Advent The Coming King EP4 - Wake Up

As we approach the final week of Advent, Paul's message in Romans 13:11-14 delivers a crucial wake-up call for believers living between Christ's first and second coming. When Paul declares that salvation is nearer than when we first believed, he's referring to the complete three-stage redemption process: past justification where we've been saved from sin's penalty, present sanctification where we're being saved from sin's power, and future glorification when we'll be saved from sin's very presence at Christ's return. We're living in that unique moment just before sunrise when light begins breaking through darkness. Unlike Old Testament believers, we have significant advantages including knowledge of Jesus' identity, evidence of His death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit's presence, complete Scripture, and 2,000 years of church history. Yet this privileged position comes with responsibility - we must live like people who know the night is almost over rather than settling into spiritual complacency. Paul uses military imagery to describe our response: casting off works of darkness and putting on the armor of light. This means stopping behaviors that belong to darkness - excessive indulgences that numb reality, sexual immorality that treats people as objects, and quarreling that destroys relationships. The ultimate goal is putting on Christ so completely that when people look at us, they see Jesus. This requires strategic thinking about making no provision for the flesh, whether that involves installing accountability measures for pornography struggles, changing social patterns around drinking, or finding life-giving relationships to combat gossip. God doesn't waste our waiting period but uses this time of anticipation to create redemption and restoration both in us and through us.