Christ’s Reign of Hope
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
The season of Advent has been observed for thousands of years by the Christian church as a time of hopeful anticipation. Advent isn’t just about Christmas; during Advent, Christians join together with Believers extending all the way back to Adam and Eve as we wait for the coming of our great Savior — but now we get an extra layer to our waiting. Now, we live in what we call the “already not yet.” We live inbetween the two advents of Christ; we have already witnessed his first coming and experience many of the blessings that he brought with him, but we still wait in anticipation for his second coming — and this is our great hope.
Its with this understanding of the already not yet that we look to the book of Isaiah for our Advent series, and today we focus specifically on the hope that is presented in Isaiah 65. This passage presents itself with a sharp contrast between despair and hope, and this contrast will define the two parts of my sermon this morning.
First, we will see how our sin has made us familiar with despair.
Second, we will see how the love of God in Christ makes us familiar with hope, both for the present and for the future.
Our sin has made us familiar with despair
Our sin has made us familiar with despair
Isaiah
Isaiah
State: This passage starts out with what would have been incredibly hard words for the people of Israel to hear. The words of the prophet here are directed to an Israelite people who have been captured by Babylon and forced into servitude. God had made it clear to the people that, after an incrediblly long period of patiently enduring their disgraceful and sinful ways of life, God would use pagan nations to shame Israel. This chapter starts by saying
I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.
Once again, this would sound like blasphemy to the ears of an Israelite. They were convinced that they would be blessed with the favor of God because they were the descendents of Abraham, and that nobody else on Earth would enjoy that kind of a relationship with God. Yet God recounts how the Israelites have behaved towards him in the following verses:
I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.
Here God recounts the sinful ways of the people. He recalls how he held out his hands all the day to a rebellious people who walked in evil ways, following their own devices.
In other words, God has given them his word, his prophets, his law, his ways; but the people ignored it all so that they could walk in their own ways. God continually chased after the people of Israel, and they spurned him. The almighty God chose them for his own, and these sinful people rejected him.
As they followed their own devices, they walked in outright disobedience and debauchery. God reminds them of their idolatrous gardens and brick altars where they would make offerings to other gods. He reminds them of how they would sit in tombs, and eat pig’s flesh, in outright contradiction of the plain Word of God.
These very same people, who lived in this way, had the gall to play the “holier than thou” game with people. They would tell those who they deemed to be “unclean” to stay away from them, that they were too holy to be in the presence of sinners like that. God says that this hypocritical lifestyle is like smoke in his nostrils, a fire that burns all day.
And so what does this lead to? What are the consequences to treating the Lord in this way?
In one word: Despair.
Despair in this life, in the already
and Despair in the next life, the not yet.
First, lets see how this life of sin leads to despair in this life.
Already
Already
Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.”
Here we see that God does not ignore such sinful behavior, but he will repay it in full. The almighty God, who is perfectly holy and hates all evil, who sees all things and knows all things, will not let any work of evil go unpunished.
That leads to all manner of misery and pain in this life, and deservedly so. The Westminster Confession of Faith says of our sinful condition,
The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition The Shorter Catechism
Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse,h and so made liable to all the miseries in this life,
And so this is why Israel finds themselves held captive in Babylon, far from home, far from comfort, and having lost almost everything; and still they have not received full payment for the heinous sins they have been walking in, which they have even been provoking God with to his face.
In fact, no amount of misery or suffering in this life can be considered full payment for sinning against a holy God.
Not Yet
Not Yet
The fulness of their despair is in view in verse 12
I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.”
This is truly the wages of sin, just as God promised Adam and Eve way back in the Garden of Eden: the wages of sin is death. God confirms to these sinful people that he intends to pay them the full amount that they are owed by their sinful actions. But this is still not the fullest picture we get for what sin truly deserves. In the book of Revelation, we read about a second death that all who sin against God deserve:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
If you think that all of this seems a little over-the-top, or a bit too severe, it is only because you have not yet come to a good understanding of who God is and who we are as a people. When you come to understand that they Holy, Almighty, Self-Existent, Majestic, Creator God made us from the dirt, breathed life into us, gave us everything, and then you realize that this creature from the dirt not only spit in his face and sought to dethrone him (that’s what sin really is aiming at), but then even continued to spurn his grace and his love, continuing to mock him and live in direct opposition to him, when you get a good picture of what sin really is, is there any punishment too great?
Despair is the best word to capture the world of sinners. This is the world we made for ourselves, this is the bleak future we have built by our own sinful actions. Our sin has made us acquanited with despair.
But the prophecy doesn’t end there: amidst the darkness and despair, we find a glimmer of light, and a heavenly hope. This is truly the spirit of the Advent season, and the hope of Advent won’t make any sense until you realize just how dark the world has become.
