Hope in Jesus
Biblical Hope: A Certainty
Hope is a powerful thing.
Homer spoke a little bit in Romans where it kind of reminds us that there's different kinds of things you can think of with hope. Sometimes we can have hope in a worldly sense, but that's not true hope. We can wish for things. We can hope for things. We can hope that we have this and we can hope that we have that and we can hope that this works out and that works out and we can hope in a material sense in a worldly sense. But when we think about hope from a biblical sense, it's a certainty. We have hope in a promise that when we've trusted in Jesus Christ and we've asked him to forgive us of our sins, we're forgiven and we're promised we're going to spend eternity in heaven. It's not a question. It's not a wish. It's a certainty. We have that hope. So hope in a biblical sense when you read about hope, it's hope in a sense that it's certain. It's not a question. And we have that as a hope, a good hope for us.
Feeling Hopeless
I've got a question though. When we think about hope, have you ever felt hopeless?
Have you ever felt like you don't have any hope? There's a lot of times that that can happen to us. We've got a fleshly body. There's times when circumstances happen and we can get discouraged and the enemy will use that discouragement to keep us there and to keep us worried. We can get discouraged about maybe we lose our job and we can't take care of our family and we're looking for work and we're looking for work and we're looking for work and we can't find work and financially we don't know how we're going to pay the bills and it can weigh on us. It can affect us. It can affect us in our relationships. It can affect us with how all this works out and it can even get to the point where we feel a little hopeless like how is it going to work out? Things can happen with our health and they can spiral and we get discouraged and we can wake up day after day after day and it doesn't change and maybe it even gets worse physically our health and we can start to feel a little hopeless. Someone that we love could be sick or someone we love could even die and we lose them and we lose a big piece of our life and Thanksgiving and Christmas just don't seem the same and we start to lose hope.
There's all kinds of things that can happen in our life and if we're not careful, we can start to feel like there is no hope.
Always Hope in Jesus
But I want to say this. We always have hope in Jesus. There's always hope in Christ Jesus.
There's hope on this earth. We've always got hope on this earth as a child of God. He will never leave us nor forsake us. There's always hope in Jesus every single day. And there's most certainly a future hope for eternity in heaven with the Lord. I think about that verse Jeremiah 29:11.
For I know the thoughts that I have towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. I don't know where you're at today. I know some of you might be like quite honestly I've been this very morning feeling discouraged. I know some of you might even feel hopeless.
But I want to tell you something. There's always always hope in Jesus.
Amen.
God's Eternal Plan for Hope
And something we see in the Bible that's so beautiful. The hope and the promise of Jesus, it has always been God's plan. When you go through the word of God and you look at the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, and you look at the prophets Isaiah, you look at Micah, you see that God always had a plan for his people to have hope through Jesus.
Isaiah's Prophecy
Isaiah 7:14.
And many of y'all know, but if you don't know, Isaiah was a prophet of God. Isaiah prophesied around more than 700 years before Jesus came as God in the flesh. Before Jesus was born of a virgin, before Jesus came down from heaven, Isaiah said this prophecy under the inspiration of God. Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." Emmanuel means God with us. Only God could have given Isaiah that. Over 700 years before Jesus was born of a virgin, Isaiah said, "This is going to be a sign. Jesus is going to come born of a virgin." See, God had a plan for his people to have hope through Jesus. And when Isaiah prophesied that, it gave hope for God's people that Messiah would come and that he would come born of a virgin. And by the way, Messiah, Jesus has come, but we still have hope knowing that he's coming again. We still have that hope.
