Journey to Bethlehem: Embracing the Hope of Advent

We're going to be doing a series together, and of course, Advent, right?

And the week one here is on hope, and it's a joyous season.

Advent is a joyous season. It's filled with expectant hope, anticipation as

we look to Christmas morning and the birth of our blessed Savior Jesus, right?

And it's during this annual celebration of Jesus' arrival on earth that we are

reminded, Eastwood, of the hope that we have in him.

And because of him, right, the birth of Jesus, among many other things,

was prophesied about long before his eventual arrival.

And for many, these prophesied events gave them great hope in the midst of their suffering and pain.

And we're going to see that today. But let's go to the Lord in prayer again this morning.

Lord, your arrival changed everything.

Thank you, Lord, for coming to restore, to renew, to set all things right again.

Lord, today we ask that you'd fill us with hope, your hope, this holiday season,

Lord, this Christmas season, and give us the courage to share your hope with others around us.

In Jesus' name, thank you, Lord. Amen. Amen.

How many of you today have hope, church? How many of you have hope? Amen.

I say welcome again, Eastwood, because today we're going to begin that journey

back to Bethlehem, back to where the miraculous birth of Jesus changed the world forever.

And it's a journey that's worth celebrating, right? And for centuries,

the church has done just that through the season of Advent.

And for those of you who may need a refresher for this season,

I'll give you one this morning that Advent, again, is a significant religious

season observed in various Christian denominations, right?

Particularly in the Western Christian tradition.

And it encompasses the four weeks that are leading up to Christmas,

starting on the Sunday closest to November the 30th and concluding on December

24th, Christmas Eve, officially, right?

But Advent serves as a time of preparation, reflection, anticipation for the

celebration of the birth of Jesus, symbolized by Christmas, right?

And we just celebrate it this time of year. And that word, by the way,

Advent, is derived from the Latin word Adventus, which means coming or arrival.

And that's just what we're saying. His arrival is what we're talking about.

And during this season, Christians, that's us, Focus on the themes that are

hope, peace, joy, and love.

Hope, joy, peace, and love, right? And it's often represented,

we don't have these here this year, maybe we'll do this one year,

but it's often represented by four candles on an Advent wreath with one candle being lit each Sunday,

as we progress our way to Christmas, as we look at each of those,

hope, peace, joy, and love.

And so arrival, that being the name of what we're going to call our time together

here, talking about his arrival, his advent,

that's what we celebrate, the hope that we have, the arrival of King Jesus and

with him, the hope of a weary world in waiting.

So think about it for a moment, Eastwood, as we look to Christmas and the annual

celebration of Jesus's arrival on earth, we're reminded again of the hope we

have in him and because of him.

You see, the birth of Jesus, among other things, was prophesied about long before,

as I said, his eventual arrival, and it brought great hope in that suffering and pain.

And today, as we begin that journey, we too remember, all of us should remember,

that we all have the reason, we have all the reason, I could put it that way even,

in the world to be filled with hope because of Christ.

I'm telling you, the hope that his salvation, that his arrival brings.

Can you imagine this world if Jesus never arrived?

That's called hopeless, right? But Brother Jimmy, we have hope.

We have hope because of him and because of his arrival.

And to help frame our time together, we looked at Isaiah 9, verse 6 a little

Isaiah 9:6

bit earlier. It's a key scripture that prophesied the birth of Jesus,

and it presents Jesus as a source of future hope of humanity.

And let's look at it again on the screen here. It says Isaiah 9, verse 6.

Isaiah 9:6

What does it say? For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

So we come to this morning, the promised child and the anticipation of hope.

The promised child and the anticipation of hope.

You see, this verse, it actually heralds, it shouts out, it proclaims the promise of the coming king.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.

We now know that this child was none other than who?

Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. But what did it feel like to hear this promise?

And how did the promise age over the centuries?

As the Jewish people actually faced increasing oppression, if you remember,

destruction from various rulers and people groups. And I think for us to take

it a bit further to understand, we've got to dive into Jewish history just a little bit.

The anticipation and the excitement of the Jewish people regarding the coming

of the Messiah, it's really deeply rooted in their religious and their historical

beliefs, particularly in the context, if you will, of Judaism.

It's important, I think, for us to understand today that the concept of the

Messiah and the associated hopes varied across the different periods of Jewish

history and among different Jewish communities even.

Historically speaking, the Jewish people have faced various forms of oppression.

Persecution, and frustration.

