Advent wk 1 Hope
Notes
Transcript
Advent - Hope wk 1
Advent - Hope wk 1
This morning we are changing gears and going to pause our series on the Gospel of John, and go to a series for Christmas, a series on Advent.
Advent is derived from the Latin word Adventus meaning arrival or coming.
In this instance, it is used, to indicate a set time during the month of December to commemorate the coming of the Messiah in Jesus the Christ.
Advent, like Christmas, is a season of expectation, celebration, and hope, connected to the birth of the prophesied Messiah and the promise of Christ’s subsequent ministry.
Advent serves as a time of Spiritual preparation, reflection, and anticipation for the celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas.
The circular nature of the Advent wreath, similar to a wedding ring or band, is further meant to reflect the unending love of Christ and eternal life offered through salvation.
It also represents the crown that was placed on Jesus’ head during His trial leading up to His crucifixion.
The candles and the light they produce reflect the light that came into the world with - the arrival of Jesus Christ.
The four outer-colored candles represent Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace.
The center white candle represents light and purity through Jesus Christ.
Each week, for the next four weeks ending on Christmas eve, we will look at one of the four colored candles and their meanings.
Starting this morning with the first candle that represents Hope and has also been referred to as the prophecy candle in memory of the prophets who prophesied the birth of Christ, particularly Isaiah.
Pray
Pray
I. A Sign
I. A Sign
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Let me give you the background to this verse so that we understand what is going on here.
Ahaz is the king of Judah, when he hears that the Arameans are setting up to attack Judah and take over the country.
God through Isaiah tells Ahaz to not worry about and not to be afraid, that He was going to take care of it.
Now as we generally do as human beings, we see the reality of life and we worry, Ahaz sees the army if you will and is worried.
God tells Ahaz they shall not stand.
He even tells Ahaz to ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God.
But Ahaz says, in verses 12.
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
Therefore God says, well then listen up.
In our text of verse 14, God prophecies through Isaiah, that He is going to give Ahaz a sign any ways.
The sign is going to be: behold, a virgin, now we all no what that is, the virgin will be with a child but this child will not just be any child but will be a son.
The son will be called Immanuel.
Now this prophecy was made roughly 700 years before Jesus was born and we hear this in the birth story in Matthew 1:22-23
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Here we see that the name Immanuel means God with us.
But if this was a sign for Ahaz how did the birth of Christ roughly 700 years later have anything to do with him.
In Chapter 8 Isaiah goes to his own wife that is believed to be a virgin and she conceives and gives birth to a son which gave Ahaz and Isaiah hope that God had not abandon them.
Just as the birth of Jesus has given us hope of salvation and we as Christians today have the hope of Jesus return one day.
II. The Child is Born
II. The Child is Born
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
For a child will be born to us, Jesus had to be born as a child to come to us.
A son will be given to us - He is also the preexistent Son of God who has always been that was given to us.
The child Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, but the Son has existed from all eternity.
The government will rest on His shoulders - this is reference to Jesus’ coming rule in the millennial kingdom.
His name will be called Wonderful Counselor - this king will implement supernatural wisdom in discharging His office.
Mighty God - As a powerful warrior, the Messiah will accomplish the military exploits.
Eternal Father - The Messiah will be a Father to His people eternally. He will compassionately care for and discipline them.
Prince of Peace - Immanuel will procure and perpetuate peace among the nations of the world.
In verse 7 we hear about Jesus reign on the throne David and Jesus is the rightful heir to that throne.
Jesus’ reign will have social and political aspects as much it will have spiritual aspects.
This detail has implications for the church today as we seek to live in accordance with God’s perspective.
The nature of the kingdom of God is very real, biblically substantiated, and relevant to the manifestation of the church’s greatest and true potential.
Our kingdom activity today should be reflective of, and point to, the ultimate kingdom of Jesus Christ in which he will execute justice for the oppressed and rule righteously over his subjects.
This should give us hope as we look out into a world that is so dark and so evil, that one day soon, Jesus will come back for us, and then one day He will set up His earthly millennial reign of a thousand years, and then eternity.
As we listen to these two verses we should be given hope of the future in Christ Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
III. The Birth Place
III. The Birth Place
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
A kingdom must have a king, but the one will set all things right isn’t just any king; he’s the king.
Like his ancestor David, this king would come from Bethlehem, hundreds of years later, God would sovereignly ensure the fulfillment of this prophecy through a Roman census that took Joseph and his pregnant bride, Mary, to his ancestral home of Bethlehem.
There, in the humblest of circumstances, Mary gave birth to the one who would one day rule the world.
1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Clearly, this would be no ordinary king: His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.
That is Jesus was before the creation of the world, He has always been.
Micah thus affirms this king’s preexistence.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, this king is the Son of God.
Here we are given hope that Jesus was not and is not just some ordinary guy, but that He has existed forever, since before creation, that He is the Son of God.
And even though Jesus is the Son of God, He still humbled Himself and came to earth born in a manger and not as a millionaire.
To me that speaks volumes, because His humility teaches us humility, but also shows us that we do not have to be anyone special or important to have salvation.
And that right there gives me hope, that even as a poor country boy raised on a farm and that has struggled in life, I can have salvation and eternal life.
It gives me hope that my King will not over look me, because He came as a carpenters son, born in a feed trough out in the barn with the animals, and His mom and step dad did not have much, but He was humble about it.
We can have hope because it is not about our earthly possessions, or positions, but it is about our heart.
Jesus when preaching in Mark 1:15
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus gives a simple message here, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, therefore repent and believe the gospel.
Then He sees Peter and Andrew in the next verse, so in verse 17 He gives them a call.
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
Jesus said follow me, He is telling each of us today, that the kingdom of God is at hand, there is hope in that and what He means by the kingdom of God is that wherever God’s people are gathered together and allowing Him to rule, there is God’s kingdom at work.
Therefore, the kingdom of God is at hand; now repent, believe that Jesus died for your sin, and then three days later God the Father raised Him from the dead and now Jesus is at the right hand of the Father preparing a place for those that follow Him to spend eternity with Him, but Jesus is calling those that Believe the gospel and repent of their sins to follow Him as a disciple to grow in their relationship with Him each and every day.
If you have never repented of your sins and started following Jesus as Lord/king of your life, than the only way to have true hope in life is begin that journey of following Jesus today.