Abundance of Hope
John , Christmas 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Over the past several weeks, we have been looking at the Christmas Story.
Sharing Christ at Christmas
Sharing Christ at Christmas
We began with our response to the story. Because of all that God has done for us, we should want to share the story with other. And there’s no better time to share about Jesus than at this time of year.
The Anticipation of the Light
The Anticipation of the Light
Then we looked at the Anticipation of the Light. For hundreds of years, the Jews were looking and watching to see the great light. Indeed, many are still looking for that light today, but fail to see that Jesus is that light has He proclaimed in John 8:12 where He said,
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The Assurance of God’s Plan
The Assurance of God’s Plan
Last week we looked at the Assurance of God’s Plan. God’s plan is real and He is still in the process of working it out in a great and might way!
Still, being assured of God’s plan does not mean that it will be an easy road to follow!
In our passage last week, we saw that salvation is free, but obedience is costly.
The Abundance of Hope
The Abundance of Hope
This morning, I want us to look at the abundance of the hope that has come into the world because the anticipated Light came into the world to assure humanity of God’s plan, which we are commanded to share!
Hope
Hope
As we begin today we need to define or at least have a working description of hope.
Hope is one of the primary Christian virtues, characterized as a positive expectation of a future good that is not yet present and involves some uncertainty about its realization.
In Christian theology, hope is viewed as the “heaven-reaching crown” of spiritual life, with faith as the root and love as the fruit-bearing stem. It reflects the kingdom of God across past, present, and future.
Fundamentally, the object of hope is Christ himself, particularly in his second coming, where the Christian’s hope of glory will be fulfilled. Hope enables believers to patiently endure difficulties, remain faithful in action, and understand that their labor is not in vain.
Christianity is essentially a religion of hope, where eternity and the future life are the primary focus, rather than the present moment.
Thus, as a Christian virtue, hope’s primary source is God, and it can persist even when other virtues are lost.
It is characterized by confidence in God’s goodness, tempered by a fear of His justice, and stands in opposition to both despair and presumption.
Biblically, hope is closely linked with faith, rooted in trust in God’s reality, goodness, and actions through Jesus.
Hebrews 11:1 is where my mind goes any time we talk about hope. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that hope is not some fly-by-night desire, but rather it is routed and grounded in the faithfulness of a person, Jesus Christ . Look at the verse with me:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
When you get to verse 2, we are told that the ancients—those Old Testament Saints—were commended for their faith, which allowed them to exercise their hope in God’s amazing plan!
Today, we place our hope in the saving work of Jesus Christ, and we hope for the coming kingdom of God, and for an eternity spent in the presence of the living God.
John’s Vision
John’s Vision
When John was exiled to the Island of Patmos, he received an apocalyptic vision, that we know as the Book of the Revelation (or the book of apocalypses).
In chapter 5, John describes a scene. He sees a scroll that has writing on both sides, and it contains seven seals to keep it closed.
He sees a might angel who askes in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
But then in verse 3 we read:
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
No one could be found that could open the scroll or even look inside it. No one in all of heaven, all of earth, or even in the demonic realm (under the earth) was able to open the seven seals.
This caused John to weep bitterly. In his vision, it was obvious that this sealed scroll was both significant and sacred.
While John is weeping one of the elders begins to speak. Look at verse 5.
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
The elder describes Jesus. He gives us two vivid descriptions:
The Lion of Judah comes from Genesis 49:9-10.
You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
2. The Root of David comes from Isaiah 11:1–5
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The elder also tells us that the Lion of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed! The Greek word nikao has several meanings: triumphed, conquered, overcome, prevailed, victorious, or vanquish.
The word can be used in several ways:
Winning when one faces obstacles.
Winning a battle or contest.
Winning in legal action.
Jesus triumphed in all three of these ways! And because of that He is able to open the scroll and open each of the seven seals.
This picture of triumph should give us an abundance of hope in the future.
A hope that tells us no matter what is going on in this world right now, Jesus Wins in the End!
The End is Coming
The End is Coming
But when will the end come? Well, one of the promises that we have is found in Revelation 22.
In Rev 22:12 John records for us some of the final words that Jesus said to him, and ultimately to us.
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
In this verse we are reminded that Jesus is coming soon! It could be at ANY moment!
We learn that when he comes he will bring his reward with him.
And he will give his reward to each person according to what they have done!
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
In verse 16 Jesus tells us that he sent his angel to give John the testimony contained in the book of Revelation.
And he concludes by reminding us that He is two things:
The Root of David
But he is also the Offspring of David (check out the genealogy found in Matthew 1).
And he says that he is the bright Morning Star. All we need to do is look at 2 Peter 1:19.
We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Another reminder that we can trust that what we read in the Bible is truly from God! All because of the testimony that Jesus gave to the churches.
Yet, an increase in the abundance of hope!
Finally, our hope should cause us to live our lives differently than the world lives!
John has been writing to the early church, which was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. These were two groups that did not normally get along!
Like John, Paul faced the same challenge. How do you unite Jews with Gentiles?
Jews & Gentiles
Jews & Gentiles
Turn to Romans chapter 15, and we’ll begin by looking at verse 7.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
The first thing we read is that we are to accept each other just like Jesus accepted us! The Greek not only means accept, but has the idea of receive, take aside, or take along side, or to welcome. That is exactly what Jesus has done for us!
The Jews
The Jews
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed
Look at what Jesus did for the Jews:
He, the King of Glory, became a servant of the Jews.
He did this to live out God’s truth.
He did this so the promises of the patriarchs might be confirmed (Gk. confirmed, established, verified, proven to be true, strengthened, sustained, or increase the inner strength).
The Gentiles
The Gentiles
and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.”
So the Gentiles might glorify God because of God’s mercy for them!
So God would be praised among the Gentiles.
To show the importance of this it is repeated in verse 10 by telling the gentiles what they should be doing!
Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”
And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.”
For a second time, the Gentiles are to REJOICE—but not alone!
They are to rejoice with the Jews (his people).
And finally Paul quotes Isaiah quoting the verse that brings us back to Revelation 5:5.
And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.”
The Root of Jesse—Jesus has already sprung up and:
Will rise up to rule over the nations!
And will give hope to the Gentiles!
And in verse 13, which is really one of Paul’s prayers for his readers:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul identifies God as the one who gives hope.
Paul calls him, “the God of hope.”
Paul asks the God of hope (Gk. basis of expectation) to provide the reader of the letter with two things:
—Fill us with all joy (Gk. gladness, delight)
—Fill us with peace (Gk. harmony, order)
These qualities: joy, and peace; only manifest themselves when we trust in (Gk. believe in, put your faith in) God for all your daily situations.
The more we put our trust in the Lord the more we will overflow with hope (we’ll have a greater basis of expectation).
This overflow of hope comes by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives!
So What?
So What?
It is simple!
The quantity of promises contained in the Word of God should give us an Abundance of Hope.
God’s faithfulness to His promises should give us an Abundance of Hope.
And the simplicity of God’s promises should strengthen our Abundance of Hope!
And during this, the final few days before we celebrate Christmas, each of us should have a desire to share our Abundance of Hope with others!
As we close our service this morning, we want to celebrate what has become known as the Lord’s Supper. Communion is a time when we reflect on ALL that Jesus has done for us. It is a time of Remembrance, but it also reminds us of our Abundance of Hope.
I’m going to ask the Deacons to come and uncover the table.
If you know Jesus as your Savior,
And if you are seeking to make Him your Lord,
We invite you to come and participate with us as we celebrate our Savior’s birth, life, death, burial, and ultimately His resurrection.
