Hope, Advent 2020

Hope, Advent 2020 (rough draft)

Intro - Advent

Romans 15:8–13 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Intro - Several years ago I took a group of 46 leaders and students to Brazil. Our ministry focus was to assist a church in the slums of Brazil to do ministry and reach their community.

If you live in the slums of Brazil you are stuck. You won’t get out. You and your family will be in systemic poverty for generations.

If you live in the slums, you have to illegally tap into the power lines to steal electricity. The power company doesn’t serve the slums and you can’t afford electricity if they did.

You have zero sources for clean water, except bottled water, which you can’t afford to buy.

Your public school education is terrible.

You speak with the accent of an impoverished person so you stick out.

The highest position of employment you have the chance of attaining is a day laborer or house keeper. These are the wealthy of the slum.

On this mission trip we worshiped in a slum church. I was asked to bring the message. I chose hope....

So, I wanted to bring a message of hope. That their greatest hope would always be found in Jesus...

Transition - You know what, that isn’t true just for a helpless person in the slum.

That’s true for every individual that walks this planet.

Your greatest hope will always be found is Jesus.

What is Hope?

Hope is not wishful thinking.

Hope is not mustering up a positive attitude about the future.

Hope is faith that God will work in the future.

Hope is an extension of our faith in God. To be full of confidence, to trust.

Hope is not wishful thinking. I hope I get a BB Gun for Christmas.

Example:

An acquaintance of mine, a man named Ravi, has his Ph.D. in Mechanics and works in industry measuring mechanical output. He is from India. He is fascinated in religion. Reads all about world religions. A friend of mine has been witnessing to him. If he became saved he would be a wonderful and powerful Christians to people in his cultural group. I am praying regularly for his salvation.

-I don’t have wishful thinking that, “It would be nice if this man came to follow Jesus.”

-I have hope that in the future God will save Him.

Hope is faith that God will work in the future.

In the New Testament we see most uses of Hope as a faith that Jesus will culminate our salvation. That we will be in heaven with Him and that He will give us a resurrection body like His.

The hope that we see in the O.T. was in the Messiah coming to be the Savior from sin. Much of the hope we see in the New Testament focuses on Jesus completing His saving work in us, His people.

So, as we approach Christmas, we celebrate the humility of Christ in coming to cruel earth and dying for the sins of God’s people. We also look forward to how Jesus will finish His Saving work in the future.

Transition - We see this hope fulfilled today in our passage in verses 8-9.

I. vs. 8-9, My Hope is in a God who does what He says.

Fulfilled Hope, Promise to the Patriarch

God is God we can count on.

When God says it, you can take it to the bank.

When God pronounces something, you can build your life on it.

The God of the Bible is a God that we can Hope in.

Illustration of the Prophecy of Christ

Just look at the Prophecies about Jesus.

-God promised a Messiah, a Savior.

-God did not just send any common man to be the Messiah.

-God sent His own Son. God sent His best, because He sent Himself.

There are over 300 prophecies about Jesus in the O.T. that He fulfilled.

Some prophecies are older than 10,000 BC. Some prophecies about Jesus being the Messiah were made 10,000 years before Jesus was born.

There are prophecies in the Bible fulfilled about:

-Jesus birthplace being Bethlehem.

-Jesus being from the tribe of Judah.

-Jesus being from David’s Kingly ancestry,

-That Jesus would spend time in Egypt.

-That he would be sold for the price of a slave (30 pieces of silver), Zechariah.

-that the 30 pieces of silver he was sold for would be used to buy a potters field.

-That at Jesus death he would be pierced and no bones would be broken.

-That as a poor man, he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb.

-That he would be resurrected from the dead.

-Many more specific prophecies 400 total.

400 of these prophecies. Some of the prophecies are as old as 10,000 years before Jesus was on the earth and some as early as 400 years before his birth.

What are the odds that any single man would fulfill just 48 of the 400 prophecies written about?

The statistical odds for 1 man to fulfill not 400, but 48 of these prophecies is

1 in 10 to the 157th power.

10 with 157 zeros after it.

How much is that? Fill the state of Texas up 10 feet high with silver dollars.

Choose one silver dollar and with a sharpie mark a big “X” on it.

Toss the X silver dollar in and stir the entire state up.

Now, your job is to blindfolded go wherever you want to in the state. With just 1 chance reach down and pull out the silver dollar marked with the “X”.

That is 1 in 10th to 157th power. That’s the odds of fulfilling just 48 of the 400 Jesus fulfilled.

God gave the prophecy about Jesus coming & God fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus coming.

When God tells you something, it’s going to happen.

Only the divine could do what Jesus did.