And I'm going to give you just a brief overview, okay, just to set the tone

here of some of those key events that contributed to their longing for a Messiah.

You'll see it right here on this slide that's presented to you right in front

of you. It says biblical and excellent periods.

And what we're talking about there is the Babylonian exile, first of all.

That was 586 to 538 BC. It was marked as a significant period of suffering and

displacement of the Jewish people.

They were forcibly, if you remember, removed from their homeland, right?

And they experienced oppression, the loss of culture and religious freedom.

And then other historical events, such as the Assyrian conquest and the subsequent

exiles that took place, also caused immense suffering and a desire for liberation.

They were looking for this Savior, for this Messiah. And then also you have the Roman occupation.

During the time of Jesus in the early Christian era, the Jewish people were under whose rule?

Roman rule, right? And the Romans, if you remember, they imposed heavy taxes,

restrictions on religious practices, often subjected them to brutal punishment

if they descended from that, right?

And so in these two periods here that we see specifically there that frame the

Jewish hopes for a redeemer.

The Jewish faith, as documented in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament,

It contains prophecies and promises regarding a future Messiah.

This one we read today, like Isaiah 9, verse 6, this Messiah was actually expected

Isaiah 9:6

to be a divine figure who would deliver the Jewish people from their suffering,

reestablish their nation,

bring about a period of peace and prosperity.

And because of that belief that they had, or hope, you could say,

or hope that they had, there were heavy expectations placed on the coming Messiah.

In fact, some of us may, if we look at the scripture, say, man,

they didn't quite get it to start with, what he was bringing,

how he was going to enter this world. It wasn't quite like they thought in the

sense of, you know, the way he came.

After all, where was Jesus born?

You mean it wasn't in a palace? This king, this great redeemer was not born in a palace?

See already it just goes against

everything's like wow you know they were

looking to have this person who would deliver them right then

on earth right i mean look from all all the things that were going on but but

god had a different plan in the way that he would do this and it started with

a king entering this world of such humble means and so different interpretations

and expectations of the Messiah evolved over time and influenced by prophetic writings,

religious teachings, and oral traditions even.

And some anticipated, like I said, a military leader who would overthrow their

oppressors, who were the Romans, right?

And while others expected a spiritual leader focused on the religious and the moral transformation.

And the religious and spiritual significance, I want y'all to see Eastwood,

of the Messiah as a central figure And Jewish end times thinking also fueled

that excitement they had.

And so the Messiah was seen as a fulfillment of divine promises.

It was seen as a manifestation of God's intervention in human history.

And I want y'all to see this today, that Messiah represented the hope for a

future where God's Jewish people would be redeemed, restored to their homeland,

and returned to a time of peace and prosperity.

So that Messianic belief provided hope and solace during difficult times that they faced.

It fostered images, if you will, of a better future and a deep desire,

man, for liberation, for oppression, suffering, all that they were going through.

And different interpretations, like I said, of the Messiah's role and timing,

it did vary among Jewish communities.

But the common theme, get this, the common theme was the anticipation of a figure

who would bring about a significant transformation, church, in their lives and in their society.

And against that historical backdrop, if you will, that we begin to understand,

it's against that backdrop that we begin to understand what a verse like Isaiah

9-6 may mean to the Jewish people, right?

And how we can continue even here at Eastwood Baptist Church to find hope in

the promises of God as we read that same verse today.

Again, church, do you have hope? Do you have the hope of Christ today?

You see, we'll talk a little bit here about naming our hope.

Naming our hope that's our next slide i believe we may have skipped

one here yeah that that was what we talked about messiah represented

and we'll go to the next one naming our hope as i

isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 bestows several titles

Isaiah 9:6

onto the future messiah and y'all saw them there as we read them but they're

titles that we still ascribe to jesus today from his word and ways in which

we can understand his role if you will in both the world and also get this church

in your life today, in our individual lives today?

Let's take a look at those, okay? Let's take a look at each of those for a moment.

The first one, look at it, Wonderful Counselor.

Wonderful counselor. The context of this, in the original Hebrew,

wonderful counselor can be understood as a miraculous advisor or an extraordinary strategist.

It speaks of Jesus's wisdom, right?

And his guidance being, you know, through supernatural insight and counsel to

those who follow him. That's the context of this.

And really, if you want to know the meaning, it's really Jesus is seen as the

ultimate source of wisdom and guidance.

He provides unparalleled advice, direction to those who seek him.

