Our Only Hope

I know that some of you are Scrooges out there who will gladly say “Bah humbug” to anyone who wishes you a Merry Christmas, but that isn’t me. I love this time of year.

There are lots of reasons why, but one of the things I love the most is Christmas lights.

If you have seen our front yard this year, you may have noticed our increasing number of lights and inflatable decorations.

I would love for our house to be seen from space.

It’s odd, really. I have always loved lights.

There have been a lot of Christmases throughout my life that have included a flashlight or a headlamp of some kind or another.

I have envisioned LED lights running under our kitchen cabinets for years, and I would put accent lights anywhere Samantha will let me.

You know what part of that comes back to?

As a kid, I was scared of the dark. In fact, if I let my mind go there, I can still get spooked walking down a dark hallway here at church or through woods in the dark.

There is something unnerving about the dark, isn’t it?

We can’t see what is going on, and, in our mind, every noise belongs to some unseen creature.

That picture of light and dark has played itself out in stories throughout human history.

One of the most visible in our day is the Star Wars movies.

You have the struggles where Jedi are faced with the temptation to join the dark side and give in to their darkest urges.

In fact, if we go back to the first Star Wars Movie released, we find a scene played out.

Darth Vader, who we eventually learn is one of these Jedi who has given in to the dark side, is attacking a ship with the Princess Leia on board.

Just before she is taken captive, she records a message that is later played back.

Her home world is under attack, and she is reaching out for help.

She uttered the now infamous words:

“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

In fact, the very title of that movie is A New Hope, which gives an idea of what the story would reveal.

Hope…that’s an interesting word in 2020, isn’t it?

For months, many have found themselves saying, “I hope 2021 is better than this year,” and, “I hope we can get back to normal soon.”

Here we are, only a couple weeks away from the start of 2021, and although there are promising signs that vaccines may be coming, there are segments of our society that are being impacted more than they have been throughout the rest of this time.

An honest look at 2021 might lead to despair as we look at what may happen politically or economically or with COVID-19 or even with situations in our own lives.

We have no assurance, really, that life will be easier or happier or calmer next year.

Sobering, isn’t it? If we are looking to a political change or a vaccine or anything like that for hope for next year, I am afraid we may be disappointed.

This morning, then, I want us to start looking at this issue of hope.

Instead of us cultivating a wishy-washy feeling that we describe as hope, like we hope it doesn’t snow much this winter, I want to give you a rock-solid hope that can never be taken away.

Open your Bibles to John 1:1-18 this morning.

It isn’t your usual Christmas passage, but my prayer is that our time looking at this passage will fill you with true, unshakable hope.

In fact, I want to challenge you with this main truth this morning:

Hope isn’t a feeling; it is a person.

That person isn’t a Jedi who chose the light; rather, he is the light of the world.

When we talk about hope, we aren’t talking about wishing or feeling or anything like that.

I am not trying to play the role of a motivational speaker today, trying to psyche you up and help you feel more optimistic about the future.

My job as your pastor is to help you find true, lasting, unshakable hope that isn’t just feel good fluff.

We are talking about looking to the future with confidence that is based on the unchanging character of a very incredible person.

This person is the one who all of Christmas is about. He is the one whose birth we celebrate, and he is the one who is our source of hope as we look at the days ahead of us.

Read verses 1-18 with me to see who our hope is.

Let’s break this down by first looking at...

1) The person who is our hope.

John uses some beautifully poetic language to describe Jesus in these verses.

Let’s look at them to see what we can learn about Jesus.

John referred to Jesus using at least two different words in this passage: the Word, and the Light.

Both of these highlight parts of the nature of the baby in the manger that we celebrate.

Verse 1-2 focuses on Jesus as the Word. Look at it with me.

From this verse, we see some incredible truths about Jesus.

He existed in the beginning.

In the beginning of what?

Everything! This verse teaches us that Jesus is eternal and has been around since before time began.

The verse literally says, “In beginning”. It doesn’t use the word “the”. Why?

Because John is here referring to the very beginning of time, space, matter, and everything but God.

It is almost as though it is a proper noun, so it doesn’t need a definite article, because you know what it is referring to.

Let me give you an example: When you are going to the big store that sells everything that is across from Wendy’s on N Franklin St, what do you say?

Most say, “I’m going to Wal-Mart”. You don’t say, “I’m going to the Wal-Mart,” because everyone knows what you mean when you say “Wal-Mart”.

In the same way, John doesn’t say “the beginning,” because he is pointing us back to a specific time that stands by itself…the very beginning of everything!

Jesus was there before time began!

In fact, John takes it a step further and says the Word, from the beginning, is God.

Listen: Jesus is not a created being, and he is not less than God the Father.

Jesus is eternally God. He always has been, and he always will be.

The baby that was lying in a feeding trough in an obscure town in a small nation is the eternal God!

