An Advent of Hope and Peace
Advent • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Deuteronomy 18:15 and Isaiah 9:6
Deuteronomy 18:15 and Isaiah 9:6
INTRO:
Good morning! It is my favorite time of year right now, not because of the cold, but because we are in the Christmas season. I absolutely love setting up the tree and seeing the lights around it, driving around and seeing everyones Christmas lights, playing Christmas music during my day. This is my favorite holiday and I love this season. While as believers we celebrate Christ and His work every day, this is a specific time of year that we celebrate the first advent of Christ. God the Son, stepping down from His throne in heaven, coming to this world, so that He could fulfill the Fathers plan of salvation.
Advent is a part of this holiday that can date as far back as the 4th or 5th centuries, but as we know it now, most likely dates back to the Roman church during the middle ages. It was a way that the church would spend the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas, focusing on the prophecies and promises found in the Bible, that were fulfilled in Christ. It is a time to focus on the attributes we find in God, that Christ demonstrated to us as He came to this world. It is a time to celebrate the adventus, or arrival, of God made flesh. I spoke on the 1st and 2nd advent last year and this is what we celebrate, the 1st advent that Christ came as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a feed trough, in a stable in Bethlehem. As we celebrate this we look to the future when Christ will return for the 2nd time, riding on a white horse, destroying the power of evil and hell and claiming His bride, the church, to reign and be with Him for eternity.
Over this week and next week leading up to Christmas, Jonathan and I have divided these weeks. I’m going to cover the first two candles around Advent this week and next week, Jonathan will cover the other two candles the following week. I just want to make the promise to you up front, that just because I am covering two weeks of advent in a single sermon, I promise it will not be double the length. And all God’s people said amen! There are 5 candles total when we celebrate Advent. 3 purple candles that represent Hope, peace, and Love. A pink candle that represents Joy. Finally a white candle to be lit on Christmas eve or Christmas day, to represent Christ. The symbology behind the candles being lit is to remind us of Christ coming to bring light into the darkness of this world. As each candle is lit the light grows brighter, leading up to Christmas, when the final candle is lit to represent the light of Christ who is now with man on this earth.
While there is nothing commanded in the Bible that we are to follow different church holidays like this, they serve a great purpose on the liturgy of the church, to continually remind us and direct us to Christ, and the Gospel that saves us from the wrath of God, and gives us eternal life with Him.
Today the first two candles in the advent tradition that I want to cover are that of Hope, also called the prophecy candle, and Peace and preparation, also called the Bethlehem candle. As we walk through this season of the year we look back at the Old Testament that gives us prophecy after prophecy of the Messiah that is to come. We see time after time where God uses symbolism to show the nation of Israel that there is a promise that will be fulfilled, for God to save His people for Himself.
We see from the very beginning of creation when God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, created the earth and all the things that dwell within, and saw that it was good. The imagery of the Old Testament sacrifices that pointed to the future sacrifice of the unblemished lamb of God. The imagery of Abraham, when he placed his only son Isaac on the alter to sacrifice him before God. The image of moses lifting up the serpent on the pole in the wilderness, that brought healing to the people when they looked upon it. The importance of the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant dwelt and Gods presence dwelled with the people. The blood of the yearly sacrifice that would be poured out on the mercy seat to obtain forgiveness of the sins of the people. So many shadows of the Messiah that was to come, rituals and acts of worship that pointed the people to the promise that was given, and prophecies that told them of who the Messiah would be.
Alfred Edersheim concluded there are at least 456 passages historically interpreted by Jewish Rabbis as referring to the Messiah. Professor Peter W. Stoner, a mathematician and astronomer, calculated that the probability of one person fulfilling just eight specific Messianic prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷ (1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000) (100 quadrillion). This figure is used to illustrate the immense improbability, with analogies such as covering the state of Texas with silver dollars two feet deep and marking one coin—then having a blindfolded person pick the correct one on the first try
“The glory of the incarnation is that it presents to our adoring gaze not a humanized God, or deified man, but a true God man - One who is all that God is, and at the same time, all that man is. On whose mighty arm we can rest, and to whose human sympathy we can appeal. We cannot afford to lose either the God in the man, or the man in God. Our hearts cry out for the complete God-man, whom the scriptures offer to us.” ( B.B. Warfield )
We find the fulfillment of each of these prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ. God made flesh who came to earth and was both fully God, while also fully man. Christ lived and experience the same temptations, the same struggles, the same joy, the same pain and sadness, that we experience daily, but because He was also fully God, He did not fall to temptation, but remained spotless, and blameless. The perfect lamb of God sent to save men from their sins and endure the wrath of God in their place.
