We've all gone through various hardships and crises through the years.
Of course we have.
But overall, for many of us, life has been relatively good.
And we need to be abundantly grateful to God for that.
But we also need to recognize that fortune has the potential of acting like an anesthetic
that numbs us to the reality of brokenness in our lives.
Too many people understand this.
And so what they do is they spend their lives chasing after fortune,
thinking that prosperity is actually the only hope that we have
against the brokenness that seems to pursue us.
Right?
So we don't set our hope on things that are religious at all.
We don't set our hopes on people necessarily at all.
We set our hopes on fortune.
If I can just get my hands on blessing,
if I can just get my hands on more stuff,
that's the thing that is going to give me security.
That's the thing that's going to provide real hope that I can escape the just travesties of my life
and the hardships that I've experienced in my life.
If I can just get to the blessing,
that's where hope and brokenness will ultimately be found.
And then when blessing finally comes,
and for many of us it does,
it quickly sets us on a path of what we would call blissful ignorance.
We're ignorant now sometimes of our own brokenness,
and we're happy to be so.
Blind to the suffering of others in some cases.
It's numb, especially to our own sinful condition.
Now if you're ignorant of brokenness,
the problem is you'll also be ignorant of gospel hope.
Because remember, it requires brokenness,
the recognition of brokenness,
before we can actually get to anything good and substantial about hope and about the gospel.
Think about it.
There's a reason Jesus said that it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Why did he say something like that?
It's nearly impossible for those of us who have been extraordinarily blessed
to get a sense of our own need.
And when we do,
it's very difficult to transfer our hope from wealth,
and from pleasure,
and from money or whatever it is that we would describe as being fortunate and blessed.
It's very hard to transfer our hope from that
to a Messiah that was said to have been born 2,000 years ago.
That's a hard thing to do for anyone.
It's especially a hard thing to do
for someone who feels secure in their blessing.
But there's also a kind of spiritual prosperity
that is just as damning.
On one hand, we have the ignorance of brokenness
because we are a wealthy people.
Maybe not in comparison to other Americans,
but relative to the world,
we have been extraordinarily blessed.
And that blinds us sometimes to some of the realities of suffering,
but also to our own brokenness.
But then there's this spiritual dynamic as well
that's at work here.
It's an enemy for us.
The Pharisees, for example,
were so proud of their ability to keep the law
that they lost all sense of their own sinfulness.
Theirs wasn't a material blessing necessarily.
It was a religious blessing.
It was a path of prosperity in terms of their faith.
They rejected Jesus, ironically.
The only true hope that they actually had.
And why did they reject him?
Because they expected when the Messiah would come,
he would come to reward them
because they had done so well
because of their spiritual prosperity.
Messiah, when he comes,
yeah, Jesus can do these wonderful works.
He can do these amazing things.
But if he was really the Messiah,
he would be here to reward us
for our ability to keep the law.
But what Jesus actually came doing was warning them.
You can go to some passage where he pronounces
extraordinary woes against the scribes and Pharisees.
Why?
Because their spiritual prosperity
had actually blinded them
to the reality of their own sinfulness.
Self-righteousness became their hope,
making them ignorant of their own brokenness.
Okay?
So we've got at least two enemies
that I'm dealing with today.
The first one is just ignorance.
Sometimes that's ignorance
that comes from material blessing
and we just kind of get numb to the fact
that we're sinners
and that we've got issues
and that other people have issues
and we're just content to set our hope on wealth.
Then there's the ignorance
that comes from spiritual blessing.
You know, we're just really good Christians
and when we're really, really good Christians,
we start to forget
that we're actually really, really bad sinners too.
And the gospel gets muddied up and all of that.
Okay, enemy number two.
The enemy of denial.
Now, how is this different?
We can also be oblivious to brokenness
simply because we choose to be.
We just choose to be.
An awareness of brokenness,
both spiritual and material,
is an immensely heavy burden for us to bear.
Many of us, we have a particular way
that we want to view ourselves.
We have a particular way
that we want to view the world around us
and we will consciously turn away from things
that interfere with that vision.
This is why churches stop dealing with issues of sin
in their services
because it's uncomfortable
to understand the reality of our sinfulness
and to see holiness and justice in God
is a heavy burden.
We don't like to hear those things,
so we don't hear those things.