Until you have tasted the despair that sin brings, you will not be able to truly appreciate the hope that God offers you. And it is that hope which we turn our attention to now, as we consider our second point: the love of God has made us familiar with hope.
God’s love has made us familiar with hope
God’s love has made us familiar with hope
Isaiah
Isaiah
Its worth noting right off the bat that what the Bible means by hope is not what most people today mean by hope. Today, the word “hope” is used in almost the same way as “wish.” We usually use the word hope when we’re not expecting something to happen, but we really want it to happen. Lions fans know what I’m talking about, because they have spent most of their lives “hoping” for their team to succeed even though they knew they never would. That is not how the Bible uses the word hope.
No, in the Bible, the word hope is used when it refers to something that is expected to happen. It is used to refer to a future event that is certain, and so hope brings eager expectation and not just wishful thinking.
Here is the hope that God provides to his people through the prophet Isaiah:
Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.
Here God makes a familiar promise to the those who have been carried far off. This is a promise that uses a lot of the same language that is present in many of God’s other promises throughout the Old Testament: Though he is going to bring judgement upon the people for their sin, he will spare a remnant as he promises that an “offspring” will come forth out of Jacob.
This isn’t just talking about offspring in general, like more children. This is the offspring that God has already promised to Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and the other saints that have gone before. This is God confirming his previous plan to bring a redeemer out of the people of Israel.
Even though the people were lost in deep darkness, God would preserve a people for himself and bring redemption to the world through that offspring.
And to give the people a better glimpse at what this offspring will bring to Israel, God goes into more detail
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
You might be familiar with this language, because its so similar to what we find in Revelation. That is no mistake, and the author of Revelation knew exactly what he was doing when he borrowed from the book of Isaiah. This is because the prophecy in Isaiah which brought so much hope to the Israelites who had been taken captive in Babylon has both already and not yet applications: we have seen it fulfilled in some ways, and we still long to see it fulfilled in other ways.
This is what Advent is all about. During advent, we remember the great darkness and despair that we ushered into the world through our sin: but more than that, we remember all of the promises that God made throughout the Old Testament. We remember that he promised the offspring who would come and would usher in a new age of of hope and prosperity for God’s people.
During Advent, we celebrate the coming of the offspring of Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. We see that in Christ, all of the promises that God made to his people find their fulfilment.
Already
Already
In Christ, these prophecies have already found their fulfilment in one sense. In Christ, we have seen our salvation fully accomplished. Though we have sinned, and we have seen in this passage that our sin deserves great and eternal punishment, it is Jesus Christ who pays the penalty for all who believe in him. As great as our penalty was, Christ has paid it in full. In his suffering, in his death on the cross, in bearing the guilt of sin, Jesus paid every last penny of our debt to God. That’s why Paul says in Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We experience this peace with God here and now: we aren’t waiting for some future date in order to be in right standing with God. We have been made his sons and daughters here and now through the first coming of Jesus Christ.
This is how God can say that he delights in us! Though we have sinned and have made ourselves an abomination, Christ’s blood cleanses us completely from all our uncleanness. Christ makes us spotless, as white as snow, and so we can now have completely undefined consciences before God, and he can truly say that he delights in us because of the cleansing work of his Son Jesus Christ.
This leads to an immense peace and full confidence in this life, and it affects our hope greatly. In seeing the finished work of Jesus, and specifically his resurrection from the dead, we know for sure that all of God’s promises remain true and steadfast. Because Jesus Christ resurrected bodily from the dead, we have absolute confidence and assurance that he told us the truth when he said he was coming back again for us.
And speaking of his coming back again for us, let’s discuss the “not yet” aspect of our hope in Christ.
Not Yet
Not Yet
I’m sure its no surprise to you that God’s promises have not been totally fulfilled to us yet. After all, we still experience pain, hunger, loss, and much tragedy in this life. While there is much that we have received already through Jesus Christ, there is still some that is yet to be given; but it will be given when Christ returns for his second Advent.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
When Christ returns again, we will see the fulfilment of what Isaiah prophesied, and what was echoed by John in the book of Revelation. When he comes for the second time, then every tear will be wiped away, the former things will be done away with, and the new will come. Then we will dwell with our God face to face, and all that was wrong will be made right. Then the wolf will lay down with the lamb, and the lion will graze like the ox.
This is the hope that we have in Christ, and it is a magnificent hope. I know that many of you have felt the despair creep in, and perhaps some of you have been dwelling in that despair for quite some time. During this advent season, take time to reflect on Jesus Christ, on his coming once to redeem us and make peace between us and God, and look forward with hope and anticipation for the day when he comes back again to bring us home to himself.
Amen! Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
