“Promise of Hope” – FBC Morning Light (12/23/2024)

Well, a good Monday morning to you, and Merry Christmas week! This week I'm going to depart from the usual process of sharing a meditation thought on Scripture readings for the day in the course of our Bible reading plan.

I encourage you to keep up with that plan, and if you're doing that, then today's reading is the book of 2 Peter, as well as the little one-chapter book of Jude. But what I want to do each morning this week is read a brief meditation on some aspect of Christmas, and then share some devotional thoughts on the subject, broadly speaking, of Christmas as well.

So today, this from theologian John Murray, he writes this, he says, the infinite became finite, the eternal and supratemporal entered time and became subject to its conditions, the immutable became mutable, the invisible became visible, the creator became the created, the sustainer of all became dependent, the Almighty in firm.

All is summed up in the proposition, God became man. And then what I'd like to do today and tomorrow is look at a couple of general prophecies related to the coming of the Lord Jesus. And the first is the prophecy of divine hope that Jesus fulfills.

And so for that, we go all the way back to the book of Genesis at the fall, and you remember in Genesis 315, the prophecy is established that hope will come in the face of the curse that was just uttered.

Adam and Eve had fallen, and God pronounced a curse, that death had come upon all men, and so forth. But in chapter 3, verse 15, after giving the curse to the woman, he says this in a prophetic statement of hope.

He says that the seed of the serpent, the seed of the woman, would crush the head of the serpent, even though the serpent will bruise the heel of the woman's seed. And of course that is a very subtle prophecy.

I mean, at the time it was stated, it was hardly understood, all the significance of that which was said. But it's a prophecy of hope. It's a prophecy of hope well before the birth of Christ, several thousand years before the birth of Christ.

But the context of that prophecy actually shows the need for hope, doesn't it? Sin had entered into the world, and as Paul writes, death by sin, and so death has passed upon all men. There is, coming briefly after this statement of the curse, the expulsion from the garden, the cherubim guarding the access to the garden so they can never get back to the tree of life.

Oh, there is tremendous need for hope. But the prophecy of hope indicates a reason for that hope. Why should we have hope in the face of this curse? Well, because the prophecy is that the seed of the woman is going to crush the head of the serpent, that Satan is ultimately going to be defeated.

And it was that hope that Adam and Eve clung to when their children were born. Oh, certainly this one is going to be my seed that crushes the head of the serpent. Well, it wasn't, of course, but the ultimate seed that would come, that would crush the head of the serpent, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that promise of hope is verified in the coming of Jesus, at the birth of Jesus. And it's seen in a couple of different places. One of them is at the announcement of Simeon. Remember, Jesus is brought into the temple, and Simeon, the prophet, the old man, comes before Mary and Joseph, and he takes the baby in his arms.

And then this is what he says in Luke chapter 2 verses 25 and following. It says this man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, he was just and devout, waiting for the consolation, the comfort of Israel, the fulfillment of the promise of hope to 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 the coming of the Lord's Christ. So he came by 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 blessed him and said, Lord, now are you letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

My eyes have seen your salvation. Yes, the verification of this hope is seen at the birth of Jesus. And it is a hope not just for Israel, but it's a hope for all people, for every people. And this is brought out in the announcement of the shepherds, or the announcement of the angels to the shepherds.

In verse 10 of chapter 2 of Luke's Gospel, the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all people, or which will be literally for every people, not just one kind of people, one people group, but every people.

Yes, the hope is verified at the birth of Christ, and the fulfillment of that prophecy, that Christ was born to bring hope to a sin-cursed world, is realized since the birth of Christ by everyone who puts his trust in him, in Christ.

This is brought out in John chapter 3 verse 16, very famous verse, I'm sure you know it by heart. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, there is the condition for that hope, whoever believes in him, puts your trust and faith in him, whoever believes in him, and here is the focus, the center of that hope, whoever believes in him, in whom?

The Son whom God the Father sent, that is Jesus. Whoever believes in him, here is the fulfillment or the realization of that hope, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Yes, Christ was prophesied to bring hope, it's a divine hope that can be found nowhere else.

It was verified at his birth that he is the one in whom hope would be found, and it is realized since the birth of Christ in all who put their faith and trust in him. I hope that by God's grace you have come to that place of hope, that you have put your faith and trust in Jesus, who was born in that manger long ago.

Our Father and our God, we're so grateful, so grateful today for your grace, your love, and in sending your Son to be our Savior, thank you for the promise of hope that was fulfilled, that is being fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

We pray you would bless us with these thoughts today, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, I hope your Christmas week gets off to a great start. Good day.