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Hope came down at Christmas PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Romans 5:1-5
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Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

Summary and Purpose
Summary: When God came to this earth in the form of Jesus Christ, hope came with him. This Godly hope is not the typical, worldly kind of hope. When you have typical, worldly hope, the thing you want to happen may or may not happen. You simply ‘hope’ it happens. With Godly hope, you know the good things that God has promised us will happen because they are dependant on God’s steadfast love. We may not know when all the promises will be fulfilled, but we know they will all be fulfilled. Instead of ‘hoping’ they happen, we simply wait for them to happen.
According to Romans 5:2, one of the things we hope for is ‘sharing in God’s glory’. What does it mean to ‘share in God’s glory’? Well, among other things it means participating in the resurrection, having an eternal love relationship with God, becoming children of God and becoming like God in the sense of loving people with the same love God has for us.
As a result of having this hope, we have no need to worry. No matter what the circumstances, we can learn to have a peace and joy that is beyond understanding. This Godly hope brings on the peace and joy.
Purpose: To help the congregation to latch on to the Godly hope that became possible for all people with the coming of Jesus Christ.
The Sermon
I. Introduction: Difference between typical, worldly hope and Godly hope
1. Typical, worldly hope
  • Dependant on the promises of people. We anticipate the fulfillment of these promises and become excited
  • Some people, however, lie and make promises that they have no intention of keeping.
  • Other people make promises in good faith but, due to circumstances beyond their control, don’t keep them.
  • Many good, loving parents make promises to their children but are forced to break them due to circumstances beyond their control.
    • There have been times when I said to my 2 1/2 year old son, Joshua, "Mommy will be home tonight"
    • Joshua would get all excited. Then, due to unforeseen circumstances, my wife would get home very late and Joshua would have to go to bed without seeing his Mommy. He would be very disappointed
  • Typical, worldly hope is wanting something to happen that may or may not actually happen. You simply hope it happens.
  • We all know how it feels when typical, worldly hope fails us.
2. Godly hope
  • Godly hope is dependant on God’s promises
  • We can always depend on God’s promises because of his steadfast love.
  • We may not always know when all of God’s promises will be fulfilled, but we know they will be fulfilled.
  • Godly hope is not ‘hoping’ something will happen. It is waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. It’s not an ‘if’ but a ‘when’.
II. Hope came down with Jesus Christ
1. The Israelites had hope in a Messiah, a Savior. This messianic hope started in
Genesis 22:17-18: “and through your offspring [seed] all nations on earth
will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
  • Abraham placed his hope in this promise that all nations will be blessed through his seed
  • This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As the Savior of the world, he blesses all nations
2. Through faith in Jesus, we have the hope of ‘sharing in God’s glory’
III. The hope of ‘sharing in God’s glory’
1. Romans 5:2: “Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we
stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”
2. How this happens
  • As God in the flesh, Jesus pays the penalty for our sins by becoming the ultimate sacrifice for our sins on the cross
  • On the 3rd day, he rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf
  • Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, we can receive God’s forgiveness and have a restored relationship with God. We become children of God.
  • As children of God, we receive the Holy Spirit and share in God’s glory
3. This hope in the ‘sharing of God’s glory does not disappoint us
  • Romans 5:5 says, “hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”
  • We know we can trust in this hope because the Holy Spirit testifies to us with God’s love. In other words, because of God’s love, we can expect to share in his glory
4. So, what does it mean for us to ‘share in God’s glory’?
IV. What it means to share in God’s glory
1. Having eternal life (An eternal love relationship with God)
2. Participating in the resurrection
3.  Becoming children of God
4. Becoming like God in the sense of loving others with the same type of love God
has for us.
V. Conclusion
1. During the Christmas season, contemplate what it means for hope to come down
in the form of a little baby born in Bethlehem.
2. With this hope, we can ‘share in the glory of God’
3. It all begins with repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Come, receive the hope.
 
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