Hope. Roms 15:4-13 WBC Sun 1 Dec 2003 pm
Intro
This is the first Sunday in advent. Traditionally in advent look at:
- JTB, ¡§the forerunner¡¨ Preparing the way
- Christ¡¦s second coming. Judgement
But this Sunday it is traditional to look at ¡¥the advent hope¡¦.
But, first- let me show you an example of ¡¥hope¡¦
Clip from City Slickers:
Billy Crystal¡¦s character Mitch attends career day at his son¡¦s grade school. Mitch is anything but optimistic. His son had told everyone that his dad was a submarine captain, but he really sells advertising. The kids aren¡¦t interested at all in what he does¡Xand neither is he. In classic Baby Boomer angst, Mitch gives the kids something to think about. He tells the kids to
¡§Value this time in your life, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices, and it goes by so quickly. When you¡¦re a teenager, you think you can do anything, and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Your thirties, you raise your family, you make a little money and you think to yourself, "What happened to my twenties?" Your forties, you grow a little potbelly, you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Your fifties you have a minor surgery. You¡¦ll call it a procedure, but it¡¦s a surgery. Your sixties you have a major surgery, the music is still loud but it doesn¡¦t matter because you can¡¦t hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale; you start eating dinner at two, lunch around ten, breakfast the night before. And you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering, "how come the kids don¡¦t call?" By your eighties, you¡¦ve had a major stroke, and you end up babbling to some Jamaican nurse who your wife can¡¦t stand but who you call mama. Any questions? (From City Slickers)
Is this Biblical ¡¥hope¡¦, do you think?
What is Biblical¡K Christian¡K Christmas HOPE?
- Ask
- quite different to normal ¡¥hope¡¦
Hope is a major theme of the Bible.
- and it starts in the OT
O.T. HOPE (projector)
Summed up by advent Hymn ¡¥O come, O come Immanuel
The OT is full of hope and longing
- for God to come and visit¡K redeem His people
- From Genesis
o (3:15) ¡V someone to crush the serpent¡¦s head
o 3:23 ¡V someone to restore the Eden they were chucked out of
- From Abraham (2000BC)
o 12:3 all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
o 28:14 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth¡K All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your OFFSPRING
- Through Moses (1400BC)
o Deut 18:18 ¡§I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him¡¨
This figure became known as the ¡¥Messiah. The ¡¥anointed one¡¦
-someone from the line of David, who would continue David¡¦s dynasty forever
- 1Ki 9:5 5 ¡§I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’¡¨
- and someone who, like David, would be a good king. A righteous king
- in fact, in David¡¦s own writings (psalms) he writes some things which, surely, can not apply only to him!
o PS 16:10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
o Bits in the psalms where a man is referred to as God (Ps110)
The unusual thing is- when David¡¦s kingdom gets torn apart (after his son Solomon/Reheboam -> Israel/Judah)
- rather than giving up- the HOPE grows
- Is (8C prophet). Spoke of one reigning on David¡¦s throne
o even points to where he comes from & ministers
ISA 9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan--
ISA 9:2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
ISA 9:5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
ISA 9:6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
ISA 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
He tells us, earlier, what name he will be given
- Is 7: 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 1
Now- some of these passages were fulfilled in their OWN context- as well as pointing forward to what became know as the ¡¥the hope of Israel¡¦
The hope continues and grows, through the time of many prophets
- in fact, after the fall of Jerusalem and the S Nation of Judah¡K and the halting not only of the territory but also the Davidic kingship
o the HOPE grows
o the challenge comes to ¡¥get ready¡¦ (Is 40)
o Is: many passages about a ¡¥servant¡¦. Suffering. (Is 53). Anointed (Is 61) and proclaiming favour
o Jeremiah looks forward to a ¡¥New Covenant¡¦
o Daniels sees one ¡¥like a Son of Man¡¦ taking authority
o expectation of ¡¥the day of the Lord¡¦ grows
o OB 1:15 "The day of the LORD is near for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
Payback time. God coming to set the record straight. balance the scales. Establish His rule, and David¡¦s throne (¡§and put us on it with you, Lord¡¨)
- hope. Longing. expectation. Certainty.
o all the more certainty, the worse the situation
„X they knew a lot about that! Babylon
But they had no certainty about the details and timing.
- (as always!) sensed it was immanent.
