The Gift of Hope

Every year during in the weeks leading up to Christmas we have the tradition of lighting a candle commemorating each of the four Sundays of the advent season. Each of these candles represents a certain theme related to advent. And so, today we light the candle of hope. And in the proceeding weeks we will light the other candles which all represent other features of advent. This year I invite us to consider each of those themes we highlight during the weeks of advent as gifts which are given to us by God. In particular, we will be using the book of Romans as a foundation for looking at these advent themes as gifts from God. I know the book of Romans is not usually associated with the Christmas story, but it is a great resource to which we can turn when we want to focus on the gifts that God gives to his people. And since we also associate Christmas with the practice of giving and receiving gifts, this seems appropriate.

Let me give credit where credit is due. The idea of using the book of Romans as a advent series based on the gifts given by God comes from a friend of mine. The basic outline of this series was shared by Kyle Haack who pastors the Christian Reformed Church in Wheaton Illinois. Kyle and the people at Wheaton CRC went through the Church Renewal Lab process along with Fellowship Church over a two-year period.

important distinction between hope as something we posses verses hope as something that is given which we receive

Hope. It is not unusual for us as people of faith to acknowledge that we have hope in Christ, or that we are people of hope because of Christ. Yet, there may be an important distinction between hope as something we posses verses hope as something that is given which we receive. I am not sure how often we look at hope as being a gift from God. We may readily see blessings as a gift from God—whether that is material blessings or blessings in the form of abundant opportunities. We may see things like health or talents and abilities as gifts from God. But when we think of hope, I am not sure we immediately place hope in a category of something that is given to us by God the same way we might do with other things.

hope itself makes us more complete disciples of Jesus

As we light the candle of hope today, it is worth taking some time to consider the ways in which hope itself is a gift we receive from God. And when we see hope as something which we receive as a gift, it not only gives greater clarity to what we understand as hope, but it also gives us as God’s people greater direction in our faith. Meaning this: hope itself makes us more complete disciples of Jesus. At least that’s the case which the apostle Paul is making in the letter of Romans.

Romans 4:16–25 (NIV)

Romans 4:16–25 NIV

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

“This letter presents theology in a logical, organized way and focuses on salvation as a gift from God, through grace, by the blood of Christ Jesus.” —NIV introduction to Romans

the first major section of Romans goes from chapters 1-4: justification by faith

Romans is one of the longer letters of Paul which we have in the Bible. Let’s get our bearings by noting the overall direction of the letter to the Romans so we know the context around these words. I rather like the one-sentence summary that the NIV uses to introduce the book of Romans. “This letter presents theology in a logical, organized way and focuses on salvation as a gift from God, through grace, by the blood of Christ Jesus.” The entire letter to the Romans, then, is a long-drawn-out presentation of the gospel message. Even though we are reading words here in chapter 4, it is good to note that this is still considered to be bundled together with Paul’s introduction. The first major section of Romans goes from chapters 1-4. This means what we see in this passage today comes as the final words in that prolonged introduction.

Without making this an overly complicated Bible study, let me pick out the main point of these first four chapters of Romans. I would state it in a single phrase: justification by faith. Paul spends the first 3 chapters detailing all the ways that humans fall short of being able to justify themselves before God. It is in chapter 3 that Paul says.

Romans 3:10 (NIV)

Romans 3:10 NIV

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

Paul gets this as a paraphrasing of David’s words in Psalm 14

Psalm 14:3 (NIV)

Psalm 14:3 NIV

3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Abraham was justified by God because of what he believed, not because of what he did

Righteousness then, according to Paul, must come from somewhere else besides us, because you and I can never achieve it on our own. It is in chapter 4 that Paul turns his attention then to an example from the Old Testament—that of Abraham. Abraham is considered the ultimate example of faithfulness since he was the original recipient of the covenant from God. And yet Paul insists that Abraham was not counted as righteous before God because of anything that he had done. Instead, it was something else. Abraham was counted as righteous before God because of faith. Abraham was justified by God because of what he believed, not because of what he did.

Abraham believed God’s covenant promise

verse 16 — “the promise comes by faith.”

And what is it that Abraham believed? Paul puts generic words around it that bookend this entire passage. In verse 16 he says “the promise comes by faith.” And in verses 20-21 he says Abraham did not waver “regarding the promise of God” and that God is able “to do what he had promised.” On either end of this passage there is mention of Abraham’s faith being connected to a promise; not a promise that Abraham makes or has to keep, but rather a promise that God makes and that God keeps.