This is why we can find so much comfort and hope in the words of Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Because of Christ we can draw near and drink deeply of God’s grace, before His throne in Heaven, with confidence. Because of Christ we have all we need provided, when we are weak and low. Because of Christ we are lifted with the strength of God above all things.
HOPE:
The first candle is the prophecy candle or the candle of hope. (Light one of the purple candles)
The prophecy of God is told to us in:
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
God will raise up a great prophet, the messiah, to save all those, God has predestined to be His, from His wrath, and to provide salvation for all of eternity.
When we think of the word hope in our modern context, there are many different ways we can think of this. I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I hope it snows on Christmas for a “white Christmas.” I hope I get a good raise at work. I hope the gas station sushi doesn’t make me sick. I hope I get to stop at Buc’ees on this trip. There are many ways we use the word hope, but in the light of Advent, the candle being called the “prophecy” candle, shines a light on what hope is. There are many things we may place hope in or towards, but there is only one hope upon which we can fully trust. The hope that is found in the lowly birth of our great God as man.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
We, by faith, have assurance in the things hoped for. By faith we have a sure and promised hope that we hold to. It is not a hope in our income, our job, our family, our possessions, but it is a eternal and sure hope and conviction, in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Through the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, we are given prophecy after prophecy of the coming of the messiah, the one that would save the people of God. When we speak of hope in this context it is not something that is a desire, but it is a promise to be grasped and held to. We have a hope that is true and sure, a promise that we look to, that we know will happen, because we serve a God who is faithful to keep His word, and His promises are always true. This was a hope that the people of Israel held onto for many years before it was fulfilled. A hope of promise.
While many in the Jewish tradition are still looking for this hope today, we know that this hope, this promise of God, was fulfilled in the birth of Christ, in Bethlehem so many years ago. Hope was misplaced and caused many to miss the truth of who Jesus was. The people of Israel were expecting a messiah that would come and rescue them from the oppression of Rome at the time of Jesus birth. They were looking for a political saviour. One that would build a kingdom on earth and destroy their earthly oppressors. They expected a king to be born of wealth and power, that would raise an earthly army of might and power, and bring an earthly freedom. This was not the plan of the Father.
Instead of a royal birth full of power and wealth, the young baby that was born in a stable, among the animals, to a poor carpenter and his wife, was the fulfillment of the promise that God made with Israel for their redemption. Even as God told Noah to build an ark and save his family from the coming flood that God would use to destroy evil from the earth, God would send Christ to provide a place of protection and safety from His wrath, and when Christ would return again He would create a new heaven and a new earth where evil would be no more. His kingdom was not of this earth but it was a kingdom to be found in the heavens. His conquest was not an earthly conquest of might and power, but it was a spiritual battle that was to be fought for the very souls of man.
In the person of Christ we find not only the fulfillment of the prophecies and hope of the Old Testament, but we find the fulfillment and the hope our very souls long and seek after. We do not seek earthly conquest, or earthly power, but we have an eternal hope in Christ, that all that the Father has given to Him, will be saved and none will be lost.
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
As Jesus stood before Pilate, being questioned before He was crucified, He plainly said that His kingdom was not of this world.
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
What is truth. I echo the question of Pilate so many years ago to you today. What is truth. The truth we find, born in a manger, who lived and died, was buried and rose again. The truth is found in Jesus. Our hope is found in Jesus. Our eternal security and assurance before the throne of grace and mercy, the reason we can come into the presence of the holy, sovereign God of all creation with confidence as adopted sons and daughters of the most high God is found in Jesus. He is our hope. He is our truth. He is the foundation upon which everything in our lives is to be built.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
The inner place behind the curtain was the holy of holies in the tabernacle. The place where the presence of God dwelt with the people of Israel. Because of the sin of men, the unholiness of men, there was a thick dividing curtain, that would have been several feet thick, that divided the presence of God from the people. Prior to the cross, it was impossible for the people to enter into the presence of God. Once a year the High Priest would cleanse himself and would enter into the holy of holies, would pass behind the curtain, to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people of God for their sins. No more than once a year was this done, and it was such a fearful task, that the high priest would wear bells on his feet, and would tie a rope to himself, because if he failed to properly cleanse himself before entering the presence of God, the holiness of God would strike him down. The other priests would listen and if the bells stopped making noise then they would have to drag the High Priest out from the presence of God using the rope, because the holiness of God, cannot and will not be found with the presence of sin before it.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God. We read the story in Mark 4:35-41 of the disciples in the boat during a great and mighty storm. They wake Jesus, who is asleep in the bow of the boat. He calms the storm by saying “peace be still” and immediately it tells us there was calm. Instead of the disciples being relieved and rejoicing that the storm had ceased it tells us they were filled with great fear. R.C. Sproul says this in His book “The Holiness of God”:
“The storm had made them afraid, but Jesus action distilled the tempest, it made them more afraid. In the power of Christ, they met something more frightening than they had ever met in nature. They were in the presence of the holy. It is one thing to fall victim to the flood or fall prey to cancer. It is another thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” ( R.C. Sproul )
To be in the presence of a holy God is a fearful thing for a sinful man, but we are told in Matthew 27:51 that when Christ died on the cross:
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
The veil in the temple was torn in two because no longer did man have to be separated from the holiness of God. No longer did man have to be afraid of immediate destruction if they stood in the presence of God. Christ paid the price for our sins, when He said “It is Finished” upon the cross and He hung His head and died, the separation between man, and God the Father, was destroyed and we now were able to be in the presence of God. We now, through the sacrifice of Christ, the perfect spotless lamb, the hope of all the world, could be restored to relationship with God.
