Christmas is all about hope. We don’t live very well without hope. Hope keeps us moving forward, with a sense of joy and anticipation. To rob a man of hope is to rob his very soul. To rob a person of hope, is like casting them into sheer darkness. So desperate is our need for hope, we’re willing to create hope wherever its needed.
This is part of the “wonder” of Christmas. Before the turkey is even on the Thanksgiving table, the whole world conspires, to help children put their hope in the North Pole, in Santa Clause, and his reindeer and elves. Millions of webpages, storefronts, living rooms, and workplaces are transformed with Christmas trees, lights, and decor. Billions of dollars are spent.
Why? Because we believe children are better, when they believe anything is possible. We believe children are better waiting and watching, being filled with expectation and hope. And so we’re all guilty, we’re all perfectly willing to join the conspiracy, creating “wonder” for those we love. Only the Grinch, only a Scrooge, would rob a child of Christmas hope.
Here is the truth about Christmas. While were busy creating hope for children (planning and decorating and shopping), there we are, searching/longing for hope ourselves. No, we’re not searching for a North Pole kind of hope. We’re searching for a real and substantive and lasting hope. The kind of hope we can truly anchor our souls to, and not just for a season, but for life… and not just for life, but also for eternal life… and not just for ourselves, but for our children, and for all mankind.
The question we must ask is whether there is a deeper hope than Santa? Is there a deeper hope, than the million people, places or things, we typically put our hope in? Is there a hope that can destroy the sin and darkness that dwells within, that devastates marriages & families, that corrupts cities, states, and nations? Is there a hope that transcends the grave? A hope that transcends the darkness of suffering, of sickness and disease, of cancers and weakness and the groaning of our bodies?
The first Christmas was about an entire world waiting, for a real child to be born, who would bring real hope, to a really dark world.
At the beginning of time, after Adam and Eve fateful decision to thwart God’s will and reject God as King… God promised to send forth a child who though stricken, would crush the head of Satan and restore every good thing to its proper order.
When Abram and Sarah, struggled in the flesh, failed to establish their family, and their livelihood and hope… God appeared to Abraham and promised to send forth a child through whom every person/nation on earth would be blessed! As a sign of Abraham’s expectation and hope for a child… every male descendent of Abraham was circumcised. In this way, every generation would be reminded of God’s promise.
The Old Testament is one continuous, unfolding story of expectation and hope. The Christmas Hallmark movie channel has nothing on the Bible. Like the Grinch, like the Scrooge, Satan continually tries to thwart God’s promise to Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sarah. But no matter how great man’s sin becomes… no matter how great the power of darkness and death grew… God remains faithful to all His promises.
When Israel took a dark detour, and rejected God as their king, and insisted upon being ruled by the very same kind of king other nations were ruled by…
When King David, though showing so much promise to rule well, descended into adultery and murder… it was God who once again intervened and promised to send forth a child… a child who would be a son of David, who would be a King, and establish David’s throne forever. A child who would be a Son of Adam, who through stricken by Satan, would crush the head of Satan… A child who would be a Son of Abraham, through whom all people/nations would be blessed.
When later on, Israel, began to lose its way, and pursue idolatry. When nation after nation violently rose up against Israel, (first the Assyrians, then Nebuchadnezzar & Babylonians, then Cyrus the Great & the Persians, then Alexander the Great & the Greeks, then Caesar & the Roman Empire)… when nationally & politically things couldn’t look any more bleak, God promised Daniel… God promised the prophets of old… that He would indeed send forth a child, the Christ, the Messiah, One who would be anointed, led by the Spirit and God, and rise to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Kings & Kingdoms, Nations & people would melt at the sound of his voice.
In Isaiah 9:6-7 Isaiah the prophet was shown the very day when God would send forth His Son into the world. He writes, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
This is what I want to say. I think everyone is looking for hope. And we’re not just looking for hope “at” Christmas. We search for hope all day long, week long, and year long. Think of all the people & things you’ve put hope in throughout your life. Do you suppose we’re the first and only people who’ve searched for hope? In the Bible we have a record of a hundred (maybe two hundred) generations search for hope. Do we imagine we do a better job recognizing hope than the generations before us?
For generations, people looked to God to fulfill his promise. The entirety of the Old Testament revolves around this one central theme: Would God send the child? Would he send forth his Son? Would he send His King, His Christ, His Messiah?
So you know, in the fulness of time, God did send his Son into the world. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman.” But just as the Old Testament revolves around this theme, “would God send his Son…” The New Testament revolves around another theme… and it’s the theme of John 1:10, “would we even know if God did it… would we even recognize God’s Son if he ever in face came?” John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”
We usually think of Christmas “coming.” After tomorrow we’ll put away our decorations and say, “I can’t wait until next Christmas.” But friends, there is one and only one Christmas, and that Christmas already came. The most important thing now is do we recognize the Christ of Christmas?
When Jesus came, those furthest from God seemed to be the first to recognize that Jesus was God’s One and Only Son.
(1) They recognized Jesus by his unique lineage. He was a son of Adam, a Son of Abraham, a Son of David.
(2) They recognized Jesus by his unique life. He was the Son of Man… everything dozens of prophets predicted about the coming of God’s Christ-King-Messiah… hundreds upon hundreds of precision prophecies, were fulfilled by Jesus.
(3) They recognized Jesus by his righteousness. Not only did Jesus fulfill all the things the prophets foretold, Jesus fulfilled every holy/righteous/good commandment of Moses. He was tempted in every way as we are, but was without spot/blemish/any sin.
(4) They recognized Jesus by his power and authority, how could anything he accomplished be possible, if anything other than God’s Holy Spirit was dwelling within him?
(5) They recognized Jesus by his wisdom, his illuminating teaching, his piercing insights and practicality on every imaginable subject.
(6) They recognized Jesus by his relentless love and compassion for people, even the least, even his own enemies.
(7) They recognized Jesus by the evidence of miracle upon miracle. (8) I could go on… but the ultimate way they recognized Jesus was by his crucifixion and death, by his burial, and by his resurrection from the grave three days later. They recognized Jesus by his ascension to the right hand of God, where he now reigns on God’s throne for ever and ever.
The concern of the Old Testament… when will God send his Son, and what would be the exact circumstances? The concern of the New Testament “Whose son is Jesus…” If Jesus isn’t the Son of the Living God, your best Christmas hope is buried somewhere in the North Pole. If Jesus is in fact the Christ, the Son of the Living God… what will it take for you to recognize him? If Jesus in fact the Son of the Living God, why would we ever dare rob others of true hope, especially future generations?