Hope that does not depend on us.
Notes
Transcript
We close our series on What It Means to Be a Christian, and we open the Advent season.
And the word that sits at the center of both is this one:
Hope.
But here is the tension that many of us feel, including myself.
How do you talk about hope when your heart feels tired?
How do you preach about hope when you do not feel full of it?
How do you cling to hope when life feels heavy?
The Bible never assumes hope comes easily.
God’s people throughout Scripture were often weary, stretched thin, discouraged, uncertain, and confused.
Yet that is exactly when God speaks most clearly about hope.
David preached hope to his own discouraged soul.
Israel waited in darkness for a Messiah.
The disciples did not understand what Jesus was doing, but hope was already walking among them.
Paul despaired of life itself, but he still clung to the promises of God.
This is why we need Advent.
Advent reminds us that hope does not begin in us.
It begins with God breaking in.
And this ties beautifully into the entire series we have walked through.
For the past 12 weeks, we have explored what it means to be a Christian.
We have spoken about identity, holiness, community, and mission.
But Isaiah 9 provides us the capstone, that is also a foundational element.
Before Christianity is a life that we live, it is a hope that we receive.
To be a Christian is not to possess perfect strength, perfect clarity, or perfect feelings.
To be a Christian is to live anchored to the hope of Christ.
Hope is not something the strong hold onto.
Hope is something the weary lean on.
So today we do not pretend.
We do not try to manufacture hopeful feelings.
We simply turn our eyes toward the God who gives hope.
Open your Bibles with me to Isaiah 9:1–7.
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Hope Begins with God’s Initiative
Hope Begins with God’s Initiative
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
Isaiah is writing to a people who are spiritually cold, politically unstable, and emotionally exhausted.
They are surrounded by gloom, fear, and uncertainty.
The kingdom is divided at this point and the Northern Kingdom of Israel had formed and alliance with Syria.
King Ahaz, in fear, went to the Assyrians, rather than to the Lord for help.
Isaiah had warned that Assyria will sweep through the land like a river overflowing its banks:
It will fill the land.
It will reach up to the neck of Judah.
It will nearly drown the nation.
The people became consumed with fear.
Fear that replaced faith.
Isaiah 8 ends with these words:
“Behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness”
The bleakness of Isaiah 8 is what makes the opening of Isaiah 9 so stunning:
“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.”
It is God’s promise spoken into a world drowning in fear, unbelief, rebellion, and spiritual confusion.
The light that dawns in chapter 9 shines into the deepest darkness of chapter 8.
This is the Advent message:
God’s hope shines brightest in hopeless places.
When we define What It Means to Be a Christian, we must begin here.
Christians are not those who never knew darkness.
Perhaps you have some darkness in view even right now.
What it means to be a Christian though is to be one who has seen a great light.
The Christian life is not a life of pretending all is well.
It is a life lived under the reign of the Child who shatters darkness with His light.
This is the heart of Advent.
This is the heart of the Gospel.
Hope comes because God Himself steps in.
Hope does not rise because life becomes easy.
Hope rises because God refuses to leave His people in the dark.
In verse 1, God speaks of a “former time” and a “latter time.”
There was a near and a far fulfillment to this prophecy.
Specifically, The Lord brought Assyria against Israel’s northern tribes, creating a time of darkness, defeat, and shame.
The former time was marked by judgment and humiliation.
But again, that would not be the end.
The latter time will be marked by glory, restoration, and salvation.
Interestingly, this prophecy finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Messiah.
Where did Jesus earthly ministry primarily begin?
He launched His mission from Galilee and is described as “the light of the world”.
This is not merely subjective wishful thinking, but an “objective, surprising joy breaking upon sinners through the grace of Christ”.
God’s ultimate goal is always restoration and hope always remain possible.
Hope begins when God decides to act for the good of His people.
There is a moment every day that illustrates Isaiah 9 beautifully.
The moment right before sunrise.
Especially on a cold winter morning here.
The darkness is thick.
The cold settles in.
There is no hint of warmth or color.
It feels like night will last forever.
But then something happens that no one can stop:
The horizon begins to glow.
Not because anyone commands it.
Not because anyone wills it.
Not because anyone earns it.
It happens because the sun decides to rise.
