 5 Love Languages, describes five ways people show and experience love. God is love; so, of course, He speaks all five of these languages. In 1 John 4, we learn the primary way God showed His love to us: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (v. 9).
December 23, 2024
Special Delivery
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On Christmas Eve, churches all over the world will reenact the events surrounding Christ’s birth. Some will cast it in the form of a play. Others will put on costumes and display them in a living diorama. Still others will join their voices and tell the story in song.
December 24, 2024
Good News!
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If you are gathering together with your extended family today, you may hear your relatives retelling family stories. Often, one person’s version will sound a great deal different than someone else’s memory. They are not necessarily contradicting one another. Instead, each is describing the same event from their unique point of view. One person saw something that the other did not.
December 25, 2024
Taken by Surprise
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Have you ever been taken by surprise when something or someone showed up unexpectedly? Jesus told several parables about unexpected arrivals. The parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13), the watchful servants (Mark 13:24–37; Luke 12:35–40), the friend at night (Luke 11:5–13), and the tenants (Matt. 21:33–46) all have the element of surprise featuring those who are caught unprepared.
December 26, 2024
Star of Wonder
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The Christmas carol “We Three Kings” is supposed to tell the story that Matthew narrates in the Bible. The carol sings of three kings who traveled over “field and fountain, moor and mountain” to pay homage to the newly born King of the Jews. However, the biblical account is a bit different. Matthew calls them Magi, does not give their number, and merely says they came to Jerusalem “from the east” (v. 1).
December 27, 2024
A Voice Is Heard
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One popular Christmas song describes this season as “the most wonderful time of the year.” Sadly, this isn’t true for everyone. Matthew chapter 2 is a sobering reminder that the coming of Christ was not all angel song and celebration. Indeed, the events Matthew narrates in these verses anticipate the great divide Jesus would speak of later. In Matthew 10:34, He warns, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Jesus also vividly described this conflict in the parable of the tenants in Matthew 21:33–45.
December 28, 2024
False Peace
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The sentiment engraved on thousands of Christmas cards expresses a wish for peace on earth. Most people identify it with the angel’s message announcing Christ’s birth to the shepherds. They declared, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). But we may be tempted, like the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, to question whether God has delivered on this promise. In “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” Longfellow observed: “For hate is strong,\ And mocks the song \ Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
December 29, 2024
Second Advent
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During the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples that He was going away (John 13:36–37). When Simon Peter asked where the Lord was going, Jesus answered indirectly: “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Then Jesus told them He was going “to prepare a place” for them and that He would “come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). His words seemed mysterious to them then and may still seem confusing to us today.
December 30, 2024
Waiting in Hope
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When is Advent over? Advent calendars begin the season on December 1 and end on December 24. Churches that observe Advent consider the first Sunday of the season to be the one closest to November 30 and finish on December 24. By that reckoning, Advent was over a week ago. Or was it?
December 31, 2024