Micah's Prophecy
Micah 5:2 also around 700 years before Jesus was born of a virgin, Micah prophesies the exact town that Messiah would be born in in Bethlehem. This, isn't it amazing? This village that seems relatively insignificant, a small town place was the place that God chose to have his son, our savior of the world, Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem. But we see that Micah prophesied that and God's people had hope that they knew that Messiah would be born and they even knew he would be born in Bethlehem. And you remember the wise men when they came, they knew where Messiah was to be born. When the wise men came, people knew, the scribes knew where Messiah would be born because of the scripture. But we see in these scriptures and scriptures like this that it's always been God's plan to have his people have hope through Jesus. And today we still have hope in Jesus. We know that he came and we have hope in why he came. He came and he suffered and he was beaten and he hung on that cross. He was nailed to the cross and hung there for our sins and he died. But we also know he rose on the third day so that anybody who believes in him will be saved. That is awesome hope. That's why Jesus had to come to bear our sins and to make a way that a sinner like me and a sinner like you could be forgiven. So just like they had hope looking forward to Messiah coming, boy, do we have hope. We have hope knowing he already came and knowing he made a way for us to be forgiven. And we've also got hope that he's coming back and that one day if we've called on him and we've trusted in Jesus, we will spend eternity in heaven with him.
God Keeps His Promises
We can have hope in Jesus. If maybe you're a little discouraged today, I hope you know that you can have hope in Jesus. I tell you what, there's a lot of things about the Lord that we can have hope in. We can have hope knowing this because God's plan will always come to pass. When God has a plan, it will come to pass. God keeps his promises. God kept his promise about sending his son, Jesus. Isaiah made that prophecy around 700 years, over 700 years before Jesus was born. And you know how Jesus came? He came just the way God's word said he would. Born of a virgin. Because when God makes a promise, it's going to come to pass.
I think about though when Isaiah made that prophecy and all those hundreds of years go by. The Bible there there's a period of time between Malachi and the New Testament that's often referred to by biblical scholars as the 400 silent years. That time between Malachi and when Jesus was born, there was no prophetic word. There was prophetic word right before he was born. When we think about Zacharias and we think about Mary and the angel Gabriel coming, but before that there was these 400 silent years. I wonder if some of the people might have said, "Well, I know what the scripture says, but is he going to keep his promise?" Maybe today there's some people that say, "Well, I know the Bible says Jesus is coming back, but we've been hearing that for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, really 2,000 years. Is he really coming back?" Yes, he's really coming back. And just like people back then, maybe some people might have gotten discouraged and say, "Is Messiah really going to come? Is Messiah really going to be born of a virgin?" Yes. Because when God makes a plan, it's going to come to pass. And that should give us hope, right? That should give us hope that we know that all of God's plans are going to come to pass. There's more of God's plan that hasn't yet unfolded and it's going to come to pass. And that should give us hope. It should give us hope that we know that the Bible says we're going to get caught up. The dead in Christ will rise first and those of us who remain will be caught up together with him to meet the Lord in the air. The rapture is going to happen. That's going to come to pass cuz that's part of God's plan and that should give us hope. Hey, the Bible says that old famous verse, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That should give you and me hope because when we've believed in Jesus, when we've fully believed in Jesus, we got that hope, that certainty, that promise that one day we will spend eternity in heaven with the Lord.
God Never Lets Us Down
You know, have you ever had somebody let you down?
Have you ever had people let you down? The truth is we've probably all let people down, too.
But see, God, he doesn't let us down. God doesn't break promises. People will break promises. Have you ever had somebody tell you they're going to do something that you were really counting on and they didn't do it? We've probably all experienced that and it's not a good feeling. But that's something about God. God doesn't break his promises.
Fulfillment in Luke 1
And to me, that's a reminder to us that we've got great hope in knowing that we start to see about God's promises coming to pass in Luke's gospel. Homer read there from Luke 1 beginning in verse 26. Now, Luke 1, I would encourage you if you haven't done it, go back and read Luke 1 today. It's an awesome chapter in the word of God. Just you know Homer read about where the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce that she would carry the Messiah. But just before that in Luke 1 in verse 13 we see that Gabriel comes to Zechariah. Now we're introduced to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. The Bible says they were both righteous before God. I was just thinking about that. It just challenged me to say and I think should challenge us to say are we righteous before God? They were people that walked with God. And you might say, well, why was she barren then? Why didn't she have a child? Well, cuz God chose her to carry John the Baptist and to make it all the sweeter when she was given birth as an older barren woman. But that's what we see happen. Gabriel comes to Zachariah. Zachariah is in the temple. And in verse 13 of Luke 1, it says, "Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John." We start to see that hope and promise of Messiah coming to pass in the announcement that John the Baptist would be born to Elizabeth. And then as we go on in that text in Luke chapter 1, the angel goes on to tell Zechariah, he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. So this promise that Isaiah prophesied, that Micah prophesied, we're starting to read it after these 400 silent years coming to pass. God had a plan and it would come to pass. And we see John the Baptist, the announcement of John the Baptist being born. And we know that John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord.
