Romans 9:25  As He says also in Hosea:

“I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”

 

Advent is a season of waiting. It’s the time in the Christian calendar when we consider those who waited for Jesus’ first coming while we also lean into waiting for His second coming. But we know Christmas is coming! It’s almost impossible to escape the preparation and excitement of Christmas. In my town you can hear Christmas music playing from the courthouse!

We know that the birth of Jesus was the most pivotal moment in history! Because He came as a baby, everything changed! Our calendars reflect this. We are in the year 2025 AD (anno domini - the year of our Lord) Go back 2026 years and the date is 1 BC - before Christ. There’s a definite before and after. A point in history when everything changed!

Paul quotes the prophet Hosea in today’s verse. He speaks of a glorious possibility that God makes possible - that we might be His people! Everyone ever born is made in God’s image and is His creation. But to be His people, His beloved is something else. That is made possible by Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. He paid the penalty for our sins.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

When we do that, it marks a point in our life. A point in our life when everything changes! Go back to a Sunday in July of 1977. Prior to that, I was living in my BC era. But since then it’s been AD!

Because Jesus came as a baby, He could live as a man. He could willingly go to the cross and die an undeserved death for our sins. He did that with you and me in mind. He did that so that we, who were not His people, might be called His people! He did that so we might be called beloved!

Blessings,

Pastor Russ