21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
In the name of Jesus we find our hope. The prophecies have been fulfilled and we find our only hope, the promise of God fulfilled, the only begotten Son of God, made flesh, and dwelling among us, in the person of Jesus Christ.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Christ was God made flesh, but He came to earth as an infant, not laying aside His deity but robing Himself in flesh and taking on a human, sinless nature, while still retaining His nature as God. This is why He was able to remain sinless. This is why we can put our trust fully in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the hope upon which our lives and our faith is built.
This is why we can say in the words of the old hymn:
“My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” ( William Bratcher Bradbury, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand )
PEACE:
The next candle is the candle of peace and preparation or the Bethlehem candle. (Light the 2nd purple candle)
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.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the prince of peace that Isaiah prophesied about approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ. He came not to bring peace to a political situation, but to bring peace to the hearts and souls of men. We spoke earlier that the jewish people were looking for a messiah to come and rescue them from their oppressors, the Romans. They were looking for a worldly peace in a political climate, but this was not the peace that Christ was to bring. There is a different type of peace that Christ brings to those who trust in Him and Him alone. The angles proclaimed to the shepherds at the announcement of the birth of Christ:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
There is a peace that Christ brings that cannot be found in anything, or even described by anything, of this earth. In the Hebrew language the word for peace is “shalom”. Depending on the translation you read of your Bible, you will see many of the Psalms end with the word shalom. There are several different ways the word is used throughout the Old Testament. One of these is that:
“The Old Testament also talks about Israel having peace with God through a covenant, and that peace is conditional. In the books that describe the founding of Israel and its history, we see how Israel’s people make a covenant with God where he provides peace and protection as long as they do not “turn to folly” (Psalm 85:8). When the nation strays from following God, he withdraws his shalom from them (Jeremiah 16:5). By the time that Jesus appeared on the scene, Israel had been ruled by other empires for centuries, so shalom with God had been absent for a while.” (G. Connor Salter, https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-is-the-second-advent-candle-meaning.html )
On the level of humanity, peace with God was lost, when Adam and Eve sinned against the command of God in the garden of Eden. From the sin of the first Adam, all of mankind became sinners. Because of the sin of one man, all those that would descend from him would be born with a nature that is sinful. We would be born with the tendency and inclination to do what goes against the holy nature of God.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
In our flesh we are hostile to God and cannot please God.
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
We are all born with a nature of sin and death, and have no peace with God. We are enemies of God in our sin. Praise God that Jesus is the Prince of Peace! He came to bring life and peace to our souls, and to put us at peace with God. Because of Christ, being born and fulfilling the Father’s plan, we can have peace with God. This is a peace that transcends all human thought or emotion. We read the fruits of the spirit in Galatians, love, joy, peace…. These fruits are a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, in the heart of the believer, working Godly sanctification in their lives. These are fruits that have a greater meaning for the believer than they do for the world.
The world looks at peace and they see the absence of war, they see harmony in the home, they see a solid and stable job that allows them to not be worried about their finances. This is not the peace that Jesus brought. The peace that Jesus brought is one that is rooted in the depths of the soul of the believer. It is a spiritual peace between God and man, that God’s wrath will no longer be poured out as punishment for the believer in Christ, because Christ bridged the gulf that divided man from God, and took the wrath and punishment of God on Himself, to bring peace and eternal relationship between man and God. It is a peace that helps the believer find contentment and rest in whatever condition or state they find themselves. Paul wrote in Philippians:
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
From being beaten, tortured, jailed multiple times, shipwrecked, mocked, scorned, Paul had a peace that can only come from the Holy Spirit, where he said no matter what happens he has learned to be content. This is the peace that Jesus came for, that men would find their strength, their hope, their peace, in a mighty God whose strength is shown in the acknowledgment of our weakness. It is only through placing our trust and faith in the “Prince of Peace” that we can ever truly find peace in our lives. We find our rest from the storms of life in the safety and shelter of the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is only Jesus Christ that can speak to the storms we experience within our lives and say, peace be still. It is His life that alone provides peace in our own lives. Christ became the sacrifice, the perfect lamb of God, to secure our eternal redemption before the Father through the shedding of His own blood.
