"God - Our One Certain Hope"
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(All I Want for Christmas)
Rom 15:13; Col 1:21-23
Introduction:
- Why do we set an alarm when we go to bed, get up in the morning, buy groceries, enter our favorite restaurant, or the drive thru, say, “Good morning,” or come here this morning?
- For most of us, some aspect of HOPE would be integral in each of our answers, with the qualification that our hope is based on a trust that what we hope for, and need will be provided or fulfilled.
- We set the alarm hoping to wake up in the morning and be able to eat the groceries that we purchased. Children wait for the school bus hoping it will come or will not come. We hope that Tim’s has our favorite donut. We say “Good morning” hoping for a smile and a cheery greeting.
- But, as some know too well, hopes, and wishes that depend on the trustworthiness of people or situations beyond our/their control, sometimes disappear and disappoint.. For that reason, the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the believers in Rome was and still is especially precious. “May the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Rom 15:13).
As he thirsted for God, as he longed for a certain hope n the fog that engulfed him, the Psalimist wept and poured out his heart to God in prayer. As he prayed, he remembered leading processions to the house of God to worship. He confessed weeping and tears that did not reverse his weariness, that was until he remembered his sure source of hope, God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
The word of God is clear.
Our real hope is found only in:
The God of hope - Romans 15:13.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
More than our source of hope, He/God is our hope. He personifies and embodies our hope. Every aspect of His being undergirds Him being our hope.
David clearly expressed His hope in God.
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
Encouragement of the Scriptures - 15:4.
The Scriptures are one of our greatest reservoirs of hop
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Written in former days - to instruct with truths and facts so that we might hope and those who have before. We are the first to have our hope strengthened when we read and hear the word. All of us need to hear our Lord gentle, “I know that you can’t see beyond the dark or the fog. Hope and rest in Me. I am still on My throne. I keep my promises. The sun will rise tomorrow . My Son, Jesus will return. BTW, when you pray and don’t know what to pray the Holy Spirit intercedes for you.”
Just remember to spend time in my word. It not only gives you hope. It warns you and assures you that you have eternal life.
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Example of Christ - Rom 15:8.
The example of Christ and God’s willingness to help us endure and encourage us should also give us hope in God. We are not left alone. He has given us His word and example.
Peter said it this way.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
When we live together well in hope, God is glorified.
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Extent of the hope - Rom 15:8-12.
Not only the OT saints, most who were Israelites, but the Gentiles too. Lest there be any questions, in these verses Paul quoted David two times, Moses, an unnamed Psalmist and Isaiah the prophet.
As an amen to what Paul here about God’s hope extending to the Gentiles, all of the Gentiles, the words recorded by John also give us hope that we can hope in Christ.
And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
2. Peace with God through Jesus Christ - Rom 15:3; 5:2.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
The hope that we have in the God of hope is not limited to encouraging words and platitudes. He did much more than give us His and the record of those who have trusted Him. He have us Jesus to provide us hope in that area where our hope might t most lack. Being acceptable to God and entering His presence when we die.
Paul explained that we are justified by faith, faith is what Christ did and is offered to us as a free gift.
We have been justified - Greek construction - one time legal declaration with continuing results.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Hope with joy, peace.
God provision in Christ is multifaceted. It is not only judicial in that we are declared righteous and reconciled with God . God responds to our heart needs. We are given hope and with hope, we have joy and peace. We are loved and accept in the family.
Peace is mentioned here in Rom 5:2. Because we have hope, we can rejoice. In our previous Scripture portion, joy and peace were also linked with hope - Rom 15:13.
Believing - Rom 15:13;5:2.
Justified by faith - Rom 5:1.
Faith
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Christ’s imputed righteousness - 2 Cor 5:21.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Reconciled to God - Rom 5:10
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
With that reconciliation, we a hope and and an inheritance.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
The testimony of the hymn writer, Edward More, says it beautifully,
“”My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.
When darkness veils His lovely face, I trust in His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my souls gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound O may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,all other ground is sinking sand.”