We choose not to hear them.
We choose not to say them.
It's far easier to cope
when you just remove any reminders
of how broken the world really is.
We do this in all kinds of ways, don't we?
People aren't always so genuinely interested
in helping a people group like the homeless,
but they really don't like it
when the homeless colonies are set up
with all their tents and their tarps
on someone's commute into work.
They're not always so interested
in actually helping those people,
but they want them moved out of the way
so they don't have to look at it every day
when they're driving to work, right?
It's this ignorance of denial
we see brokenness,
but we don't want to see it anymore.
We just want to get it out of the way
so we don't have to think about that anymore, right?
We refuse, in some cases,
to use language of death, right?
Why do we do that?
We choose rather.
We want to use phrases like,
well, they've passed on
or they've moved on.
Why do we do that?
Because death is a heavy burden to bear.
We want to try to deny its reality
as much as we possibly can.
And so we try to soften it
even with the language that we use.
We don't want to watch the news.
We don't want to read the newspaper.
You know why?
Because all it does is tell us
how broken we actually are.
We don't want to read about
nearly 6,000 children
who have been killed in the last two months
because of Israeli airstrikes.
6,000 in two months' time.
That's hard to read about.
That's hard to acknowledge.
So what do we do?
Well, we do everything we can
to just get those things out of the way.
We don't want to see it.
We don't want to look at it.
And there's a spiritual version of this
denial among some professing Christians
that completely destroys the gospel.
I told you about a conversation
I had last night with Herman.
I had a conversation earlier this week
with another man named Mike
who's connected with a Presbyterian church,
USA, in Rock Hill.
And he was sharing with me
some of his frustrations about this church
because the pastor has now decided
to be a universalist.
He denies now that there is a literal hell,
that there is a place of conscious torment
for anybody at this point.
And his statement would be
basically a Christian version of atheism
and atheistic arguments,
which is if God really is loving,
then he would never actually send someone
to a place like hell.
And they have adopted this doctrine as a church
to where even in our own backyard in Rock Hill
and probably all over the place,
even here in Cornelius and Davidson,
there is teaching that,
no, hell isn't a real thing.
That's not really what the Bible is teaching.
And no, everybody's gonna be fine
because Jesus is loving,
because Jesus has died.
Everybody's good now.
Well, it's just not true.
It's totally inconsistent with the Bible.
So where does such teaching come from?
It comes from a place of denial
about the realities of sin
and judgment and hell.
It comes from those
who have a way that they want to view God
and a way that they want to view the world,
and they will not even let the Bible
interfere with that vision.
Just put these two things together,
the ignorance and the denial.
Both of those things come with a measure
of security, don't they?
If we're ignorant of brokenness and sinfulness,
if we're in denial of brokenness and sinfulness,
then we feel secure in that position, right?
We fight for it even in some cases.
But this security is a false hope.
It's not actually real.
But there is a true and lasting hope
that can be found,
but it requires that we first come to terms
with the fact that we are broken, sinful people.
Scriptures actually go to great lengths
to tell us that.
Not because they want to beat us up,
not because God's just trying to beat us up,
but because it's only through that recognition
that we can actually get to
any kind of true gospel hope.
Now, Jesus shows us a better way,
and he shows us this better way
in just a glimpse here in this text
in verses 22 and 24.
In the incarnation,
Jesus does not ignore our brokenness,
neither does he deny our brokenness.
In the incarnation,
Jesus enters our brokenness,
willingly enters it,
endures it,
in order that he might identify
with those that he came to save.
Just look here at the first couple of verses.
Verse 22,
and when the time came for their purification,
according to the law of Moses,
they brought him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
as it's written in the law of the Lord,
every male who first opens the womb
shall be called holy to the Lord,
and to offer a sacrifice
according to what is said in the law of the Lord,
a pair of turtle doves
or of two young pigeons.
So the presentation of Jesus
at the temple in Jerusalem,
it involved purification rituals
that included sacrifice.
And at some point along the way,
circumcision would have been linked to this process.
I don't know if it would have happened
on this particular moment at the temple
or if it would have happened prior,
but this would have been a part of the process as well.
Well, all of these things were commanded
in the Old Testament law of God
as a symbol of sin,
as a reminder of our need
for spiritual cleansing.
But that brings us to an interesting moment
of conflict.
