The Hope of Christmas
The first Advent candle that was lit in our worship service this past Sunday was the Candle of Hope. In reading Luke 2:25-38 we discover that hope was what Simeon and Anna had as they eagerly awaited the arrival of the promised Messiah. Since it had been hundreds of years since a prophet had told of the promises, most thought it hopeless to expect a Messiah to come.
But hope is the confident expectation of God’s working/intervention in our lives, and that’s what Simeon and Anna had. Hope is important in our lives because it is a light when circumstances are dark that God is going to intervene. And hope has the power to change our minds and wills so that instead of giving up, we keep on keeping on (1 Corinthians 15:58) and hope will lead us to faith. Hope is a general belief that we expect that God is going to work in our situation and faith is standing on a specific promise that we know God will keep.
The object of our hope is a person: the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason we can hope is because He is faithful… always.
We come to possess hope when we fix our eyes on the light, the Lord Jesus and His faithfulness even when our circumstances seem dark and hopeless. Trust in His faithfulness today, knowing that He will intervene, then you will have hope. And hope never disappoints us.
Reflect on these verses as well:
Philippians 1:6
Romans 8:23-25
Ephesians 1:18
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Romans 5:5
Psalm 25:3
Romans 15:13
Colossians 1:27
1 Peter 1:3