The Advent of Hope

The season of Advent is one of preparation; preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus who reconciled humanity with God. The whole of the Bible from Genesis to the Gospels outlines this preparation. The present series takes a cursory look at salvation history, allowing us to enter into the hope that God’s people felt throughout the Scriptures. The Biblical concept of hope is more than a mere wish – it expresses an expectation based on promises given by God. We see the first of these promises in Genesis, the story of creation and God’s first covenent with His people.

Modern Christian readers are advised to treat Genesis as Jesus, St. Paul, and the early Church Fathers did; as more than a cobbled-together collection of myths. While Genesis is not a scientific text of astronomy or geology, it is a vitally important and fundamentally true account of God’s action, the fall of humanity, and the subsequent hope that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.