Monday, November 28, 2022 Some material taken from Promised Hope
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for yhe who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Hope is Born
Advent. We celebrate this season every year. It is a time of expectant waiting, excitement, and reflective preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus – the Promised One – the Promised Hope. This season is marked in most churches by four Sundays leading up to Christmas where we focus on Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. We began yesterday with Hope.
Hope is a very misused word these days, and one we lay a lot of weight on. We hope for a lot and stake our joy and peace on the things we hope in. Unfortunately, a lot of us are hoping in the wrong things. There has only ever been one true source of hope.
When God created the world, He made a perfect world. He made a perfect man and woman, who lived in a perfect place, in perfect harmony. They were in perfect harmony with each other and with the world. Together they lived a life of worship to the creator. There was no need for hope.
God described the natural order and gave purpose to humanity – to glorify God by working and taking care of the garden, and to be fruitful and multiply. and He described the supernatural order with Him as the “boundary maker.” He gave them boundaries because He loved them. All He gave them was good – abundant life – if they lived within the boundaries He gave. But if they stepped outside those boundaries, they would exchange that abundant life for brokenness because of sin, which leads to consequences – which leads to hopelessness. Adam and Eve made that exchange and lost the abundant life they had. They rebelled against the boundaries God had given them, boundaries meant not to take the fun out of life, but to keep them safe. What He had given was the best. The moment sin entered the garden, they realized their nakedness. Their reaction was to sew fig leaves together to try to cover their sin.
Satan is the father of lies and he deceived Adam and Eve and they fell to that temptation. He deceived them with a lie and a promise he could not fulfill. He told them he could give them something better than what God had for them, but that could never be. Today he still deceives and tempts God’s children, and we still fall. He tries to make us believe that what he offers is better than God’s abundant goodness and sometimes we believe it, only to be left more hopeless in the end. Like Adam and Eve, we also sew our own “fig leaves” to try to cover our sin. We try every way to solve our own problems, but it all leads to hopelessness. The blood of Jesus is what we need to cover our sin. The consequences of sin cause despair and hopelessness.
Sin causes hopelessness. Sin always makes promises it cannot fulfill. But the shed blood of Jesus brings the cleansing that washes us whiter than snow and gives eternal hope – a hope that never dies out and is stronger than and hopeless circumstance we may face. There is nothing on earth that can extinguish this eternal hope.
Adam and Eve were desperate in their sin, shame, and guilt, but God still pursued them with grace, mercy, and compassion. They still had consequences, but He gave them a Promised Hope. Part of the consequences of sin was that we (all of Eve's offspring) will be at war with Satan and we are. But God said their would be One - One offspring that would defeat Satan, a rescuer for us, the Promised Hope. God delivered the very first Gospel message to Adam and Eve, and all mankind that day. The first promise of hope. Jesus.
Maybe this season of Advent finds you completely hopeless. Maybe every direction you look in your life offers nothing but despair. My prayer for you is that you look to the Promised Hope – Jesus. He is the only hope we have. Maybe you are desperate in your sin, shame, and guilt, but God is still pursuing you just as He did Adam and Eve. He chases us with grace, mercy, and compassion. He covers our sin, so we do not need to sew more and more and more leaves to cover up. Everything around you may be broken, and you may feel nothing but discouragement. There is no hope to be found on this earth – not in any person or thing. Anything we put our hope in besides Jesus Christ will only lead to hopelessness because He is the only true source of hope. Let this Advent season be a time for you to realign your life and your hope to Him – the one true source of hope. The Promised hope.