And when it does:
the darkness retreats
the shapes of the world reappear
the chill begins to lift
color floods back into the landscape
No person can accelerate it.
No person can stop it.
No person can manufacture it.
The sunrise simply arrives—because God made it that way.
This is Isaiah 9.
Light dawns not because the people deserved it,
but because God decided it was time for the dawn.
For Israel, the sunrise came in part when God ended the Assyrian humiliation.
But the greater sunrise came when Christ Himself stood in Galilee and said,
“I am the light of the world.”
This is why Christianity never begins with us.
It begins with a dawn we did not create.
God shone His light on us.
God acted first.
God broke the former time and ushered in the latter time.
God decided the darkness would not get the last word.
And just like the dawn, nothing and no one can stop Him.
This is the birth of the hope that he hold on to.
God Sends Light into Real Darkness
God Sends Light into Real Darkness
This doesn’t negate the very real darkness though.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
Isaiah does not gloss over the darkness.
He describes it with brutal honesty:
“The people who walked in darkness…
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness…”
These verbs matter.
A. “Walked in darkness” — a path they could not escape
“Walked” is habitual.
It means:
darkness shaped their direction
darkness influenced their decisions
darkness was the environment through which they moved
They were not experiencing a bad week.
They lived a life where darkness was familiar.
B. “Dwelt in deep darkness” — a place they could not change
“Dwelt” means to live, to settle, to inhabit.
The people were not passing through difficulty.
They had built their homes inside it.
This is the biblical equivalent of saying:
“This is not temporary.”
“This is not momentary.”
“This is life as they know it.”
And yet—this does not negate the promise of God.
It prepares the way for it.
The darker the backdrop, the brighter the light when it arrives.
Isaiah speaks of their darkness in the past tense:
They walked in darkness.
They dwelt in deep darkness.
They have seen a great light.
Light has shone upon them.
The darkness is described in terms of what was.
The light is described in terms of what has already happened.
This is prophetic certainty.
The future dawn is spoken of as present reality because God Himself has guaranteed it.
So what does this mean for weary Christians today?
It means darkness may be your experience, but it is not your identity.
It means darkness may describe your circumstances, but it does not define your destiny.
It means you may feel the weight of the shadows, but you live under a light that has already come.
This is why Isaiah can speak so boldly.
God’s action is so certain, so unstoppable, so rooted in His sovereign plan that He speaks of future rescue as a past event.
Matthew 4 tells us explicitly:
“Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah…”
Where does Jesus begin His public ministry?
Not in Jerusalem, the city of kings.
Not in the courts of the powerful.
Not even in the temple.
He begins in Galilee of the Gentiles, the very place Isaiah said was “deep darkness.”
Jesus starts where the shadows are longest.
Why?
Because He did not come merely to teach from the light.
He came to shine into the darkness.
This is the hope we have as Christians.
“A Christian is someone upon whom the Light has shone.”
To be a Christian is to be someone whose darkness has been confronted by Christ.
Not avoided.
Not ignored.
Confronted.
To be a Christian is to be someone whose past no longer determines the present.
Your “walked in darkness” is a former time.
To be a Christian is to be someone who sees the light not because you found it, but because it found you.
The light did the shining.
You did the seeing.
To be a Christian is to be someone whose reality is defined by God’s action, not by your emotions.
Hope is anchored to what Christ has already done, not what you currently feel.
How might we live this way?
How to live as people of the light with hope.
1. Name the darkness without fear.
Christians do not have to pretend.
Depression
Fear
Loneliness
Discouragement
Spiritual dryness
Ongoing grief
A difficult season
A weary heart
You can name it because the light is stronger than it.
Your honesty will not extinguish the light.
2. Cling to what is true, not only to what is felt.
Your feelings may say,
“This is never going to change.”
But the text says,
“Light has shined.”
Your feelings may say,
“I cannot see what God is doing.”
But Scripture says,
“The people have seen a great light.”
Faith does not deny feelings.
Faith refuses to give them the final word.
3. Preach the past tense of the Gospel to your present-tense struggles.
Whenever your heart feels the darkness growing, say:
“Jesus has already come.”
“Light has already shined.”
“The darkness is already defeated.”
“I am already His.”
