Hope ‘25

Bible Passage: Romans 8:17-28

INTRO

“Soma Church exists to love the body of Christ and equip them to do the work of ministry here, near and far, all for the glory of God.”

This morning we are kicking off a 4 week teaching series for Christmas called Advent.

The word Advent means “Arrival” and for the church, it is both a celebration of the arrival of Christ coming to us and a time to look forward in anticipation to the second advent of Christ when He comes again.

1 Peter 1:8–9 ESV

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

There are 4 pillars/themes of a traditional Advent and they are Hope, Peace, Joy & Love.

This morning we are kicking off by talking about HOPE.

Hope, is one of the biblical themes that I love to talk about the most, because I believe it is one of the main things that makes christianity unique and distinct.

And this hope comes from the birth of Jesus AKA the reason for the Christmas season.

The birth is great but Christmas is ultimately special more so because of a death.

Because if Christ did not die and raise from the dead, then he was nothing more than a man.

But if He did go to the cross and rise again from the grave, then His birth, His arrival, His advent is of eternal significance to us because it has given us reason to HOPE.

And what is this hope that we have?

That He is coming again for those who place their faith in Him.

This is different than any other worldview or religion which say that there is nothing after this life and if there is, you better hope you have done enough to get there.

Christianity says that we had no hope in our sin so God has come to us and He is coming again!

So we have HOPE

We can hope that no matter what this life holds, we are not here for this life, but the one that is to come.

“If you do not hope you will never discover what is beyond your hopes.”

Clement of Alexandria

So what lies beyond our hopes?

Turn with me to Romans 8 and let’s see together.

BODY

Romans 8 is a very notable passage of scripture Where the Apostle Paul lays out in depth the implications of life in Christ.

Let’s start off together in Romans 8:17

Romans 8:17 ESV

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The first Advent of Jesus means that through faith in Him, we can be called God’s children and heirs with Him.

Think about that for a second, we are called heirs with Christ.

One day, when I die, my children will take over all that I have and if I am following what God’s word tells me to do, I should leave them something that is by earthly standards significant.

Why? Because they are my children or my heirs.

To be God’s child is to be a co-heir or inheritor with Jesus Himself and what does he own? Everything!

Hebrews 1:2 ESV

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

We set our hope in what lies ahead.

But why do we need hope?

Because it turns out, that life is hard.

Romans 8:17 ESV

provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

To follow Christ is partly a call to suffer like Him.

If life were always sugar plums and rainbows, then what would we need to have hope for?

But if we are being honest, all of us in varying degrees are fluent in the language of suffering.

For some of us, this holiday season is much more a time of sadness, loneliness, loss and grief than hopeful.

We are ready for it to be over rather than sitting and enjoying it.

Maybe for you it isn’t the holidays but it feels like your whole life or large seasons of your life have been marked by trouble, pain and suffering.

I am right there with you.

I have been very open with you about my very recent battle with depression.

I know the feeling of suicidal ideation.

I remember painful seasons of God pruning me of idols like pride, sports and lust.

All of that to say, life is hard. Plain and simple.

And God’s heart hurts with you and for you. Which is why He gave us reason to HOPE.

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

We have hope that if we have place our faith in Christ then what awaits us with him far surpasses the pain of our current circumstances.

And not only that, our pain is actually doing something in us now…

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Heaven, life in the fullness of God’s presence and love is so great that Paul says it makes every ounce of pain here on this earth worth it.

And when we walk through pain, it is not meaningless but it is doing something in us. preparing us for something.

This can be hard to wrap our minds around because our pain is indeed painful. And in those moments that is often all that we can see.

But what if we allowed Romans 8:18 & 28 to change our mindset?

What if instead of viewing our moments of pain as obstacles to overcome or times to emotionally detach, we actually leaned in and asked God “What are you doing? What is it that I need to learn? What is this preparing me for?”

What if we even thanked God to be considered worthy of suffering like our LORD?

We must view moments of pain more as preparation than punishment or pointless.

Anybody here lift weights or have ever lifted weights before?

Why does lifting weights make a muscle grow? Because the tension on the muscle causes it to tear and when it heals it becomes stronger than before.

So every time you go to the gym, lift or workout, you are subjecting yourself to pain in order to obtain something that is greater!

Such it is with life… Every moment of suffering is preparing us for something and is worth it because of what is on the other side.

That is what I call HOPE.

CLOSING

I wanna close this morning by asking if this Christmas season you have hope?

If not, why?

Is it because you have a wrong perspective of pain?

You need to start viewing every moment of pain as another rep.

Is it because you have been living for you rather than for Him?

Or is it because you have not yet said yes to Jesus who came so that you could have hope?

Let me encourage you with this…

Don’t let this Christmas season pass you by as another that seemed bleak and dark.

Say yes to the hope that you have access to in Jesus and let this Christmas season be one that is bright worshipful and worth remembering.

PRAY