Notes for
The Advent of Jesus-1,
Biblical Hope
Advent comes from the Latin word "adventus," which means coming or arrival.
Biblical hope is the joyful anticipation of good in bad circumstances based on the character of God.
Psalm 27:13-14 NCB I am confident that I will behold the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Place your hope in the Lord: be strong and courageous in your heart, and place your hope in the Lord.
Isaiah 49:14, 19 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”… “you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste…
Isaiah 49:15-16, 23 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands… Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
Biblical hope is a spiritual quality that rises up in your spirit when your circumstances don’t look good.
Jeremiah 29:1-2 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)
Jeremiah 29:10-11 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Faith brings the future into the present. Faith pulls God’s promise into your life. Hope sees a future victory in the present.
Matthew 15:22-26 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
Matthew 10:5-6 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.
Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
vv. 27-28 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
The reason that the advent of Jesus is a case study into biblical hope is because God gave the first promise of the coming of Jesus thousands of years BEFORE He actually came.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick
In hopelessness, sin starts when I start partnering with fear, when I start giving my heart to fear.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Galatians 4:4-5 NCV But when the right time came, God sent his Son who was born of a woman and lived under the law. God did this so he could buy freedom for those who were under the law and so we could become his children.
The reason we need hope is when the answer doesn’t happen when we want it to, hope sustains us until the promise comes.
Exodus 13:17-18 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.
In our life God will create detours around battles we’re not yet ready for nor equipped to win.
A second reason God seems to be late is that it takes time for all the conditions to be in the right place and the right time to get God’s answer to you.
Galatians 4:4-5 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
Amos 8:11-12 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from no
rth to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
When everything was just right for Jesus’ disciples to go into the whole world and tell the good news to everyone, God sent Jesus to the earth.
Hope is the anchor in our life when our answer is delayed.
Psalm 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.
One: spend time in God’s presence.
Two: meditate on the things God has already done in your life and taught you.
Three: spend time with your spiritual family.
Zechariah 9:12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