“This will not last.”
You are not waiting for the light to appear.
You are walking with the One who already appeared.
A great little book to help you do this A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent.
4. Walk as someone who lives in the light of Christ’s presence.
How do you do that?
Turn toward His Word when you feel blind.
Pray even when you feel nothing.
Stay connected to His people when you feel isolated.
Continue gathering for worship even when weary.
Obey His voice even when you cannot see the outcome.
Walking in the light is not about feeling bright.
It is about following the One who is.
If you had to sit in total darkness with no promise of morning, the night would crush you.
But when you know dawn is coming—when you know the sun has already risen somewhere beyond the horizon—you can endure the night with hope.
That is Isaiah 9.
That is Advent.
That is Christianity.
Our hope is not wishful thinking.
Our hope is anchored in a Light that has already risen—Jesus Christ.
Once the light of Christ breaks into the darkness, something else begins to happen within God’s people.
Light does not simply expose. Light creates life. Light produces joy.
And that brings us to the next truth from this passage: God gives a joy that circumstances cannot steal.”
God Gives Joy That Circumstances Cannot Steal
God Gives Joy That Circumstances Cannot Steal
3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
“You have multiplied its joy.”
Joy is not something the people produce.
Joy is something God gives.
Isaiah gives two images:
Joy like the harvest
Joy like dividing the spoils of victory
Both require hardship first:
Long labor, long battles, long waiting.
That is how Christian joy works.
Put these two images together:
Harvest joy + Victory joy
One after long labor.
One after long battle.
Both require hardship first.
Which means:
Christian joy is not the absence of difficulty.
Christian joy is the presence of God in difficulty.
This is not forced optimism or naivety to the situation.
This is not “put on a smile and pretend.”
It is real joy, grounded in the certainty that:
As Paul writes
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Christian joy does not deny the struggle.
Christian joy declares that the struggle does not have the final say.
Isaiah tells us that God gives His people joy—real joy, hard-won joy, joy that rises even in difficulty. But there is a reason that joy can last. It is because God does more than comfort His people in the darkness; He confronts the very powers that cause the darkness. The God who gives joy also breaks the yoke that burdens His people. That is exactly where Isaiah takes us next.
God Breaks the Powers That Bind Us
God Breaks the Powers That Bind Us
4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
Israel’s oppression will not last.
God Himself will shatter the yoke.
This reminder is seen by the reference to the day of Midian at the end of verse 4.
Isaiah points back to the story of Gideon, where God delivered Israel with only three hundred men.
Why?
So Israel would know that salvation belongs to God alone.
Verse 5 shows a world where war has been defeated.
Boots and bloodied garments are thrown into the fire because they are no longer needed.
Implements of warfare will be destroyed because the Messiah’s reign of universal peace will make such equipment unnecessary.
The critical theological point is that if the Lord could liberate Israel in the past through a mere handful of unarmed men led by Gideon, he can liberate Israel in the present through a child.
This is what Jesus came to do.
To destroy the works of the devil.
To break the chains of sin.
To conquer death.
To bring peace.
The hope available to us is so much greater because it is not limited only to Israel.
Look at the language of God breaking oppression
and hear the New Testament echo:
1. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
“The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.”
(1 John 3:8)
The devil enslaves through deception, fear, accusation, and temptation.
Jesus destroys those works.
2. Jesus came to break the chains of sin.
“Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin… but if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
(John 8:34–36)
Sin is not simply a mistake—it is bondage.
Christ does not excuse it; He breaks it.
3. Jesus came to conquer death.
“He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
(2 Timothy 1:10)
Death is the final oppressor.
Jesus entered death and broke it from the inside out.
4. Jesus came to bring peace that the world cannot give.
“My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.”
(John 14:27)
The Prince of Peace does not offer temporary calm; He gives deep, lasting reconciliation with God.
Isaiah saw it from afar; Jesus accomplished it in the fullness of time.
Christ confronts the deepest enemies:
sin’s guilt
sin’s power
Satan’s lies
fear of death
condemnation
separation from God
Jesus breaks every chain.
The fears we face today look different, but the same Savior breaks them.
the chain of addiction
the chain of shame
the chain of bitterness
the chain of fear
the chain of regret
the chain of spiritual coldness
the chain of unbelief
the chain of grief or despair
Christ is strong enough to break them all.