The details of that promise in the Old Testament to Abraham are specific to Abraham and the people of Israel. In particular Paul is referring to the promise from God that the descendants of Abraham would flourish to become a great nation. That’s a promise God makes to Abraham, not to us. However, the point Paul is making is not about the specific details of the promise, but that Abraham’s faith is connected to a promise from God (no matter what that promise may happen to be). And this is precisely why Paul can go on to say in verses 23-25,

Romans 4:23–25 (NIV)

Romans 4:23–25 NIV

23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

the promise is fulfilled in Christ, and is extended to us today through Christ

The promise is fulfilled in Christ, and is extended to us today through Christ. Abraham lived by faith, and so do we. The object of Abraham’s faith was to a promise made by God, and the object of our faith is also to a promise made by God. Even if the specifics of the promise itself are different, the thing that is the same is that faith is based on a promise that comes from God. It is not based on any kind of promise we are required to make or need to keep; the promise is made by God and is kept by God.

without the promise we have of salvation in Christ by grace, our faith would be empty and pointless

This is important because it reminds us of where the power of salvation comes from. Salvation does not happen because of our faith anymore than Abraham’s justification happened because of his faith. Rather, it all hinges on the promises of God—particularly that God keeps the promises that he makes. If God did not make or keep his promises with Abraham, then Abraham’s faith would have been empty and amounted to nothing. And without the promise we have of salvation in Christ by grace, our faith would end up being empty and pointless as well.

Let’s bring it back to the topic of the day. It is within this larger context of God’s promises that Paul says,

Romans 4:18 (NIV)

Romans 4:18 NIV

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

through the promises of God, Abraham was given the gift of hope from God

hope is not something we have to somehow create or manufacture on our own

Through the promises of God, Abraham was given and received the gift of hope from God. And because we are included in the promises of God, we also are given and receive the gift of hope from God. Hope is not something we have to somehow create or manufacture on our own. Hope is not something we need to come up with or somehow magically pull it out of a hat. Hope is not fickle and fleeting and momentary as though somehow it is based on the circumstances of our life whatever those circumstances might happen to be from one moment to the next. No. Like Abraham we are given a hope that is based entirely on the promises of God. Hope comes as a gift to us because the promises of God come as a gift to us.

hope has both a foundation upon which it is built and a direction towards which it points

This is important because it gives the hope that we have both a foundation upon which it is built and a direction towards which it points. The foundation upon which our hope is built is the promise of God. And the direction in which our hope points is Jesus.

the foundation of hope — the promises of God revealed in scripture

This allows us to say a few things then about what our hope is (and what it is not). We can define Christian hope in ways that are helpful. Because hope is based on the promises of what God has already accomplished in Christ, it is not dependent on my own circumstances. Sometimes we make that mistake. Sometimes we want to pin our hopes to our own desires and our own wants and our own circumstances, as though somehow Christian hope revolves around us. But Christian hope is not based upon what I want. It is not built upon my desires. And it does not revolve around my circumstances.

hope is not built on my own desires apart from scripture

We see this all the time in our world. There are people who hope all kinds of things from God that God never promises in any way through scripture. There are people who hope that God will give them extravagant wealth and make them rich. But God never promises that he will do that. There are people who hope that God will give them extraordinary success in what they do—whether that is business, career, sports, hobbies. But God never promises he will do that. As much as I may want to hope that God will make me a great golfer, that’s not likely to happen because I cannot find anything in scripture promising me that. There are people who hope God will give them long life with robust health and no illness. But God never promises he will do that. In our broken and fallen world, we deal with the consequences of bodies that get sick and health that fails. There may be an endless list of things we hope God will do for us. But the reminder we see in this passage today is that hope is not built on the foundation of our desires. It is built on the foundation of God’s promises.

the direction of hope — towards Christ as the center of our faith

And hope also has a direction. Hope points us towards Jesus. Jesus is the one who fulfills God’s covenant promises revealed to us in scripture. We are redeemed in Christ by grace through faith. This means we are given a hope that is centered upon Christ. Now if Christ becomes the center of our faith, that means our faith has a direction. Our faith is always pointed towards Christ and moves us in the direction of Christ.

because I am redeemed in Christ, the Holy Spirit is at work in my heart conforming me into the image of Christ

We talk about this with words like sanctification and discipleship. Because we are now redeemed in Christ, the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts conforming us into the image of Christ. We are being made more holy as the Spirit moves us closer to Christ. God tells us in scripture that we can expect evidence of this to show up in our lives. Our lives bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit as a result of being conformed into the image of Christ. As the direction of our discipleship takes shape, the shape that it takes is expressed in the fruit that we bear.

hope is a gift that affirms the promises of God in scripture and centers our faith upon Christ

The hope that we have is not empty. It is a gift given to us by God. It is a gift built upon the foundation of God’s promise made to us. And it is a gift that continually leads us in the direction of Christ. This advent season, as we are led to again behold the baby Jesus we celebrate at Christmas, may we do so filled with a hope that affirms the promises of God in scripture and centers our faith upon Christ.