Our Only Hope 2.0

I don’t know about you but I love Christmas. I love what it represents, I love that we schedule time to hang out with friends and family, that we can give gifts to those we love. But to be honest with you, as time has gone on it takes longer and longer for me to get right into the Christmas spirit. See this time of year for me has brought with it a ton of busyness. From wrapping up things at work, to figuring out what to buy people, and in some years trying to figure out where we were going to spend Christmas Day at and not to mention trying to find time to wrap the presents that I did manage to get before December 24th. So I’ve generally not gotten “ready” for Christmas until some point on Christmas Eve. Which is a marked difference from when I was a kid and had the expectation of Christmas welling up inside of me months in advance. What often times happens for me is that the plans being made get in the way of actually enjoying the thing that’s being planned. You know that our staff team is working its way though a book “Everybody Always” by Bob Goff and I love his take on plans he says, “Here’s the thing: we usually don’t need all the plans we make. Sure, plans can help from time to time, but planning to love people is different than just loving people. For some people, it’s easier to make plans than to make time. If this is you, here’s how to fix it: make love you plan. There’s less to write down that way.”

What I really do love is the hope and anticipation for Christmas and the Christmas season.

I'm not sure if you all know what this word Advent means. It's generally one of those words that we just rattle off and we don’t have a clue of what it means. Well the word advent comes from the latin word "adventus" which means "arrival" or "coming". It particularly relates to something important. It is a season of preparation, of anticipation of the arrival of Jesus.

And isn't it a great thing that one of our advent themes is on the topic of "hope". Hope is defined as "a feeling of expectation for a certain thing to happen" and it is an interesting thing. We generally have many things that we hope for in our lives. We have hopes in relation to our families and relationships, our jobs, our health, finances etc. We sometimes have certain expectations when it comes to all of these things that there will be a certain result. We even go through the pains of planning celebrations and moments throughout this season. Even during this time of the year, the Christmas season, we have hopes and expectations for the celebrations to come, don't we?

This morning I'm not going to tell you that all of these hopes and expectations that we have are wrong. What my desire will be this morning and what I feel we should be thinking about and considering as we talk is where our true hope should lie, what our great and only hope should be.

If you can turn with me to our passage this morning. We will be in .

- Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

PRAY

Just to step back just a little bit and talk a little about what is going on in our passage. The book of Isaiah was likely written about 700 years before the birth of Jesus by the prophet Isaiah, so a good bit of time still has to come before we get to the New Testament period. And more specifically here in the book of Isaiah from Chapter 7 to about 12 the prophet is focusing on the deliverance that God will bring to the tribe of Judah. In the first section of Chapter 7 we get a glimpse of the historical and political situation in northern Israel and their impression of and how they view the southern kingdom of Judah. With the kings of the northern kingdoms believing that they could conquer Judah as they believed they were weak, and that once the conquered them they felt that they could place whomever they wanted as the king of Judah. Hearing this terrified the current king of Judah, Ahaz. As I imagine it would any other ruler.

A little further on in the passage we learn that God then instructs Isaiah to go with his son to tell Ahaz that Judah will not be destroyed, and not to be afraid of the kings of the northern kingdoms. God reiterates that any challenge or attack from the northern kingdom and their kings will not take place.

Judah and king Ahaz had a lot to be hopeful for after this message. He basically had the assurance that he needed to not fear. He was just told what the outcome would be. He knew that the result would be good for him.

Body

Then we get to our passage and I want to focus on 2 elements of hope this morning from our passage, faith and hope. And I think that the question for us this morning is "What should our only and greatest hope be in?"

And in the midst of this I want us to inquire and to think about what our ultimate and only hope should be in.

1. When it comes to our hopes and expectations we should not be afraid to ask of the Lord. ().

ESV

Ahaz was told to ask of the Lord. He was told to ask for a sign, a miracle that would confirm God's word. He was given specific instruction to choose any miraculous sign that would provide visible confirmation that the prophecy that Isaiah gave to him was truly a word from God. It This seems like a pretty good deal, right?

But then King Ahaz's response is interesting. And I think sometimes this is maybe where we find ourselves. And don't get me wrong his response does appear very pious or Godly, at face value. He says that he doesn’t want to ask, to put the Lord God to the test. But it is thought that this response likely was because Ahaz didn't believe in what Isaiah had prophesied or that he just didn't want to believe Isaiah. But why do you think he was asked to do this? Why was King Ahaz to ask for a sign? It was designed as a means of strengthening and establishing King Ahaz's faith.

