JESUS IS THE HOPE OF ALL NATIONS
Introduction:
In
December 1903, after many failed attempts, the Wright brothers were successful
in getting their "flying machine" off the ground. Thrilled, they
telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: "We have actually
flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas." Katherine hurried to the
editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and
said, "How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas." He totally
missed the big news--man had flown! Since then we have made great strides in the
area of aviation.
On November 26, 2018, NASA's InSight lander, successfully made the
touchdown. It was a BIG news. We saw these pictures of scientists at mission
control erupting in cheers and handshakes. The craft sent back its first set of
photos. As I saw this, I wondered how many of them have actually paused, to
give thanks and glory to God for this successful mission!
In the hustle and bustle of
Christmas, the business of buying presents, decorating the Christmas trees, if
we are not intentional, we too are in danger of forgetting the biggest news in
the history, that “The savior of the world finally made His entry on to the
earth.”
Around 480 AD or so a beautiful
tradition emerged in the world-wide Church to help Christians slow down, pause,
remember and reflect on this greatest historic event and remain forever grateful.
That is called “Advent.” At Hope Church we
will be joining many Christians around the world who are observing advent. I
encourage you to celebrate this season with us. Over the course of the next four weeks, different individuals
and families will be lighting up the candles. We will be reflecting on various passages
that talk about the expectations of the coming Messiah, the announcements of
Christ’s arrival, the joy of the shepherds and the adoration of the wisemen of
the King who was to be born in Bethlehem.
My prayer is that this Advent season
you will be intentional, set aside some time where you will slow down and remember
and anticipate the promises of God.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A little bit of background will
explain the condition, the hopes and aspirations of the nation of Israel that
are presented in the passage we read from Isaiah 9:2, 6-7. If you remember from
our studies of the CASKET & EMPTY series, the time before the Messiah
coming into the world was known as, “EXPECTATIONS.” During that time the
nations were waging wars. Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians and the Israelites
were taken into exile in Babylon.
Israelites were living in fear, complete
destress, and hopelessness. In one way they were living in utter darkness. They
thought God had abandoned them and forgot His promises. But God had not left
them, He was building expectations for a future King. God spoke through several
prophets that he was going to restore their kingdom and their future will be
glorious.
One of such prophets was Daniel who
worked in
Nebuchadnezzar’s court in Babylon. Daniel interprets dreams. He prophecies
about Four kingdoms (“beasts”) that will rise and fall, but God will establish
His everlasting kingdom. (Daniel 2, 7). Based on these prophecies Israel was
expecting the Messiah. Awaiting the Kingdom of God as the coming reign of God
(Zech 14:9). And they were looking for the Royal Son of Man. (Dan 7:11–14)
Around the 8th Century BC,
another prophet named Isaiah prophesied how God would end the dark days of
Israel by sending them a King who would establish a different kingdom they had
ever known. Can you imagine what it must have been like among the exiles when
these words in Isaiah 9:2, 6–7 were first spoken? They may have welcomed these
words with gladness in their hearts and rejoiced over the fact that soon their
troubles will be over, joy and prosperity will return. These words of Isaiah
must have come as relief to the weary Israelites.
I. WHO NEEDS HOPE?
Vs 1-2, “Nevertheless, there will be
no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land
of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, he will honor Galilee
of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in
darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a
light has dawned.” Let’s pause and reflect on these two important verses of
prophecy by Isaiah.
The regions of Zebulun, Naphtali on
the northern border in northeast Galilee, west of Jordon River were the first
to suffer from the invasion by the Assyrian King, (2 Kings 15:29), marking the
beginning of dark days for Israel. In the former time, God humbled them, and
the days were to be full of gloom, but in the later time God would exalt
Galilee among the nations and transform their gloom into honor.
In the N.T we will see this prophecy
of Galilee’s honor to the time of Jesus Christ’s first advent. Matthew 4:15-16,
quotes Isaiah 9:1-2 directly. Ultimately, its fulfillment will come at Jesus’
second advent when the enemies of God are toppled down and people are freed
from the yoke of bondage to sin and death. Let’s ask ourselves this question,
Who, needs hope?