We find out something else interesting by reading verse 3…

Not only was Jesus there at the beginning, he was working in the beginning!

He created all things! Nothing existed outside of God, in that beautiful relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then, at the Father’s decree, Jesus brought it all into existence.

The apostle Paul writes,

Colossians 1:16 CSB

For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.

Jesus was the agent of creation. In other words, he was the one who actually did the creating.

The deists of the 18th century taught and some still believe that God simply created and stepped away.

Instead, the Creator God stayed intimately involved in what he had made. Read verse 4-5…

This logically follows, but it is worded so beautifully here. Since he is the creator of everything, that also means he is the source of life for what he made.

That life is more than just physical life. Jesus is the source of our spiritual life as well.

His resurrection from the dead is what makes us alive spiritually and allows us to come into a relationship with him.

John also shows us that, as the Word who is the source of life, he is also Light.

What does that mean? As one commentator put it,

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 1:4

Light is commonly used in the Bible as an emblem of God; darkness is commonly used to denote death, ignorance, sin, and separation from God. Isaiah described the coming of salvation as the people living in darkness seeing a great light (Isa. 9:2; cf. Matt. 4:16).

To say that Jesus is the light is to say that he shines the nature of God into our fallen world.

You see, there is something that John doesn’t really highlight here.

The light, the source of life, the Word, created the world.

Yet, verse 5 starts talking about darkness.

See, the Bible teaches us that although we were created to walk in life and light with the God who is himself both light and life, we chose to do our think and brought darkness into the world as we rejected him.

Throughout human history, we have been trying to make our own light or find our own way back to the light.

The Bible records how God showed us the way back to himself through the Law and through the prophets, but here is why we say that Christmas brings hope for us: in the baby in the manger, light itself was coming back into the world!

Jump down to verse 9...

God, in his goodness and grace and mercy, had told us what his standards were and provided sacrifices to point us to our need for forgiveness and the sacrifice that he would one day provide.

The Bible records stories of men and women who sometimes did a great job at trusting and obeying God, but more often than not, failed miserably!

However, when Jesus came to earth, he was bringing that light and life to bear on the world in a new way.

The writer of Hebrews explains it this way...

Hebrews 1:1–2 CSB

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

Although everything God says is certain and sure and will always come to pass, we see that in sending Jesus to earth, he was coming in a unique, direct way to show himself to us.

That’s why our hope at Christmas isn’t simply an emotion for us as Christians.

It isn’t a vague sentimentality, wishing for peace on earth and goodwill toward men in some wishy-washy way.

No; our hope is in a person, the person Jesus, who has always existed and is co-equal with God the Father, who brought the world into existence, and then, in an unimaginable stage in history, took on human flesh to bring us back to himself.

We aren’t hoping in a political leader to make things better, scientists to make a vaccine, or even for your husband to change or your professor to exempt you from the final; we are putting our trust in the one who is God in the flesh, come to rescue and ransom us.

He brings peace and hope and goodwill in our lives now, and one day, as he establishes his kingdom in all its fullness, all the earth will experience that same peace.

Now, you may not be fully convinced that you can put your hope in Jesus. I understand that.

We have hinted at it, but let’s take a look together at what John says our hope did when he came to earth, and let’s see if that helps...

2) The actions of our hope.

What exactly did Jesus, the eternal creator and life-giving God, come to do?

Jump down with me to verse 14 and hear what John writes…

Verse 18 shows us that primarily, Jesus came and revealed God to us!

Stop for just a second and let’s talk about this.

Jesus is God in the flesh. He is 100% God and 100% man.

When John says that no one has seen God, he is saying that no one has ever seen God in his essential nature.

He has appeared in the Old Testament, taking on the form of a person, but he is, by nature, spiritual.

Here’s how one commentator put it:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 1:18

The statement No one has ever seen God (cf. 1 John 4:12) may seem to raise a problem. Did not Isaiah say, “My eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty”? (Isa. 6:5) God in His essence is invisible (1 Tim. 1:17). He is One “whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). But John 1:18 means, “no one has ever seen God’s essential nature.” God may be seen in a theophany or anthropomorphism but His inner essence or nature is disclosed only in Jesus.

The only way for us to see clearly the nature of God was for God to come, be born as a baby, and walk among us.

So that’s what he did! Jesus, still fully God, laid aside the right to use his divine attributes freely, and came to earth.

He was born, and John tells us that He revealed at least three aspects of God’s essential nature to us:

A. Glory

John says that, as we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we can’t help but see the glory of God.

Glory is one of those tricky terms to define.

One author defines it this way:

“Literally, the Hebrew word translated ‘glory’ means ‘weight,’ and the Greek word means ‘praise.’..the concept that both are heading toward is that God is the one who is massive, great, ponderous, and magnificent…In addition, throughout the Old and New Testaments the glory of God is connected to his presence with his people.” (Donald Fairbairn, Life in the Trinity)

His glory is the majestic part of His nature that sets him apart from the rest of Creation, yet it is closely connected to his presence with us in his creation.

