The Gift of Hope

When I was a kid around this time of year, I couldn’t wait for Christmas. I would try to beat my brothers and sisters to the mailbox to be the first one to look through Toys R Us Big book of toys. I would look through the Big book of toys and begin to circle things I wanted. You all remember Toys R Us? Even when Christmas wasn’t near it was a special day if you got to go and look in Toys R Us. Each day that would pass I would hope that Christmas would be here soon.

As strange as it is, this type of hope as a child really catches the essence of the Hope that we are to have in Christ,

1 Peter 1:3–5 CSB

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

As Peter tells us this type of “hope” is knowing what is coming and looking forward to it. It is not wishing for these things to come to pass. It’s the assurance of a known future. This is what celebrating Advent is all about recognizing and remembering the hope that Jesus brings and the hope that Jesus is.

So today we are going to look at how Christ’s birth was the hope already believed in yet misunderstood by the nation of Israel and how this same hope is often misunderstood today.

So let’s look at what the nation of Israel in the O.T. was hoping for.

Micah 5:1 CSB

1 Now, daughter who is under attack, you slash yourself in grief; a siege is set against us! They are striking the judge of Israel on the cheek with a rod.

Micah 5:2 CSB

2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.

Micah 5:3 CSB

3 Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of the ruler’s brothers will return to the people of Israel.

For those that were paying attention. There was a glimmer of hope. A hope that was not fully understood.

So then how did they see this messiah. What did they believe was thier hope?

Many years ago my parents decided to get my kids kindles for Christmas. But in doing so they decided to play a bit of a joke on Noah. First Noah watched as Addie opened hers, then Lexi opened hers. Excitedly Noah couldn’t wait to open his box but when he opened it instead of a tablet he found a single sticker book. As disappointed as I could tell he was he looked up at my parents and said thank you...I’ve been wanting stickers. Instead of laughing we all felt terrible at how polite and gracious he was and of course they gave him his real present.

But just like this the Jews were expecting to unwrap a different gift. They wanted the gift of hope to be:

I. A Hero to Save them from Earthly Oppression

the book of Micah records for us that the children of Israel had rebelled against God and because of thier stubbornness they were facing terrible oppression. Israel was conquered by the nations around them and then ruled harshly by them. But even in their state of rebellion. Even in the thier oppression God has the Prophet Micah prophesy hope.

One day thier would come someone born in Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah who would come to rule over Israel once again. One of thier own would sit on the throne. and the of course in Isaiah 7:14 the prophet tells us that Jesus would be born of a virgin.

Isaiah 7:14 CSB

14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

The problem was and still is today that the nation of Israel would only accept one type of savior. They put thier hope in a messiah that would come to put an end thier earthly problems.

They wanted a personal Messiah that would restore thier life back to normal. A messiah that would bring success and prominence back to their lives. A Messiah that would raise up Israel to rule the world. They wanted a hero to save them from earthly oppression and hardship.

So my question this morning for us is this:

What type of Messiah are you looking for?

Maybe if we were honest today, we admit that maybe some of us are looking for this same type of Messiah.

We are looking for a Messiah that would rescue us from our problems here on earth. Pastor Brett that isn’t me. I don’t believe in a prosperity Messiah or Gospel. Well maybe outright no. You would reject prosperity preaching. But these ideas have a way of subtly creeping into our view of the messiah.

I want to give you a few symptoms of trusting in the wrong type of messiah. I want you to see if maybe any of these are true of you.

#1 When God doesn’t give me what I ask for I often get discouraged and stop praying.

#2 When God doesn’t shield me from pain or suffering I get angry and question his goodness.

#3 I seldom will risk my comfort for the sake of the mission. I avoid the humiliation of evangelism or the inconvenience or of serving Christ.

#4 My walk with Christ is comfortable and risk free.

In the life of a Christian these are evidences that We have put our hope in a Jesus that will make our lives easier and better. These are the symptoms that prosperity preaching has crept into our practical theology.

A God that rescues us from feeling the effects of a broken world where illness, hardship, disease, and death oppress us every day. A faith where humility is not required to speak the name of Christ and share the Gospel.

But Just like Israel if you are waiting on a personal Messiah that fixes your problems and always keeps you safe than you just like the Jews will be disappointed with Jesus.

If you think that following Jesus means a smoother earthly existence than just like the nation of Israel you will eventually disdain and reject Jesus.

For you see the messiah Jesus wasn’t born into this world to remove all earthly hardship. He came so that as you recognize the brokenness around you. In fact, it is loving of God to allow us to struggle.

As you feel the sting of pain and death you will recognize your need for redemption.

Even for those of us that are in Christ our incorrect view of Jesus will often show up in our hardships. When we are tempted to turn away because of an unexpected hardship or trial or when we have prayed for something that God could absolutely change but for some reason it seems to be outside of his will.

This is when our wrong view of Jesus will show up. This is when we are tempted to say that thier is no god or that god simply doesn’t care and we turn back.

You see Jesus is the unexpected savior. In fact he came to save us, to rescue us not from the things we hate on this earth but rather the thing we love....our sin. You see the truth is many people would rather die than give up the sin that they love.

The religious leaders of Jesus day would rather have died than to give up thier sinful lust for power and the admiration of man.

This is what scripture calls true slavery....A deception so strong that we are willing to die in it that part from it.

John 3:19–20 CSB

19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.

But then Jesus came anyway.… His light shines anyway. His birth brought a light that couldn’t be extinguished. Jesus might have not been the gift they wanted but he is the gift that they and we needed.

II. Jesus is the True Gift of Hope

Why? Why is a savior that doesn’t always rescue us from our earthly troubles superior to a messiah that simply makes our lives here on earth easier and comfortable.

Colossians 1:27 CSB

27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Hebrews 6:19–20 CSB

19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

In these passages we see that Christ is our sure hope but He will only seem that way to those who understand there need not of physical rescue but from sin itself.

The reason why Jesus the true messiah is a better hope is that it is an eternal hope. It is not a hope in a temporary rescue from the hardship of life. But an eternal rescue from the judgement of God against sin and eternity in hell. It is a rescue from death itself.

If God came simply to rescue us from pain and siffering here, we would never turn from our sin and we would enter forever into pain and suffering in eternity.

Yes Jesus is the true hope. He is the true messiah as Hebrews tells us the high priest that doesn’t rescue from the temporal effects of living in a broken world but rather rescues us as the sacrifice needed to pay the penalty for our sin.

You see sin is man’s problem and so by a man it had to paid for.

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

Romans 6:23 CSB

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So Christ became man, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, offered himself as a the atoning sacrifice for our sin through the death on the cross. Then as only God could do raised himself from the dead forever defeating the curse of sin and death.

You see Jesus Birth was the sign that the rescue was near. Jesus is the true Gift of Hope because all those who through faith and repentance of sin can come to him and be eternally rescued.

Hebrews 6:19 CSB

19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

We have this hope not in what might happen but in what will happen. Jesus the True Gift of Hope.