And as we go on in Luke 1, the passage that we read this morning, we start to read about the announcement of the fact that Messiah would be born of a virgin and would be born through Mary.
God Works Through Anyone Anywhere
And I tell you, when we think about this beautiful story, what a beautiful story about Gabriel after he's already gone to Zachariah, Zachariah was in the temple. Zachariah was told that his wife Elizabeth would give birth to a child, would get pregnant at an old age and barren. Now, just six months later, Gabriel's working again. The angel Gabriel's working again, and he goes to visit this young girl, Mary. There in verse 26 of Luke 1 is where Homer started reading today. But I want to say this about hope. When we read this passage, one thing we're reminded of, we can have hope because God can work through anybody anywhere.
Verse 26, it says, "Now in the sixth month, that's referring to 6 months of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John the Baptist. Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary." Once again, Gabriel, he's just visited Zachariah. Elizabeth now 6 months pregnant. Now, Gabriel visits Mary. And it says Joseph was of the house of David. There's a lot of scriptures that says Messiah would be of the lineage of David. And we see here that Joseph is of the lineage of David.
Then in verse 28, it says, "And having come in, the angel said to her, said to Mary, rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women."
Can you imagine being Mary? She's most people believe she was a young teenager seeing an angel first off. Being in the presence of angel would be indescribable. Most people fall out of fear that we read about in the Bible. And then this angel says the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.
And when I think about Mary, in many respects, Mary, I believe the way when we read the Bible was a special young lady. And I believe that she was one that walked with God. She found favor in God's eyes. But still, when you think about Mary, she was an ordinary young woman from an ordinary place. Yet God chose to use Mary to carry and to give birth to Jesus. And when I think about that, I just think about how God can work through anyone anywhere.
God can work through you. God can work through me. And the reason I say we have hope in that because when we have purpose in life, there's something special about having purpose. And there's nothing that has more purpose than being used for God's plan for salvation. There's nothing that has more purpose in life than in living for the Lord and allowing God to work through you for his eternal purposes.
And I hope we're also reminded that we can have hope because God can work through anybody anywhere. If God can work through me to call me to preach, God can work through you. I never would have thought I would have been called to preach, but God did it. It started with surrendering my life to Christ and then it continued with pouring into the word of God and wanting to grow closer to God. If you are here today and you want to be used by God, it starts with giving your life to Jesus. And then when you start getting in the word and you want to grow closer to God and pour into the word, pour into prayer, serve God, God will work through you. I don't know what ways it will work through you, but he will work through you. If you're available and you're ready and you're willing, God will work through you. And to me, that gives us hope because there's nothing more special than to work for God.
The angel gave him verse 30, he saw that Mary was afraid. He said, "Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God." She was afraid. She was like, "Who am I that this angel and what? I'm going to give birth and he's going to be the savior of the world."
God chose to work through Mary. And just like he chose to work through Mary, he can work through you. I hope every one of us are encouraged by that today to know that whatever circumstance you're at in life, if you're healthy, if you're sick, if you're young, if you're old, if you're rich, if you're poor, if you're black, if you're white, whatever it is, God can work through you. And that should give us hope.
With God, All Things Are Possible
I tell you what else, we can have hope because with God, all things are possible. Nothing is too big for God. Nothing. God created the heavens and the earth. God gave us life and gave us breath. There is nothing too big for God.