Jesus was divine. He was 100% God and 100% Man.

Jesus is the one we hope in now and Jesus was the one the patriarchs, Abraham, Moses and the Prophets hoped in.

When Jesus says there is hope - You can rest your eternity on His word.

When Jesus tells you something. It is going to happen.

More application?

My Hope is in a God who does what He says.

He is the great hope.

Transition - In verses 10-12 we see that a

II. I have faith in my salvation, a hope fulfilled.

For us to make sense out of the passages we all have to know that you and I are gentiles. Unless you are a Jew. Gentiles are all non-Jews.

Read versus 10-12.

Now listen to the word about Jesus in Isaiah. This is more hope in Isaiah 42:6-7

Speaking about Jesus.

Isaiah 42:6–7 ESV

6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

vs. 6, Jesus is given as the Hope, not just for the Jew, but for the Nations - the Gentiles. Jesus is given as a Hope for you.

Vs. 7 - And verse 7 speaks about you.

spiritually blind, in darkness (not able to see a clear spiritual path - lost), a prisoner (of what? - Sin) You cannot escape on your own. You are shackled and in prison.

And Christ came for you! To fulfill the covenant of the Old Testament and to begin a Covenant of Grace.

How did Jesus do this?

Jesus did this by embracing humility.

-Jesus left the beauty and comfort of Heaven.

-He became an infant, fully dependent on others. He could not walk on his own, eat on his own, be comforted on his own. Fully dependent.

-Jesus grew up in a broken world full of disease, suffering and death.

-He became a Savior that fully understood difficulty and suffering.

He experienced a world that had no respect for the poor. No healthcare. No welfare.

Jesus earthly parents were disrespected because others thought they got pregnant before marriage.

-Read Is 53:1-5

English Standard Version Chapter 53

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2  For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3  He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4  Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5  But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

In His humility Jesus came to do for you what you could not do for yourself.

The God of heaven not only became a suffering servant to you.

He became your sacrifice.

what are the shepherds told by the angels?,

“for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord”

He became a Savior. A Savior from the bondage of sin and a Savior from the eternal penalty of sin.

He paid for sin on the Cross.

Jesus did this to bring glory to the Father, and to invite you into a relationship with Him.

Have you had your sins forgiven by Jesus?

If not, today is the day. Now is the moment.

Right now say in your heart to God, “I trust that your sacrifice on the cross paid for all my sins. I give all of my life to you. You are Lord of my life.”

Jesus served the Jews, but Jesus also served the Gentiles.

He served you by going to the Cross.

He did for you what you could not do for yourself.

I have faith in my salvation, a hope fulfilled.

Response of worship from the text

-If you are a Christ Follower, will you say right now to the servanthood of Jesus great sacrifice, “thank you for salvation.”

Jesus is a hope fulfilled.

Transition

So far we have seen that we have hope in a God who does what He says and

We have faith in a God who fulfills our hope in salvation.

Finally.

III. The God of hope empowers me to have hope. vs. 13

read vs 13

God not only does for you what you could not do in Salvation, BUT

As a Christ follower, God continues to do for you what you cannot provide for yourself.

As you look at verse 13 in your Bibles, ask the question, Who provides joy, peace and hope?

One of the helpful things about our capitalistic economy is that it reinforces human responsibility. We learn in life that if we want something we have to go out and get it ourself.

So, when we look at the Bible, it is easier for us to see the parts where the believer is responsible for his/her part.

The negative influence of our economy is that we fail to see things in scripture that God tells us to do, but that we can’t provide for ourselves. God has to give it.

So, who provides the joy, peace and hope?

reread verse 13.

God provides joy, peace and hope by the power of His Spirit.

This season when you need hope, ask Him. He will give it.

Illustration -

As a parent you provide life for your child, but you’ve just started to give and provide. The national average to raise a child is $250,000. A quarter of a million dollars. When you add up everything you provide. That’s a lot of diapers. Those diapers better change themselves.

Isn’t this what God does for us.

It’s part of His the beauty of God.

-He doesn’t stop giving to His children.

-Not only does He give us life in His Son Jesus, but He is the one who provides joy, peace, hope

Before salvation God gives us what we can’t give ourselves.

After Salvation God gives us what we can’t give ourselves.

The God of hope empowers me to have hope.

Closing

-As we close, What is it that you need a forward looking faith in?

-What do you need hope in?

-Is there someone in your life that needs Jesus?

-Pray and trust God to work.

-Is there a financial situation that is a true need?

-Ask the Lord and watch Him provide.

-Is there something in your heart that needs ministering to, that needs transformation?

Bring it to the Lord and receive.

God is the God of all Hope.