“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:13-14)
As we begin the season of Advent we look back to remember the first coming of Christ as an infant born in Bethlehem. Yet we should also be mindful of His Second Advent, His second coming. In this passage from Romans, we see that the Apostle Paul looked forward to the imminent return of Christ, as have Christians for 2000 years. He believed that this expectation ought to motivate believers to live as if He could return at any moment. If we truly believe what we say when we pray: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, if we truly want God’s will to be done on earth, then we must carry out His will now by loving our enemies, promoting justice, living lives of obedience, temperance, and righteousness, doing His work and His will.
Paul tells us that we are clothed with Christ. We have the armor of light. This means that we represent Christ to the world. We must respect other peoples, other cultures, but this does not mean living as the world does, but acting as Jesus does, loving and forgiving as He does, seeking justice for the downtrodden and the oppressed. We must struggle and fight against temptation, sin, and evil every day. We must not give in. We must live in light of the fact that the Kingdom of God is already here. As we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness, we are also clothed with His power through the Holy Spirit. It is time to make use of His strength. It is time to start living in the light, in the real world, in the Kingdom of God.