If Jesus is the Son of God,
the sinless Son of God,
why was it actually necessary
or was it even necessary
for him to go through these same practices?
Why would he need to go through circumcision,
which is just all about cutting out sin?
Why would he need to have a sacrifice
done for his purification as a baby?
I thought he's the sinless Son of God,
and yet Mary and Joseph still take him
and they do this thing with him.
Why?
Is that not a contradiction?
Well, no, it's not.
On one hand,
this shows the faithfulness
of Joseph and Mary.
Now, I want you to think about something.
I don't know if you've ever thought
about this before,
but we see all of these moments
in the Gospels
about angels appearing
to Joseph and Mary
and telling them what to do.
You're going to have a child?
Call his name Jesus.
Do this.
Do that.
So on it goes.
Then the angels appear
to the shepherds,
and they give a little more information,
and then there's the Lord's working
in all these different ways.
Here's something that we never read about
in the Gospels.
No angel ever comes to Joseph and Mary
and says,
all right,
here's the manual
on how to raise the Son of God.
This is what you do,
and this is how you go about it,
and this is what you teach him.
There's no manual for that.
So surely at some point in Bethlehem,
after Jesus has finally been born
and Mary perhaps was able
to get some rest,
perhaps Joseph looks at her
and says,
what are we supposed to do now?
There's no more angels.
What do we do?
And what was their answer?
Well, what does the Scripture say
that we're supposed to do?
Well, the Scripture says
on the eighth day,
he's to be circumcised,
he's to be presented
because he's the firstborn
from your womb.
That means that he's holy
unto the Lord,
and we have to do these things.
And so what does Mary and Joseph do?
They faithfully follow the Word of God
and praise God that they did
because that's essential
for him to be Messiah.
For Jesus to be the Messiah
means not only that he dies,
it means that he fulfills.
And the only way he can fulfill the law
is if the one born under the law
goes through the circumcision
and is presented at the temple.
It wasn't done for his sake.
It was done for our sake.
Isn't that amazing?
He enters our brokenness,
and then he identifies with us
in our brokenness.
And in this salvation,
the righteousness of Christ
is imputed to us,
and it is a complete righteousness.
No portion of the law
was left unturned
in terms of Jesus fulfilling it.
He fully obeyed
and fulfilled God's law
on our behalf.
And much like his later baptism,
these rituals were not performed
because he was a sinner,
but because he desired
to identify with sinners.
Think about this.
Sacrifice of birds
and young pigeons.
That's not the typical sacrifice.
Why did they have to do that?
Because they were poor.
They had no money.
They couldn't afford a lamb
to sacrifice.
So Jesus not only comes
and identifies with us
by going through the rituals,
but when he comes,
he comes to the lowliest of people.
He's born in the humblest
of scenarios.
Why?
To identify
with sinners
leaving the riches of heaven.
Jesus identified
with the lowly on earth.
He was born under the law,
Galatians 4,
so that he might redeem those
who are under the law
to make us
sons of God
like him.
So rather than ignore
and deny our brokenness,
Jesus was broken
for us.
Isn't that amazing?
And until you see
your hopelessness
without him,
you'll never understand
the immense hope
that you can have
through him.
That's why we begin here.
I'm not just trying
to beat you up.
I'm not just trying
to tell you how bad you are.
In fact,
relative to other people,
you're probably pretty good.
But the comparison
and the bar
that has been set
for us
has not been set
by other people.
It's been set
by a holy God.
And the reality
is that each of us,
whether you're 80 years old
or you're 8 years old
in this room today,
no matter who you are,
you are absolutely
hopeless
and broken
and sinful
without Christ.
And until you begin
to understand that,
you'll never really
understand
that he is hope.
You'll never understand
the advent of hope
in the advent of Christ.
All right.
Number two.
Hope not only requires
that we recognize brokenness,
hope requires
we believe
the brokenness
can be fixed.
Hope requires
that we believe
that the brokenness
can actually be fixed.
Now,
my desire
is that all of us
are thinking truthfully
about brokenness
at this point,
but the fact is
that most of you
probably didn't need
to be convinced.
Some of you
may not identify
at all
with the predicament
that Michael Buble
found himself in.
In fact,
you're routinely
in your life
plagued
with the reality
of sin
and suffering
that is not only
in you
but around you.