Is that the person who is
financially challenged? Or those whose marriages are hurting? Or those who are struggling to quit drugs and
other dilapidating habits? Or those celebrities who seems to have everything
yet their lives are unravelling? Who really needs hope? In one way it is you
and I, we all need Hope, especially one who is feeling hopeless.
At the time of this prophecy the
Israelite’s situation looked gloomy, and hopeless. The world we live in today
is waging all kinds of wars. Many refugees are moving to safer places escaping
suffering and danger on their lives. People are living in constant fear of
invasion.
Dread diseases, famine and hunger
are killing people. Crime and violence are increasing. Under such circumstances
where can we find hope? On a personal level, how are you feeling today? Are you
overwhelmed and felling hopeless? Commonly speaking the word hope means, “a
wish.” Its strength is on the person's desire. But the Biblical hope is the
confident expectation of God’s promises. Its strength is not on the person, but
on God’s promises and his faithfulness.
Numbers 23:11, “God is not human,
that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he
speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Hebrews 6:18, “God
did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly
encouraged.”
These two scriptures tell us that we
can indeed trust God no matter what. Retrospectively speaking we have more
reasons to trust God than the Israelites did then, because we have the
scriptures and they just had to hold on to the spoken prophecies and the words
of God.
II. THE HOPE OF ISREAL
Vs 6-7, “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 greatness 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.” Earlier, in chapter seven Isaiah
prophesied that God would send them a sign.
Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord
himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel.” In the passage we read, he goes into more details
about the child, how he will be called and what he will do for Israel and for
everyone else. What was unique about this prophesied child and the son?
The names by which he would be
called and the kind of government and kingdom he is going to establish. At the
time of this prophecy and since then, there were and are many counselors, but
none can be called, Wonderful Counselor. Many gods but none is called Mighty
God. Many fathers but there is only one Everlasting Father.
Many kings but, there is only one Prince
of Peace. Many governments, but there is only one great government of peace.
Many thrones and kingdoms but none can last forever, except the throne of David.
The one who sits on that throne will reign supremely forever. Who will sit on
that throne? It is the promised Son of God, who is also known as the son of
David.
What are the two guiding principles
of His kingdom? They are: enduring Justice and Everlasting Peace. That was the
Hope of Israel. Many have held on to this hope for a long time, and are still
holding on to it even today. Who is this hope of Israel, and the hope of all
mankind?
III. JESUS IS THE HOPE OF ALL NATIONS
In one sense the lives of many Jews and
non-Jews lie in between two promises of God. One is the fulfilled promise and the
other is yet-to-be-fulfilled. Jesus is the promise and the Hope of Israel, not
only for Israel but for all nations. The first promise was fulfilled at the
fullness of time, when God sent his only begotten Son Jesus into the world.
That was the first advent of Christ. Unfortunately, many Jews missed that
advent, they could not recognize Jesus’s coming.
The second advent is about the promise
is about the promise of Christ’s return to the earth for the second time which
is yet to be fulfilled. That is our hope, and the hope of all those who are longing
for His return. For the Jews this hope was and will continue to remain a
mystery until the son of God reveals himself to them. Thank God, on the first
advent God had revealed that mystery of the hope of Glory in the person of
Jesus Christ. This is how the Paul explained the supremacy of Christ in Colossians
1:15-19, 26 Jesus is the Hope of all Nations.
“Christ is the visible image of the
invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all
creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on
earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see such as
thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was
created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds
all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the
church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from
the dead. So, he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was
pleased to live in Christ. Vs 26-27 “the mystery that has been kept hidden for
ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God
has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this
mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” What comforting and hope
giving words these are during this advent season.
Our prayer is that, everyone in this
world may come to experience the hope of God’s glory, in the person of Jesus
Christ. May their hearts be softened and opened by the power of the Holy Spirit
so that they will accept Jesus as their savior and God, and live lives that are
worth of Him. May the Lord continue to
give us grace, fill us with joy as we prepare our hearts for His second coming.
In the mean while let’s keep sharing our faith in Christ with everyone.
Amen!
