Preparing for Advent – What is my Standing?

Greetings Dear Reader,

A fallen state and a need for redemption seem like bleak things to endure.  If that is how I always view things I would probably abandon my faith.  I have quit lesser things when I felt there was no hope of being better at them.

Fortunately I am required to see me as Christ sees me not only in my state of fallen depravity.  I have a standing with him that overrides that view.  Yes I am fallen but my standing with Christ is one of being reclaimed and restored.  God views me at the completion of things as well as in the process.  He sees me as perfected and free from the struggles of my fallen nature. 

When I forget this is when I am at my worst.  My own fears and failures are the things that drag me down.  My own weariness at the struggle with sin decays my spirit and strength.  It is when I recall how Christ sees me and how I stand with him that I gain the courage to continue.

Someone once questioned why Christmas was so important to me and why I became so excited about it.  This is at the core of my faith.  The day or date is not what matters.  It is the reason for the day.  Jesus came to us so that God would be with us.  He did this so that he could gain something he did not have.  He did it to reclaim us.  The Advent of Christ is the advent of my ability to have this standing with him.

The theology of standing and state is an important one.  More important is the personal nature of it.  No matter what the current struggle on my part I have an advocate, companion, and fellow traveler with whom I am always in good standing.  He already is aware of every slip, failure, and rebellion I will undertake.  In light of those he has already made provision for my forgiveness, restoration, and reclamation. 

This is the light in which I travel.  This is the standing in which I gain the strength to endure my state.  This is one of the great things that drives me toward a proper celebration of the Advent of Christ.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."