You know what that's like,
which brings us
to the next point
of emphasis.
Are we to expect
that any of this
can actually be made
better?
Can it be fixed?
Can it be made better?
Even more,
can it be made right?
Or are we just
on this
crazy path
of
we're just here,
there's no purpose,
we're just
got to do the best
that we can?
Some seem
to struggle
to see how bad
things are.
Many find it difficult
to believe
that it can actually
be made better.
Well,
again,
there's two dangers
at this point.
The first danger
is cynicism,
which causes
a person
to resign themselves
to the notion
that none of it
can actually
be made right.
In that view,
our only course
of action
is just do
the best you can
and hope that
you fare better
than other people.
That's cynicism,
right?
Just,
it can't be made
better.
The other danger
here
is a misguided
optimism,
okay?
Misguided optimism.
This is what
we see predominantly
at this Christmas
season,
at least in our
secular world.
It leads an
individual to set
their hope on
things that
cannot actually
make any difference
in their life,
but they just
really believe
that it can,
and they really
hope that it
can,
but it can't,
it can't do
anything.
Hard work,
a positive spirit,
even a strong
moral compass
cannot provide
what we need.
So how can we
actually come to
believe that a
real and lasting
hope exists?
This is where
Simeon and Anna
are so helpful
to us,
because both of
them show us
what it's like
to live with
a hopeful
expectancy
that's not rooted
in the human
spirit or in
the, quote,
Christmas spirit,
but is rooted
in the power
and the promises
of God,
okay?
Look with me
in verse 25.
Let's read first
about Simeon.
Now there was
a man in
Jerusalem whose
name was
Simeon,
and this man
was righteous
and devout,
waiting for the
consolation of
Israel,
and the Holy
Spirit was upon
him,
and it had been
revealed to him
by the Holy
Spirit that he
would not see
death before he
had seen the
Lord's Christ,
and he came in
the Spirit into
the temple,
and when the
parents brought
in the child
Jesus to do
for him according
to the custom
of the law,
he took him up
in his arms,
and he blessed
God.
He's not
only expecting
that this is
going to happen,
but he recognized
when it does
happen,
and he blesses
God for it.
Now skip to
verse 36.
Let's look at
Anna.
And there was a
prophetess,
Anna,
the daughter of
Phanuel,
the tribe of
Asher.
She was advanced
in years,
having lived with
her husband seven
years from when
she was a virgin,
and then as a
widow until she
was 84.
She did not
depart from the
temple,
worshiping,
fasting,
prayer,
night and day.
Why would she
do that?
Hopeful expectancy,
right?
And coming up at
that very hour,
she began to give
thanks to God
and to speak of
Jesus to all
who were waiting
for the redemption
of Jerusalem.
Now Simeon and
Anna here are
wonderful examples
of the spirit of
Advent that we
talked so much
about last week.
Remember Advent
from the Latin
Adventus.
It means coming
or arrival.
There's two
Advents in the
scripture.
The first Advent
being the
incarnation of
Christ.
The second Advent
being the return
of Christ.
And of course
they're awaiting
for the first
Advent of Christ.
And I want you
to think about
this in terms
of the Advent
season for just
a moment.
The Advent
season is a
time of longing
and hopeful
expectation that
Christ will come
to save his
people.
Just as Israel
and Simeon
and Anna
longed for
and awaited
the Advent
of the Messiah,
Christians now,
us,
we long for
and await
the Messiah's
return.
In the same
spirit of it.
And no one
in the Christmas
narratives
displays this
sense of hope
and certainty
quite like
Simeon and
Anna do.
Though they
understood the
deep reality
of brokenness
and sin,
they were fully
convinced that
God would
fulfill his
promises of
salvation.
Fully convinced.
It's unmistakable
in this passage.
Not even yet
with the Christ
coming to the
temple, but just
the practices of
Simeon and Anna
before that,
full of hopeful
expectation,
trusting God,
believing in
his promises.
They both gave
their lives to
prayer and to
worship and
proclamation about
this hope,
and God blessed
both of them to
speak prophetically
about the hope
that had come in
the child Jesus.
But the question
is, how could
they actually
possess that kind
of hope?
What gave them
such assurance
in that moment?
Is it that they
were doing what
everybody else was,
they were just
picking something
to put their
hope in, and
they just happened
to be the ones
that were right?