Isaiah has shown us the victory of God—the breaking of the yoke, the defeat of the oppressor, the end of fear. But victory raises a question: How will God do this? What kind of deliverer will He send? The answer is the heart of Advent. God’s triumphant rescue begins not with a sword, but with a birth. Not with a king in full armor, but with a newborn wrapped in swaddling cloths. Verse 6 tells us who this Child will be
God Gives Hope Through the Gift of a Child
God Gives Hope Through the Gift of a Child
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Hope is found in the birth of a baby.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”
Hope does not come riding in on a war horse.
Hope comes crying in a manger.
The government rests on His shoulders.
Not ours.
Not the nations’.
Not the powerful.
His.
Isaiah gives four names that describe His character and His mission
And His name shall be called:
Wonderful Counselor
Perfect wisdom for our confusion.
Perfect guidance for our weary hearts.
Mighty God
This child is not merely human.
He is God in the flesh, with all of God’s strength and authority.
Everlasting Father
A protector.
A shepherd.
A king who cares for His people with eternal faithfulness.
Prince of Peace
He brings reconciliation with God.
He brings peace among His people.
He brings the promise that one day all things will be made new.
And how certain is all of this?
“The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Not our zeal.
Not our effort.
Not our resolve.
God’s zeal.
Isaiah’s vision does not stay in the ancient world.
Isaiah is not only describing what God would do for Israel; he is describing what God does for every Christian today.
Because everything Isaiah saw in shadow has now come in the fullness of Jesus Christ.
This means:
To be a Christian today is to live under the rule of this Child-King.
We are not self-governed people.
We are not defined by our past.
We are not ruled by our fears.
We are not owned by our sins.
We belong to the One on whose shoulders the government rests.
A Christian is someone who recognizes Jesus Christ as Lord—
not only over eternity, but over today, over decisions, over identity, over hope.
To be a Christian today is to receive salvation as a gift, not an achievement.
To be a Christian today is to rest in the Wonderful Counselor.
We live in a confusing world.
We face decisions, anxieties, moral questions, and emotional burdens.
But we are not left alone.
Christ is our Counselor whose wisdom is perfect.
To be a Christian today is to trust the Mighty God.
Life can feel overwhelming.
Temptation can feel powerful.
Circumstances can feel consuming.
But our Savior is Mighty God.
We can know that Christ is strong enough to save, strong enough to keep, and strong enough to finish what He starts.
To be a Christian today is to rest in the compassionate care of the Everlasting Father.
We need tenderness.
We need safety.
We need a Shepherd.
And Jesus gives fatherly care that never ends.
To be a Christian today is to walk in the peace of the Prince of Peace.
Not because life is peaceful.
Not because we feel peaceful.
But because Jesus has reconciled us to God.
To be a Christian today is to live with unshakeable hope because His kingdom will never end.
Every kingdom of this world will rise and fall.
Every earthly leader will come and go.
Every source of human security will eventually fail.
But the kingdom of Jesus Christ is increasing, unstoppable, and eternal.
A Christian is someone who knows that the world is not spinning out of control—
because Jesus is on the throne, and He will never leave it.
Connecting to the Entire Series
Connecting to the Entire Series
As we finish this series, Isaiah 9 allows us to look back and see the entire series through the lens of hope.
Identity:
We are those who have seen the Light.
Holiness:
We are those who have been rescued from darkness into His marvelous light.
Community:
We are those who have been gathered into the kingdom of the Prince of Peace.
Mission:
We are those who carry the light of Christ into a dark world.
Perseverance:
We are those who trust that His reign will have no end.
Isaiah 9 is the anchor beneath all of it.
Before we can live as Christians, we must receive the hope that Christ brings.
Conclusion: Living in the Light
Conclusion: Living in the Light
So what does it mean to be a Christian?
It means living in the light of the Child who has come.
It means embracing the identity He gives.
It means walking in the holiness He calls us to.
It means loving the brothers and sisters He has redeemed with us.
It means bearing witness to the Light in a dark world.
And it means holding onto hope until He comes again.
Christian hope is not something we work up.
It is something God has sent down.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
Let us walk in that light.