And this is sometimes where we find ourselves. In the position where we might not believe that our request is worthy enough to go to God with or that we just don't think that whatever we are expecting or anticipating will happen. We sometimes lack faith. Faith that whatever our situation is might be too small or unimportant. And this morning I want to encourage you to have faith, God does care about what is going on with you. What is required is that we have faith in him and what he wants for us is for us to come to him, on bended knee. God desires for each one of us to come to him and to ask what we need, to make our requests known to him.

ESV

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

If we are in Christ and he is in us and we are in step with his will. We are told to being our requests and ask God. Don't be afraid to ask and reveal your desires to God. He hears you. God hears you. This is something that we can be confident in.

ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Another example of, when we are walking in step with God we are called to being our requests to him. And during this asking we are to be seeking the Lord.

ESV

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

It is in this verse provides a crucial element to our asking God. We need to be doing it in faith, without doubting. Unlike king Ahaz here in the passage we need to trust and have faith that our God hears us and will work according to his will in our lives. Not everything that we hope for and desire, and anticipate will be given to us but we trust that no matter what God cares for us and will give us what we need. But when we are in step with God we ask not according to our earthly mindset but according to God's.

So I ask you. What is your faith like? When you consider what is going on in your life right now do you believe, do you have faith that God can heal you? That God can provide the job that you need? That God can mend and heal any broken relationships that you have? That God can sort out any situation that you face?

Then the Lord's response to King Ahaz is truly fitting. And it is often what occurs with us in situations. And it brings me onto the second point.

2. Our Only Hope is in and through Jesus ()

ESV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

At this point in our passage although Ahaz refused to request a sign from God which would have confirmed the truth in Isaiah's prophecy, Isaiah instructed that God would give him one anyway. And as we think back to instances where we doubted or where our faith was lacking in a situation, how often does God still show up and reveal himself in remarkable ways?

It is at this point that, in my opinion, Isaiah provides the greatest prophecy. It is here where he provides the first prophecy, where we see the hope for humanity, for the world, shared to all. Isaiah talks about the one that is to come. A baby born of a virgin, an impossible situation, that is made possible through God. And we are reminded time and time again in scripture that our God can make things that seem impossible to us possible, that he can make things happen. In the midst of our daily struggles, we sometimes think that certain situations are simply impossible, we are sometimes even told by people that there is no way that what we need to happen can happen. And I’m here to tell you today that God can make the impossible possible.

He says in “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

And Isaiah tells that his name will be Immanuel which means "God with us". Isaiah foretells about Jesus who is to come. And this is what we can really get excited about. Here where God instructs through his prophet that he will provide someone and his name will mean God with us. And it is this hope that is to come that will be the main theme of our Advent season and celebrations.

This hope is again shared with us in the John chapter 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” It is a similar message that God will provide for us Jesus, God with us. God in human flesh here on earth.

As although we understand that Ahaz didn’t believe Isaiah, or didn’t want to hear what he had to say, this passage is foretelling the true victory that the people will have. And it is interesting, sometimes we rest our hopes on the small victories that we might have in this world. We want to get through this situation so that we can be ok. We need and anticipate for this to happen in order for us to feel victorious. These small victories that we hope for are good, but I tell you that the eternal victory that awaits us, that awaits those who believe is so much better.

As so we must ask ourselves. Where does our hope rest? Where does our hope lie? I encourage you this morning that your hope should rest in the only one that can save, the only one who can be and is God with us. Jesus is the answer to and belief in him provides for us the eternal hope that we all need.

Conclusion

To conclude this morning I tell you that the true victory has already been given to us. It is through the coming of this child that Isaiah speaks about that the world will be given the greatest hope that it has ever seen. We have been given this amazing promise from God that whoever believes in the name of Jesus will be saved.

And what is this hope that Jesus brings? Wrapped in this prophecy is the hope for forgiveness. The hope for a Messiah that will save the people, to save us, from a life that would ultimately lead to suffering. We have a hope that when we believe in Jesus, when we come to faith in him, he will dwell in us and his work begins to grow in us. We become changed people.

I want to encourage you this morning. That if you’ve never taken that step of faith and said, “Jesus, I trust and believe in who you are. I have faith that you are the one that is prophesied about, that you are Immanuel “God with us”. That you would consider taking that step this morning. I would encourage you to come and talk with me, or someone here today about how you can access this hope that comes only through Jesus.

During this Advent and Christmas season there is a great deal of things to anticipate, to be hopeful for, to be excited about. Why not seek out our greatest hope this morning and truly tap into the excitement that only comes through Jesus.