No, that's not
it.
And I think the
answer can be
found for us if
we look a little
closer at
Simeon.
If you notice
in these verses,
Simeon's hope
is directly linked
in the text to
his righteousness
and devotion.
He was a
righteous and
devout man.
Now this is not
that pseudo form
of hope that
attempts to
will or to
manifest things
by the power
of positive
thinking.
That is all the
rage these days,
and there's some
Christians that are
dabbling in this,
and let me just
take this as a
byway for just a
moment.
Stay away from
this manifesting
ideology.
It's not real.
It's demonic
New Age theology
that says if I just
think it hard enough
and I think it over
and over and over
again, I can
manifest into
existence the good
things that I want
in my life.
There are Christians
who are treating
God that way,
where they just
think if I just
think positively
enough, if I pray
enough in Jesus'
name, I can
manifest through
this power, this
divine power that
is in me.
I can manifest
these things that I
want out of life.
Stay away from
that.
That's false.
That's not a
gospel.
That's a false
gospel.
Stay away from
those things.
That's not what
Simeon is doing
here.
Rather, Simeon's
hope is grounded in
an objective source,
the written word
of God.
Righteous and
devout are terms
that can only be
understood in this
context in light of
a commitment to the
scriptures.
Righteous means that
Simeon lived according
to God's commands.
Devout means that he
was devoted in
genuine faith and
service to the
Lord, including
trusting the promises
of a Savior.
And furthermore,
God blessed
Simeon graciously
with the presence
and the power of
the Holy Spirit
who drove him
forward in
hopefulness.
That's the source
of his hope.
That's the source
of his certainty
here.
And there's
something significant
in this for us.
True hope is a
divine gift from
the Holy Spirit.
that is grounded
in the Bible.
True hope,
if you have it,
is a gift
from the Holy Spirit
that is rooted
in the word of God,
which Paul says
later is the
sword of the Spirit.
It is the weapon
that the Spirit
yields and
wields in order
to do the work
of God in our
lives.
hope can only
be understood
and strengthened
as we submit
to the leadership
of the Holy Spirit
and devote ourselves
to the faithful
study of the
inerrant,
authoritative
word of God.
It is in the
scriptures alone
that we find the
hope of the gospel.
faithful.
And it is the
Holy Spirit
who illuminates
the word in our
hearts and minds,
giving us the
same assurance
that Simeon
and Anna had.
You say,
I just feel so
unsure
of everything.
Well, are you
devoted to the
word?
Are you
righteous in your
obedience to it,
faithful in your
devotion?
A cynic will
never experience
hope because they
refuse to believe
in anything at all,
but neither is a
sense of hopefulness
itself worth
anything if it
isn't rooted in
an objective
truth.
the brokenness
of this world
can and
ultimately will
be fixed.
It will all be
made right.
But the only
place you will
find true
grounds for
believing that
is in the
Bible.
It's the only
place.
Hope is not
something you
can conjure up
from deep
within you.
It is a gift
from God that
he delivers
through his
word.
So if
you're without
hope today,
what you need
is the word.
You need to
come to the
word because
it's the word
that the Spirit
will use to
give you this
hope.
Okay,
finally,
we've seen
hope requires
we recognize
brokenness.
Hope requires
that we actually
believe that
things can get
better.
If you don't
believe that,
then you
literally don't
have any hope
at all,
right?
Thirdly,
hope is made
certain only
through Jesus.
Hope is made
certain only
through Jesus.
Now,
everything we've
covered up to
this point has
been framed
around hope's
potential.
Okay?
Hope's potential.
But now I want
you to see that
through the gospel
of Jesus,
true hope is a
certainty that you
can personally
experience.
okay?
Are you with
me still?
Right?
I know it's
kind of warm.
Give me your
eyes for just a
second.
Will you do
that?
I'm going to
say that just
once more.
I want you to
know,
okay,
are you listening?
Everybody,
I want you to
know that the
hope of the
gospel is a
certainty.
It's a certain
hope and you
can have it.
Okay?
So I want you to
know and hear me
out for just a few
more minutes.
It's okay.
And the Bible
speaks of hope.
It doesn't speak of
it in reference to
wishful thinking.
That's how we
typically use that
word.
It's not how the
Bible uses that
word.
The Bible uses it
in terms of a
present assurance
of a future
reality.
