Advent Week One: Hope

Introduction

-Advent refers to the coming of Messiah.

-Today we will look backward to a time when God’s people were anticipating the first coming of Messiah.

-The goal for this morning is to reflect on what it meant to hope in Jesus’ first coming as we eagerly wait for His future second Advent.

-We will camping in Isaiah 2:1-5 and finishing in Matthew 24:36-44.

Isaiah 2:1-5

Isaiah 2:1–5 ESV

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

-This passage is pre-Christ, but it sounds oddly related to Him.

-The prophet saw a future vision of God’s kingdom being established on earth.

-There would be no more war, no more humans killing humans.

-Weapons for war are transformed into weapons for creating and cultivating.

-An outward symbol of a change taking place inside the user of the tool.

-Most importantly, not only are humans at peace with each other, but they are also at peace with God, joyfully entering into His presence in worship.

Ultimate hope, that God was going to set things right. There would be no more wars, no more suffering and everyone would walk in the light. Think about the context in which most ancient peoples lived; tribal groups prone to war with other tribal groups, later to replaced by tyrannical governments where peace would be accomplished through power and subjugation of other human beings. God’s image bearers destroying other copies of God’s image. Even God’s people participated in the rebellion against creator God. The prophet here uses poetic language, that their weapons of war would be turned into tools for cultivating. The prophet knew that this would be accomplished through Messiah, God’s anointed one, but exactly what this would look like was not known to Him. The hope was placed in that God would be doing the work, and God would set things right out of His abundant love.

Matthew 24:36-44

Matthew 24:36–44 ESV

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

To many people, Jesus’ statement about His second coming sounds ominous and makes some anxious. The only reason why this gets that reaction out us, is due to the destruction that sin and the Enemy of our soul has unleashed on the world. We fear because at heart we are guilty of our part in all of this and know that once Jesus comes again, there will be no second chances. But can I give you a fresh perspective; Jesus is coming as a risen saviour. The power of sin and death has already been broken by what He did on the cross and His resurrection. Yes He is coming to judge the living and the dead, but for us who trust in Him and believe Him at His word, we will be saved. Our salvation, our peace with God as described in Isaiah chapter 2, all of it is tied to the person of Jesus and what He did for us. If we cling to Him, He is coming for us. He isn’t coming as a calloused God, an abusive father, but a God who loves and is making everything new. If you trust Him, if you have turned from your sin, and turned to Him, He is coming for you and me. This is reason to for us to have hope. This is the reason the prophet Isaiah had his visions of Messiah, to point people to God the Father.

Romans 10:5-13

Romans 10:5–13 ESV

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”