Read through the Gospels when you see Jesus performing miracles. He shows God’s power of nature, over illness, over demons, and ultimately over death.

God and God alone can do those things!

This baby would grow up to show us the glory of God, interjecting light into the darkness by showing who God really is, instead of our distorted picture of Him.

One of the great ways Jesus displayed God’s glory was by highlighting another character trait:

B. Grace

Let’s talk about the Law for a minute, because without an understanding of that, it’s impossible to understand grace.

In verse 17, John talks about the Law of Moses.

Remember that when God gave the Law to Moses, it was a list of requirements and regulations.

There were feasts to observe, sacrifices to make, and practices to avoid.

You would think that knowing what is right from wrong would equip you to be the best person you can be.

As important as education is, it cannot overcome the human heart.

That’s why God didn’t stop at the Law. Paul tells us that the Law was like a schoolteacher, and its purpose was to point us to Christ!

Why? Because when we see God’s standards, we find that we fail and can never match up to what He calls us to be and to do.

That’s where Jesus comes in with this beautiful truth called “Grace”

Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve.

He knew we couldn’t keep the Law, so Jesus showed us grace by dying in our place to forgive our sins.

John tells us about another aspect of God’s essential nature that Jesus revealed:

C. Truth

As Jesus went through His life and ministry, He never told a lie. He never colored the truth.

He used tact at times, packaging His words in a way that they could be understood, but he never lied, and he never shied away from saying what needed to be said.

Why is that important?

Because a God who deceives isn’t worth serving!

Yet, Jesus came to reveal the truth.

In part, that truth was that God is holy and we are not.

He came to shine his light into our lives, showing us just how far we have departed from God’s design.

What does that have to do with bringing hope into this dumpster fire of a year?

When we see what Jesus was doing in revealing God’s glory and grace and truth, then we can look with hope to an uncertain future.

No matter what happens to the economy or the virus or your kids or your marriage or the climate or race relations or anything else, there is still a God who is more powerful, glorious, gracious, and righteous than you could ever imagine.

You can give God glory whether you get a stimulus check or whether you lose your job, whether you die of cancer, or whether he heals you miraculously, because in the middle of each of those things, you can recognize and acknowledge him as who he is.

He is the God who created, the God who gives light and truth, and he is the God who gives gracious forgiveness to any who will come to him.

See, Jesus didn’t just come to teach us a set of truths.

He came to reveal himself to us and invite us into a relationship with him that gives us hope this Christmas and every time of year.

That leaves us with the final aspect we want to see:

3) The outcome of our hope.

When our hope came into the world, he revealed God to us, shining light on our wickedness and on God’s goodness and offering us hope in himself.

Just like we saw with the Sermon on the Mount a few weeks ago, John tells us that there are basically two different categories of response to this one who is our hope.

As you read verses 5, 9-11, you see that when he started showing God’s glory and grace and truth, many rejected Him.

They were confused, they were angry. Even those who should have known Jesus and received Him rejected Him (verse 11).

But there is another group. Look at verses 12-13.

There was a group who, once the Light came and showed them how incredible God was and how bad they were, they agreed with God.

They recognized that what Jesus revealed was true: that God is a gloriously holy God, and that He has to punish sin. They also saw that he is gracious and wants to forgive our sins by taking the punishment in our place.

That’s what Jesus did for us: He, as the eternal creator God, giver of light and life, came to earth, became flesh, and revealed to us the glory of God. He showed grace and truth by saying, “Yes, sin must be punished, so I will take that punishment upon myself.”

Now, for any who believe in the one who died in our place, we can be adopted into God’s family.

We have hope that we aren’t alone, staggering around in the dark, trying to make light on our own.

Instead, the one who brought light and life to the world died in our place to draw us into a relationship with himself.

As God’s children, then, those who have believed in Jesus can also echo what John said in verses 16-17...

We have received grace that saves us and grace that sustains us.

Here’s what is beautiful about God’s grace: It isn’t like yours and my Christmas budget that looks a little tapped out because we have spent so much on presents!

Instead, his grace comes from his fullness, which means his grace is big enough to forgive every person on earth for every sin they will ever commit, if they will come to him.

So, here’s the question: What are you hoping in this Christmas? In the present you are going to get? In the vaccine? In the changing of the guard in DC? In the money you have under your mattress?

It is good to be optimistic, and I think you should have things you look forward to, but instead of trying to capture that elusive feeling of hope in circumstances, surrender today and put your hope in a person.

We aren’t looking to a Jedi in a far off land; instead, we are looking at the eternal, creator God of the universe and saying, “Help us, Jesus. You are our only hope.”

Bow your heads with me, and let’s take time to do just that.