- (as always) thought they knew all the details
- but had NO idea GOD would come HIMSELF
o humbly as a MAN. BABY! to Galilee!
- and that they¡¦d have to wait 450 years after the last bit of scripture (Malachi)! (Intertestamental period)
o in SILENCE!
Aaaaargh!
But the thing is: ¡§hope does not disappoint us¡¨ (Rom 5:5)
- (not God¡¦s hope, anyway!)
- when God¡¦s put something in your heart¡K SAID something to you- you CAN¡¦T let it go. No matter what
o THAT¡¦S BIBLICAL HOPE
N.T. REALITY (projector)
And it becomes a reality in the time of the New Testament/covenant
- just not as they expected. But more about that in the next month
But you¡¦d expect the need for ¡¥HOPE¡¦ to stop there, wouldn¡¦t you?
- ¡§come, Lord Jesus. No need for faith. Hope. Love¡¨ etc
o (sounds familiar, eh)
Truth is: Jesus DID come and fulfil the OT hope
- but not completely
- He started the KOG, inaugurated it
o but it is predominantly a SPIRITUAL kingdom
o and it is one that grows and grows like yeast through bread
„X until He comes back and consummates it
So- the KOG is here in part, not full
- Our Spirits are made ALIVE by relationship with Him
o but still we LONG (hope?) for more
„X are hungry, homesick for heaven
- there are healings¡K but suffering, death, too
o and we long for¡K HOPE for the redemption of our bodies
- Christ HAS¡K IS changing the world (through us)
o but we LONG¡Khope for Him to come back and ¡¥wind it all up¡¦
So, there is the NT REALITY¡K but there¡¦s still Christian, Christmas HOPE- as well
N.T. Hope (projector)
But this Biblical hope is not like the world¡¦s hope
- ¡§I hope thing will be okay when I die (touch wood)¡¨
- ¡§I hope there¡¦s a plan for my life¡K and that there¡¦s a greater scheme behind things¡¨
No- we have a hope that is steadfast and CERTAIN
- Christian hope is REALITY, but also CERTAINTY
Heb 6:17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 2
o like Hunchback of Notre Dam- ¡¥Esmeralda! Sanctuary¡¨
o 1Ki 1:50 ff- took hold of horns of altar
- and it¡¦s this HOPE¡K CERYAINTY that we cling to and that keeps us going
o but it¡¦s not just based on us trusting anything. It¡¦s based on us trusting God and His promises and faithfulness
- and it¡¦s linked with FAITH
- HEB 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for
o but ultimately it¡¦s faith in JESUS, and nothing else
Jesus.- He¡¦s the one we ¡¥take hold of¡¦. ¡¥Cling to¡¦
- who won¡¦t let us down
o let me promise you: everything else WILL
It¡¦s a concrete and real hope.
So- what is OUR Biblical hope
We HOPE for here and now. That God HAS a plan for us:
o Jer 29: 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future.
- Has a plan even IN our (sometimes) hopelessness
o RO 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 2
- That THIS life, THESE situations somehow are contributing to the glory that awaits us and we HOPE for
o Rom 5:1 we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does NOT disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given
- And this hope is what keeps us going, depending on God. Waiting on Him.
- ISA 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD,
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
We HOPE for His coming again
That, somehow, Jesus is coming back for us.
Now- how might this happen, and when? It¡¦s been 2000 years, already
- well. It might be another 2000! The nature of prophesy is that they always think/see it¡¦s just around the corner
- and in terms of GOD¡¦S timing¡K the earth¡¦s timing (! in ¡¥earth time it is only a second away) ¡V IT IS
- It may not be far away at all- and so 1 Jn 3:3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
o don¡¦t want to get caught out!
I could well see it being a meteorite that brings man¡¦s era on earth to an end. Any time.
- MT 24:30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.
* it¡¦s happened before (dinosaurs). Could happen again.
- but that¡¦s OUR ticket OUT of here! Jesus has come to take us home
Rev 2:20 Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
This is a REAL, Christian HOPE.
We HOPE for HEAVEN
o we hope for heaven. Hunger¡K are homesick for it
o that¡¦s what the hope of GLORY is.
„X I¡¦m going there. NO doubts about it.
„X ¡§who minds the terrain when the journey leads home¡¨
o 1PE 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time
RO 15:13 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.