Okay?
I am certain
today of what
will be
tomorrow.
Okay?
That's kind of the
terms of biblical
hope that we're
working with here.
And this
assurance that the
Bible gives us,
it has everything
to do with
Jesus.
With the advent
of Christ came
the advent of
everlasting hope.
And we can begin
to see this if we
look at what
Simeon said.
Okay?
Verse 28.
He took Jesus up
in his arms and
blessed God and
said,
Lord, now you are
letting your servant
depart in peace
according to your
word.
For my eyes have
seen your salvation
that you have
prepared in the
presence of all
people.
A light for
revelation to the
Gentiles and for
glory to your
people Israel.
And his father
and mother marveled
at what was said
about him.
These are not the
words of a man
who simply wished
that this child
would be the one
to bring salvation,
but of someone
who was entirely
convinced of it.
But don't you
find it interesting
that for some
reason now he's
interested in dying?
That doesn't make
a lot of sense.
If he believes that
Messiah has now
come, why is it
that now he turns
and he says to
God, okay Lord,
I can die now.
I've seen him.
Wouldn't he want to
stay around for a
few more years to
see what would
actually come of
this child?
But that's not
what he asked for.
He says, I'm ready
to die.
Simeon's hope
as gifted to him
by God's spirit
was so certain
that he didn't need
to see anything else.
He didn't have to
ask any more questions.
He was so assured
that eternal salvation
would come through
this child
that it gave him
complete peace
to just go ahead
and die.
He wasn't worried
about what was
coming next.
Why?
He was so certain
of what was true
about this baby Jesus.
But it gets even
better.
Simeon declares
that this gospel
hope was not
just for him.
He says it has
been revealed
before all peoples.
That means you
and I can also
benefit from
this certainty
at least as far
as Simeon is
concerned.
In other words,
the hope that
Simeon possessed,
it can be yours.
It can be mine.
But we have to
take one step
further to understand
why.
What exactly
is it about
Jesus
that assures
us so certainly
of this salvation?
Well, look at
verse 34.
Simeon suddenly,
and I would imagine
solemnly at this
point,
turns and he
looks at Mary
and he says,
Behold,
this child is
appointed for the
fall and rising
of many in Israel
and he will be
a sign that's
opposed.
As much as I
love him and
am blessed by
his presence,
Mary,
not everybody's
going to be
blessed by him.
In fact,
a lot of people
are going to
oppose him.
And then he
gives this little
parenthetical statement
to Mary.
In fact,
Mary,
a sword will
pierce through
your soul
also.
Why?
So that the
thoughts from
many hearts
may be revealed.
Okay,
now we're getting
to the heart
of the gospel
here,
aren't we?
Simeon declared
that Jesus
would be the
judge who
would bring
about the
fall of the
prideful,
and he would
be the savior
who would exalt
the humble.
Okay,
that's the
first phrase.
Appointed for
the fall and
rising of
many in
Israel.
Then he
hinted that
this work
of salvation
would come
through such
opposition that
it would feel
for Mary as
though her
very soul had
been pierced
with a sword.
Now at the
time that Simeon
says those words,
it's shrouded in
mystery.
There's no way
for Mary and
Joseph to really
understand what
he was getting
at about that.
we have the
blessing of
looking back on
that moment
now, don't
we?
And we
understand exactly
what this is
about.
This was
pointing toward
Jesus' crucifixion,
which Mary
herself was a
personal witness,
eyewitness of.
Now can you
imagine, those of
you who are
mothers, can you
imagine watching
your child go
through such
torment and
pain and to
be murdered in
such a cruel
way?
Would that not
feel like your
own soul has
been pierced
with the sword?
Is that not
what he's
getting at
here?
Jesus indeed
is the Lord
and Savior who
brought the
hope of
salvation, but
he did it by
dying in our
place as a
substitute.
Remember all
that brokenness
of sin we
emphasized earlier?
Jesus came to
give his life as
an atonement for
that sin.
He lived the
life that we
were meant to
live.
That's the
fulfillment of
the law.
Then he died the
death that we
deserve to die.
That's the
crucifixion on a
cross.
So that instead
of eternal hell,
which is a
reality for those
who go to death
without Christ,
we might instead
inherit eternal
life by faith as
the true children
of God.
That's what he
did.