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
We are promised that if we confess with our mouths and believe that we will be saved from the turmoil and trouble of our sinful souls and we will find peace in Jesus.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
In the third verse of On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, Bradbury pens the words:
His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. ( William Bratcher Bradbury, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand )
Christ gives us peace when the flood overwhelms us and everything around us is falling and crashing to nothing. Our hope, our peace, is in Christ alone.
ENDING:
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
During this time of year we celebrate the 1st advent, when Christ came to save His people from their sins. We celebrate the hope in prophecy and promises that were fulfilled in the life of Jesus. We celebrate the peace that is only found in placing all of our trust in Christ alone. We celebrate that we now can have peace with God and that we can have personal relationship with God.
The beauty of the incarnation, the coming of the 2nd Adam to save mankind from their sins, is found in the words of St. Augustine describing the infant Christ.
“He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute.” ( St. Augustine )
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
God became flesh, and no longer was the mystery of God withheld from men, but salvation was revealed through the person of Jesus Christ. No longer was the messiah hoped and longed for while still being far off, but now God was with us. God dwelled with us. Our saviour was born and the plan of God to save those He created was being fulfilled. The promise of God, the covenant God made with man, was here. We celebrate the 1st advent, while looking forward to the return of Christ with His 2nd advent. We celebrate the fulfillment of the hope and peace that was brought with a baby born in Bethlehem, while looking toward the hope and peace we will experience for eternity when Christ returns again, the conquering King.
The final verse of the hymn by Bradbury describes this glorious day we anxiously await:
When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found; In Him, my righteousness, alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. ( William Bratcher Bradbury, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand )
As we close today, I would like us to pray a liturgical prayer. together. This is from a book of prayers called; Every Moment Holy. It is a prayer to start the Christmas season, and it reminds us as we pray how our hearts should be focused during this season. I ask that you would stand with me, if you are able, and let us pray this together on the lines marked in bold for the people to pray.
A Liturgy to Mark the Start of the Christmas Season (Every Moment Holy Vol. 1)
Leader: As we prepare our house for the coming Christmas season, we would also prepare our hearts for the returning Christ. People: You came once for your people, O Lord, and you will come for us again.
Leader: Though there was no room at the inn to receive you upon your first arrival, People: We would prepare you room here in our hearts and here in our home, Lord Christ.
Leader:As we decorate and celebrate, we do so to mark the memory of your redemptive movement into our broken world, O God.
Our glittering ornaments and Christmas trees, Our festive carols, our sumptuous feast - People: By these small tokens we affirm that something amazing has happened in time and space —- Leader: That God, on a particular night, in a particular place, so many years ago, was born to us, an infant King, our Prince of Peace
Leader: Our wreaths and ribbons of colored lights, our giving of gifts, our parties with friend —- these have never been ends in themselves People: They are but small ways in which we repeat that sounding joy first proclaimed by angels in the skies near Bethlehem.
Leader: In view of such great tidings of love announces to us, and to all people, how can we not be moved to praise and celebration in this Christmas season?
People: As we decorate our tree, and as we feast and laugh and sing together, we are rehearsing our coming joy! Leader: We are making ready to receive the one who has already, with open arms, received us! People: We would prepare you room here in our hearts and here in our home, Lord Christ.
Leader: Now we celebrate your first coming, Immanuel, even as we long for your return. People: O Prince of Peace, our elder brother, return soon. We miss you so! Amen
PRAYER:
Father I thank you for the gift You gave us, by sending Your only begotten Son, to take our place in punishment, and to bring hope and peace in our lives. As we enter this season, a season that is so busy for so many of us, help us to stop, to pause, and rest, and remember how great a work You did when You sent Christ to earth. Remind us the glorious beauty of the incarnation, God made flesh, stepping down from His throne in Heaven, to walk among us and to dwell with us. Father, guard our hearts, that we are not caught up in the materialism and commercialism that is so rampant in our society, but that we dwell and focus on the reason we celebrate this season, Christ given to us. Thank you for Your grace and Your mercy, that You would make a covenant with us and fulfill Your Word so that we could have relationship with You. As we walk through our days and our weeks, let us be examples, and shine the light of Christ through our interactions with others. Give us divine appointments to show and share Your love with others, and make our hearts sensitive to the word of Your Holy Spirit in our lives to recognize these moments, and bring glory to Your name. We thank you for the gift of Jesus, and the salvation and life that He brought to our dead and sinful souls. In Jesus Name. Amen
Benediction:
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
As we go from this place today, may the birth of the one and only true God, Jesus Christ, bestow a blessing of hope and peace upon your household. Amen!