Watch what it says in Luke 1 verse 31.
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be since I do not know a man?" Imagine being Mary. Anybody when they find out they're pregnant would be a little bit like, "Oh my goodness, I'm pregnant." Especially if you're a young person. Then she's finding out she's going to be pregnant and it's going to be the savior of the world. And then she's finding out she's going to be pregnant and she's still a virgin. So Mary just asked the question, "How can this be? Since I'm a virgin, how can I give birth?"
And watch what the angel says, Gabriel. Verse 35. And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that holy one who is to be born will be called the son of God."
Gabriel gives Mary the answer that the Holy Spirit would cause her to get pregnant and she would give birth to the savior of the world. Verse 36, Mary gets news of another miracle. Gabriel says, "Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren." And watch those final words from Gabriel. For with God nothing will be impossible.
When I read those words, for with God nothing will be impossible, that gives me hope.
You know, that gives me hope that there's always hope in Jesus. We always have hope in Jesus. Every single day as a believer, you and I have hope when we've trusted in Jesus.
We have hope on this earth. No matter the circumstance we're in, we always have hope in Jesus. God can turn a situation that seems hopeless, he can turn it around. Have you ever seen that in your life? Have you ever seen where there's been a situation you're in and it seems like there's no hope, but God turns it around. He can turn it around in a way that gives him glory. He can also just turn the situation around where you're like, "Wow, how did that happen?"
Absolutely.
There's always hope with God.
Personal Testimony of Hope
You know, when I answered the call 2 days later after that being in the presence of God, that supernatural way the moment I answered the call, started to come back down to earth. And I remember the enemy started to get me worried. Well, I don't have a job now. How will that work out? I gave up my job to trust God, and God started giving me worry about what will people think that you gave up a CEO position and don't have anything. What will people think that you're going to be a pastor when you don't have a seminary degree? The enemy started working on me and the enemy got my mind. Have you ever been overwhelmed by the enemy? Overwhelmed with anxiety, overwhelmed with worry, overwhelmed with fear. God didn't give us a spirit of fear. That's not from God. The Bible says it. God didn't give us a spirit of fear. But the enemy got me so overwhelmed that it got to the point where after some months I was in total darkness. Complete darkness. Have you ever been there?
No joy. Not a moment of joy. Not a moment of peace. Not a moment. Agony every moment of every day. The enemy got my mind.
And I tell you, I felt like everything was hopeless. I felt with every fiber in me, I thought I had no hope. No hope. I didn't think I could ever get better. I didn't think I could ever have joy again. I didn't think I could ever have peace again. I was hopeless. But you know what? There's always hope in Jesus.
God healed me. God healed me. Like just like I went into darkness like that, a light switch came back on. For with God nothing will be impossible. Do you believe that today? So one reason we have hope on this earth is God can do anything.
Now sometimes we're going to go through suffering. Sometimes we're going to go through hardship. But God will get us through. But I tell you what else. God can do anything. If it's his plan, he can turn a situation around in a way that I never would have thought I could have gotten out of that darkness. But God healed me. And I know many of you have had times in your life where you've seen on this earth God do something that you thought was hopeless. I hope you're encouraged today to know that there's always hope in Jesus.
The Greatest Hope: Eternity in Heaven
And more than anything, I hope you know this. The best hope we've got is the hope and the promise of eternity in heaven with Jesus. That is the best. By the way, this earth is passing. This is temporary.
We're strangers in a foreign land. Our citizenship is in heaven.
The very best hope we got. There's no greater hope than to know that Jesus came.
Jesus was born of a virgin.
Jesus grew up. And Jesus came with a purpose. He came to die so you and I could be forgiven. Jesus came and he allowed them to beat him. He allowed them to the cross.
He died.
But we also know he rose on the third day so that anybody who believes in him will be saved.
Put Your Hope in Jesus
So to close, I'll just say, what are you hoping in today?
Are you hoping in things of the world or are you hoping in the Lord? I just want to challenge myself and our church. Put your hope in Jesus.
