Hope of Christ

Its a Wonderful Life Example

We have this “hope” that every time we are faced with troubles, our good deeds will catch up with us and it will all be okay

George has made multiple sacrifices for the good of others, and that all comes back to his benefit

Leave the movie feeling hopeful that that could happen to you as well

Yet there is an unknown element. What if they didn’t help out?

George had no expectation to receive help. But rather was preparing to go to prison for overdrawing on his loan. He was shocked at the end result

Hope Definition

Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen — it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect and desire will be done. - John Piper

Marriage illustration: Marriage of 50 years has an expectation to survive they’ve built a life together, everything they’ve done is together, there is no stipulation for how to break their marriage, they’ve seen the darkest sides of the other and choose to love them already

Hollywood marriages hope to stay together, with anticipation for divorce it is not their expectation, but it would be niceNot a want but an expectation

1 Pet 1:3-5

Through the birth death and resurrection of Christ, we have garnered an inheritance that simply cannot ever be taken or changed

Gen 3 God promises to have the final word over death and sin

What Christ brought in his birth was the hope that we are saved. We not only have hope, but confidence. We can anticipate confidence in the resurrection of Christ to be how we have been delivered from our sin

Our hope is not a wish that we come to discover the truth of on the final days. But because we have an incarnate savior, our hope is something we can place our trust in

Psalm 42:1-6

Here when the psalmist says to hope, it is one that is with anticipation. We are waiting for the day when our salvation is complete

We have seen in both the pages of scripture and in our own life the faithfulness of the Lord. We have enough evidence to warrant that our salvation is not a matter of If, but when, and when fully

Why do we have hope this Christmas season?

Because God has done exactly what he promised. In the garden he promises deliverance from the serpent. That came true at the incarnation of Christ

Be filled with joy this Christmas season. We have the hope of an incarnate God that became our risen savior

Our hope lies in this: God gave up everything to become man so that we may become righteous