That's why he
did it.
But the hope of
this salvation was
ultimately secured
after the
crucifixion.
Because the
crucifixion doesn't
mean anything until
the resurrection
happens three days
later.
How can we be
certain that Jesus
has brought
salvation?
Because God
raised him up to
say, I proved it.
He's the one.
He fulfilled the
law.
He has satisfied
my wrath.
And now you can
have life through
his life.
That's what the
resurrection says.
It's what we read
about in 1 Peter just
a few moments ago.
I'll read it again.
Blessed be the God
and Father of our
Lord Jesus.
According to his
great mercy, he has
caused us to be born
again to a living
hope.
And what is that
living hope in?
The resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the
dead.
And what does it do?
It gives us an
inheritance.
Remember Galatians
4.
We are now heirs.
And what is the
inheritance that we
receive as heirs if
we're in Christ?
Peter tells us it's an
inheritance that's
imperishable.
It is undefiled.
It's unfading.
And it's kept in
heaven for us.
It's secure.
Who is it secured
for?
Those who by God's
power are being
guarded through faith
for a salvation that's
ready to be revealed.
Do you see that?
Salvation ready to be
revealed.
Salvation, present
possession of a future
reality.
That's what we call
hope.
And that hope comes
only through the
crucifixion and the
resurrection of the
Lord Jesus.
Jesus.
And Jesus offers this
hope to you now.
Now.
If you will just
trust him by faith,
he will save you.
He will forgive all of
the sin that has led to
the brokenness you have
experienced in your
life.
He'll forgive it.
He'll cleanse it.
He'll give you his
righteousness.
He'll give you his
life.
He'll satisfy God's
wrath that is
determined against you.
And today can be the
advent of hope in your
life.
If you will just turn and
believe.
And why wouldn't you
believe?
It's so awesome.
And it's real.
That's the best part of
it.
It's not this.
It's not this
therapeutic mumbo
jumbo that we're just
like really hopeful
because that's the kind
of people we are.
We're super positive and
good things happen to
positive people.
No,
really bad things happen
to positive people too.
No,
this is real hope.
And it will only be
found in Jesus.
Let me finish this way
as we set our thoughts
back on Advent again.
Jesus is the Savior
who came to die
for our sins.
He's also the
sovereign Lord
who will return
to judge the earth.
So if
the issue
of our brokenness
in terms of our
personal
sinful condition
is
met
at the cross
of Christ,
what are we then
to do with
the news
that we read
about the 6,000 kids
dead in Gaza
or about
all of the
Jews who were
kidnapped as hostages
and many of them
subsequently
have been killed?
What do we do
about the conflicts
between Russia
and Ukraine
and all of the injustices
that are happening there?
What do we do
about when we turn
on the news
and we see
the people again
this week
who don't get a job
and they're so mad
that they didn't get the job
they take a gun
and they go
and they kill
a bunch of people
at the place
that they were
hoping to work?
What do we do
with that?
How will that
be made right?
That's what we're
longing for isn't it?
That's the second
advent.
He is the
sovereign Lord
and he will return
and when he returns
he will make
everything right.
Those who do not
belong to him
will be judged.
Now we take that
as a warning
on one hand
to make sure
that you're
in Christ
okay
but those of us
that are in Christ
we take that
as a joyful
thing
not that we
want to take
pleasure
in the destruction
of the wicked
not even God
takes pleasure
in the destruction
of the wicked
the Bible tells us
that plainly
no we rejoice
in the justice
of God
that he will
make all things
right
so Simeon and Anna
they're going to
the temple every day
and they're longing
for the Messiah
who will come
to bring them
salvation
you know what
we're doing
now that we've
received that
salvation
day by day
we're longing
for him to come
back
come back
and just make
it all right
Lord
come back
and rescue us
from the presence
of sin in our
life now Lord
rescue us
make the world
what it was
intended to bring
bring us back
to the garden
that's what
we're longing
for
that's the spirit
of advent
for those of us
who are in Christ
still a spirit
of longing
and expectation
and just as we
are certain
of the first
advent's
fulfillment
of our salvation
we are just as
certain that he
will return
and he will
make things
right
so live in
light of that
certainty
you know what
that brings
joy
yeah life
is hard
but he's
coming back
and he's
going to make
it all right
and we can
rest in that
better
!
better