3. By the power of the Holy Spirit - Rom 15:13, 4.
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Through the encouragement of the Scriptures - Rom 15:4; Eph 1:12-14; Ps 119:114; Jer 29:11.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Jer 29:11 plus context.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Through endurance/perseverence - Ps 119:49-50; Rom 5:3-5.
Remember your word to your servant,
in which you have made me hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Through Jesus and the promised comforter - Matt 12:15-21; Jn 14:25-27.
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Hope in God through Christ is freely offered to all who believe in Him – Jer 29:11; Col 1:21-23; Matt 1:18-25.
Is the God of hope your hope?
In the midst of painful episodes of life, is our hope in God? If our hope is built and anchored to anything other God, Christ’s imputed righteousness and the Holy Spirit’s power, we are building on shifting sand.
Many of are familiar with the LORD’s encourgaging words that He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah. We see them on plaques and quoted in testimonies. Sometimes, the failure to remember the LORD’s promise in the context of what the LORD had been doing in Israel made “the plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” are much deeper than quoting the verse on its own can explain.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah was writing to those who were in exile in Babylon because their long term disodience. They had disregarded God’s commands and His word. Because they had refused to listen to others whom the Lord had sent, God was not using Babylon take them away that they might be rerstored/ brought back
They had not heard the word of the LORD - Jer 22:2.
The spiritual shepherds had scattered the sheep - Jer 23:1.
Some of the prophets and priests had been ungodly - Jer 23:11; 26:15.
Although there were good figs in Israel, there were also bad figs -Jer 24:1-2.
The LORD had spoken to them persistently but they would ot listen. For that reason, they would be taken into captivity for 70 years - Jer 25:3, 12.
Jeremiah’s life was repeatedly threatened - Jer 26:8.
The people had been told to mend their ways but they had not - Jer 26:13
Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.
IN FACT THE VERSE THAT IS SO OFTEN QUOTED IS PART OF LETTER WRITTEN BY JEREMIAH TO EXILES IN BABYLON.
- God is promising a better way if they mend their ways.
THERE IS A BETTER WAY OF HOPE IN GOD.
THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT GOD’S PLANS ARE ALWAYS WHAT WE EXPECT.
Paul’s pray re his thorn in the flesh.
though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2. Is Christ’s righteousness your confession?
While there are core New Testament patterns of confessing Christ such repentance, baptism and membership with a local Bible believing/preaching church.
In Paul letter to the church in Colossae re how they thought, lived out their hope of the Gospel. When we live out confession of Christ’s righeousness in us, we make the word of Gof fully kniwn.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
3. Is your hope empowered by the Holy Spirit?
With this being the first Sunday of Advent, it is prudent that we allow the word of God as it explains the birth of Christ, the incarnation to give us a practical insight of how God can empower our hope in Him by the Holy Spirit.
First of all in the angel’s message to Mary:
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
The angel of the Lord did not leave it there. He reminded Mary that there was nothing that God could not do with His spirit.
For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Secondly, we have the excellent example in Joseph’s trust and confidence in what God could do by His Spirit. By His Spirit, the baby that Mary carried was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
The baby born to them was to be called “Jesus” for he would his people from their sins.
In the baby born, God would be with them, Immanuel.
ALL THAT GOD’S PEOPLE HAD HOPED FOR, PRAYED FOR, WAITING WOULD BE FULFILLED.
GOD IS THE GOD OF HOPE. BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S IMPUTED OUR HOPE OF ETERNITY IN GOD’S PRESENCE US SURE. AND UNTIL WE ARE EMPOWERED BY THS HOLY SPIRIT TO LIVE FOR HIM.\
PRAISE THE LORD.!
ALL AND MORE THAN I COULD ASK FOR!!!
Perhaps the only other thing that we could ask would be that more would find their hope and joy in Christ.
Charles Wesley expressed that prayer this way,
“Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of ev’ry nation, Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver, Born a Child, and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone;By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious Throne.”
“My hope is in the Lord”
AWV/Dec 3/24