Hope

Outline

November 30 (Advent Week 1)

Sermon Title: "Opening The First Present: Purpose"

Sermon Description: God gives us purpose by design.  We are to honor and worship God as a way of magnifying His glory.  We were created in God's image and the angels are said to look upon us in awe.  Displaying God is built into our literal and metaphorical DNA!  When you look at how God uses His chosen people, it is explicitly to contrast His glory with the compromised, inglorious creations of man.  The painting created through God's Chosen People (Israel and Judah) is one of a people sanctified by God, blessed and protected by God, who ultimately couldn't keep themselves aligned to what God called them to do.  It would be easy to look at this and suggest that God's glory had failed, but this was only the set-up for something beautiful: the coming of Christ.  Christ's coming, ministry, sacrifice, and eternal victory over death is the ultimate opportunity for us to enjoy this gift of purpose.  Because now we are purposeful, not because of WHO WE ARE, but because of WHO GOD MAKES US.

December 7 (Advent Week 2)

Sermon Title: "Opening The Second Present: Creation"

Sermon Description: It's funny that when we talk about God's gifts, we often forget the big picture of creation.  Creation is evidence of God's generosity and an ever-present gift handed to us from the beginning.  In the beginning, God created all things and THEN he created Adam and Eve before resting.  This is a pretty clear indicator that we were the culmination of God's creation.  We also know Adam was given dominion over creation.  It is a beautiful thing and, unfortunately, something people are often warned or guilted away from appreciating.  We can all appreciate the wonder of the night's sky or the beauty of living things, but our existence IN creation is also a gift to appreciate.  Solomon tells us as much in Ecclesiastes... to "eat, drink, and enjoy your labors" because these are also gifts from God.  This goes a step further when we realize that one another are also creations to enjoy.  God knew it was not good for us to be alone, so He gave us one another to enjoy as a part of Creation which we experience today as the church... a gift ultimately given to us through the coming of Christ.

December 14 (Advent Week 3)

Sermon Title: "Opening The Third Present: Hope"

Sermon Description: Christ, our living hope!  We associate the concept of "Hope" with Christianity, but hope has been built into mankind's relationship with God since the beginning.  The literal atonement (or covering-over) of Adam and Eve at the end of Genesis 3, God's promises to Noah, the covenant with Abraham, God's commissioning of Moses, the anointing of David, and the words of the prophets all speak to God's desire for us to hold hope.  Hope isn't a vague concept; it's something God very actively gifts us just when we need it.  Sometimes hope is physical.  Other times it is spiritual.  In all forms, it harkens to God's dominion and sovereignty over all Creation despite circumstances or the actions of man.  Praise God for His consistent and stalwart hope!  We have done everything possible to not deserve it, yet even in the midst of our trials and righteous discipline, God communicates the Hope to come which was realized through the coming of Jesus Christ.

December 21 (Advent Week 4)

Sermon Title: "Opening The Fourth Present: Messiah"

Sermon Description: Hints of the Messiah pop up early in the Old Testament.  It's almost as if God already knew what He was going to do the second sin entered into the equation.  God knew we couldn't do it on our own.  He gave us opportunities and provided the framework to do it, but ultimately that only served the purpose of proving that we can't earn it.  The conclusion was clear: salvation must be a gift.  There is no other way we could attain it outside of God's mercy and love.  When we celebrate the coming of Christ, we don't just celebrate a birthday or a singular miraculous event; we celebrate reaching the summit of a mountain built upon all God's divine gifts.  Jesus is the fruition of purpose.  He is the sovereign of Creation.  He is the realization of Hope.  And He is the embodiment of salvation.  He is Messiah in spirit and flesh given not because we deserved it, but because of our God's glorious generosity.

Survey of Hope

Hope is written across the entire Bible, from beginning to end.

God’s Atonement of Adam/Eve

Genesis 3:21 CSB

21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

Covenant to Redemption with Noah

Genesis 9:6–11 CSB

6 Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image. 7 But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Covenant to Bless All Peoples through Abraham’s Root

Genesis 22:15–18 CSB

15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

Covenant for Everlasting Davidic Kingdom and Communion with God (through David)

2 Samuel 7:11–16 CSB

11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. 15 But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”

Types of Hope

Natural - Confidence that you doing something will have a natural effect, governed by nature.

Transactional - Confidence that if you do something towards, for, or known to another, the other party will benefit you.

Ordinate - Confidence that God has ordained that we would be blessed through His divine will.

The hope we have in Christ is not a hope based on nature or based on anything we have done. It is based on Christ and Christ alone.

God did not have to afford us the conditions of hope (natural).

God did not afford us the conditions of hope due to our actions or anything we could do (transactional).

Instead, God gave us hope because He willed it to be good. It is… literally… a gift we recieved at Christmas.

Read some of the symbols of hope God gave through acts and words of covenant with His people: Genesis 3:21 (God’s willing atonement), Genesis 9:6-11 (God’s promise to redeem, not destroy), Genesis 22:15-18 (God’s promise to bless all nations and people), and 2 Samuel 7:11-16 (God’s promise for an everlasting kingdom and communion with God). How do each of these highlight God’s “ordinate” (willing, not-dependent on our actions or nature) gift of hope? How would our lives be different if hope was based on a transaction (what we deserve) or forces of nature (God not having a choice)? Discuss examples of how people misinterpret, or misapply, God’s will through these lenses.

Christ’s Hope

When Christ came, He brought evidence of the Hope we already had.

Christ, in many ways, was the realization of hope.

BUT… what does this hope look like? (Ordinate, not natural or transactional)

Trait 1: Not About You… For You

Christ’s hope is about you KNOWING GOD, not about God proving Himself worthy or capable.

Matthew 13:54–58 CSB

54 He went to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?” 57 And they were offended by him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.” 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

If God “proved” Himself, we’d consider it “natural” hope instead of God’s benevolence.

Ingredient of Hope: Belief in the Supernatural.

Trait 2: Fosters Boldness

Hope overcomes fears, insecurities, and doubts… enables boldness!

2 Corinthians 3:12 CSB

12 Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness.

Romans 5:2 CSB

2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Hebrews 3:6 CSB

6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.

Trait 3: Moves Us Forward

Keywords: Endurance and patience

1 Timothy 4:10 CSB

10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 Thessalonians 1:3 CSB

3 We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The idea of hope is inextricably connected to God’s ability to do.

In essence, it is the ACT which accompanies the TRAIT of belief.

We do not have hope in things we do not believe. If we have hope, it points towards our belief.

Read the following verses about the hope we have in Christ: 2 Corinthians 3:12, Romans 5:2, Hebrews 3:6, 1 Timothy 4:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:3. How would you describe “hope” in general and how does “hope in Christ” differ from hope in a political leader, a sports team, or even inanimate things like the weather? Do you think some people try to have “hope in Christ” as if Christ were one of these other entities? How can that lead people to fail knowing Christ’s real impact on their lives?

The Gift of Future

The beauty of Hope is that it is a gift that can not be clouded by others. The thing that we hope for can seem distant at times, but it is still just as glorious. Nothing in this world can steal that hope because nothing can interfere with the root of it.

Christ’s coming was the realization of hope. We got to see, hear, and touch the hope that is God’s promise throughout the ages.

Christmas moves us to remember the hope we have in Christ. The birth was just the introduction to a story of hope we were witness and see glorified in the resurrection.