Hope

Advent

The Arrival of Hope

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Introduction: Talk about loving this time of year – Thanksgiving/Christmas.

What is Advent? The arrival of someone, something, or an event.

As Christians, this is time of year when remember the Advent of Jesus being born.

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Turn to your Bibles in… ‌

Luke 2:1–7 (ESV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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So, this was the arrival of the Messiah, the one who the Israelites put their hope in to come and free them and reign as a king over the earth.

Jesus Christ’s Birth was the Arrival of Hope.

This was it; this is what they were so excited about and looking forward to happening.

Jab1/Story Example: Have you ever been really excited for something?

I love Christmas time and get excited about it now even as an adult.

When I was little, I would be excited to get a certain present.

I get sad though on January 1stand having to take down decorations.

Jab 2/Info on Topic:

Webster’s definition:

Hope - a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

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Jab 3/Passionate about Hope in Jesus:

We all have things in life we hope for: Good grades, nice car, getting along with someone.

Example: Remember the first time asking a girl out that I liked and I had no idea if she liked me.

All these things aren’t guaranteed to happen.

But with Jesus, we have an assurance in the promises of God because of what He did for us on the cross.

When I think back on the time when my hope was in everything else besides Jesus, it reminds me of one of the darkest periods of my life.

Always being let down, searching for things to look forward to and finding nothing that lasted, nothing that kept me from feeling depressed. Contentless with life.

Until I started put my hope in Christ.

See, when we put of our hope in Jesus, hope becomes more than just how we feel,

It becomes a person, Jesus, who’s living and alive in us.

It becomes a living hope.

And hope is no longer just a feeling or desire for something good that might happen.

When our hope is Jesus then we can be certain that everything He promised will happen.

That’s why we don’t just live by the world’s definition of hope, but instead by the Bibles definition of hope.

Bible’s definition:

Hope - Jesus

Explanation/Bible:

‌Take a look at what it says in…

1 Peter 1:3–4 (ERV)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has great mercy, and because of his mercy he gave us a new life. This new life brings us a living hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death. 4 Now we wait to receive the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven. They cannot be ruined or be destroyed or lose their beauty.”

Our Living Hope Through Jesus…

· He died for Our Salvation.

– His death on the cross means he paid our sin debt.

· Our Salvation is Our New Life

– Our salvation means we are born again. We have been given the chance at new life.

· Our New Life brings us a Living Hope

– We have a hope that is alive. It came to life when Jesus defeated sin and death.

· Our Living Hope is the Resurrection of Jesus

– Jesus is alive. Jesus is our hope.

Jesus is Our Living Hope.

Hope came down so that we could have eternal life.

Our hope is based on God’s promise of eternal life with Him and not this temporary life on earth.

It says then in verse 4…

4 Now we wait to receive the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven. They cannot be ruined or be destroyed or lose their beauty.”

Now, we wait to receive the blessings (or inheritance) being kept for us in heaven.

If we’re faithful, then when do we get these blessings? When does this hope in Jesus pay off and the promises made by God happen?

Let’s go to…

Revelation 22:7(NIV)

“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

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Jesus promises he will come back.

Our hope is in what He says He will do in the future - His return and the complete fulfillment of God’s Kingdom.

· ‌No more tears, no more pain or suffering. ‌

· God dwelling with us for eternity

This life is temporary when compared to our eternal life. That’s why it’s so important to…

Hold fast to Hope.

Tension:

Sometimes though we put our hope in this life in the present rather than putting it in God’s promises for the future.

It’s hard to see something that hasn’t happened yet especially when life is happening all around you that you can see easily.

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There’s this idea when it comes to the nature of God’s Kingdom called “The already but not yet.”

In Mark 1:15, Jesus says, “the Kingdom of God is at hand!” but in John 18:36 he tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

It means that God’s Kingdom is both...

· ‌Present and Future

· Established but not fully completed

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The Already - The kingdom has been established and inaugurated with Jesus being born. We are already experiencing some of the effects of the kingdom…

· The New Covenant

· Saved by Grace, not works

· Jew and Gentile have direct access to God anytime

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The Not Yet - The kingdom is not yet fully achieved, and we are waiting for Christ's return for it to be fully achieved. Then we get the full results of The New Jerusalem.

There’s a tension here that’s unavoidable almost. We have to confront it.

Example: Have you ever dealt with something difficult

Dealing with something difficult with hope of a good result.

Life can bring both the negative and the positive but either way our hope in Christ should never fail.

Conclusion/Bottom Line:

Hope in Jesus means moving through what is temporary while staying anchored in eternity.

Example: The Pharisees taught that the Israelites were to put their hope in the arrival of the Messiah, yet they were hypocrites because they didn’t do what they preached.

The Messiah arrived and they had him crucified.

They’re hope was in the being honored because of who they were, being held in high esteem.