How many of you today here need this wonderful counselor?

Look, I'm going to tell you, we have a lot of things that come across our path, right?

A lot of decisions, a lot of things that our culture, that this world system,

excuse me, throws at us at times.

I don't know about you, but I need a wonderful counselor. I need someone who

I can trust his word, that he's never going to lie to me, that he is going to

speak extraordinary truth into my life.

He is going to give me wisdom, as it says in scripture, that if any of you lacks

wisdom, let him ask of who?

Who gives it freely?

You see, I want this wonderful counselor in my life.

And then what else does it say? It says he is mighty God, mighty God.

It implies strength, power, sovereignty.

It acknowledges here that Jesus as divine, actually possessing the power and

authority that belong to God because Jesus is God.

And he came as God in the flesh. And it's like he is mighty God.

He is Lord of all. Y'all, I think we are tempted at times to forget that.

But now more than ever, y'all, we need to be reminded of what this verse says

to us and what it said to the Jewish people.

And then what else?

You know, as we think about that, as we think about the possessing power and

authority, and let me just say before we move to the next one,

that really that means a just plain, just simple way to look at it.

Jesus is recognized not as not just a man or as a prophet, but as God incarnate.

I said that earlier. He was God in the flesh.

He displays divine strength and he displays divine might in our lives and in

the life of our world. Right.

But then it says here, he is not only wonderful counselor, mighty God, but what else?

Everlasting father. You might look at the context of this, that this title emphasizes

Jesus's eternal and paternal care for his followers.

It doesn't imply that Jesus, you know, is God the father, because we know in

scripture that it's God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit, right?

But yet this mystery that we can't comprehend, they're one, right?

Three persons, one God.

But it's saying here that he possesses qualities of a caring and nurturing father.

You see, as we know, he is one. If you've seen him, Jesus said,

you've seen who? The father.

And really, if you look at a meaning there, Jesus is portrayed as having a timeless

and enduring love for his people, providing that protection,

that sustenance, if you will, that love that's going to last forever.

Wow. Aren't you glad that our Messiah is an everlasting father?

Amen. I mean, but not only that, Brother Jimmy, he said he is the prince of what? Peace.

It signifies Jesus as the one who actually brings true peace,

harmony, and reconciliation.

This is important, y'all, between God and humanity, as well as among other people.

Wow. He's the Prince of Peace. Jesus is heralded as the source of true peace,

both within us, within individuals, and in the world as well,

offering peace with God.

Peace with God through salvation, promoting peace and unity among his people.

Wow. The Prince of Peace.

To have that true peace, y'all. You know, we were talking

in Sunday school today about how God created us in his image and how we have

such value and we have such value and dignity and how much our creator loved

us so much that he poured his love into our hearts and his desire to have a relationship with us.

Y'all, as we look at this, as we're naming our hope today. Jesus is our hope, right?

Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.

I love this song, and I think it's a song that Rich Mullins wrote, I believe, years ago.

Some have re-recorded it as tribute and whatnot, but it's just, hold me, Jesus.

I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been king of my glory. Will you be my prince of peace?

You see, this verse here, all this reminds us of naming our hope of what Jesus

has revealed, what God's word has revealed our hope contains.

It's hard to imagine what these promised titles would have meant to the original

recipients of Isaiah's writings.

As we look back, we can appreciate, church, the hope that would have been installed in reading these names.

Can you imagine what all they were going through?

Hope and anticipation, think about it, of a wonderful counselor,

a mighty God, an everlasting father, and a prince of peace.

And compared to the rulers of their day.

These titles would be a welcome list of attributes for future leadership.

And by the way, I think they would for our day too, right?

And so, and that brings us back to the most amazing truth, Eastwood, of this prophetic hope.

It all came to pass 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem when Jesus was born and the Messiah arrived.

The advent, the arrival.

He brought the kingdom and the promise with him. Amen.

And that just leads us to say today, the reign of the Messiah and the realization of hope.

Isaiah 9, 6, we read the phrase, what? The government will be on his what?

Shoulders. And it's really a metaphorical expression that emphasizes the authority,

rule, the dominion that will rest upon the promised Messiah.

That phrase uses that image of carrying a burden, if you will,

on one's shoulders to convey the idea of bearing the weight of governance,

authority, and responsibility.

The Messiah, in other words, church, will rule and govern as a righteous and

just leader in a manner that aligns with God's will.

And today we trust that this prophetic description is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, right?

After all, as we see on the screen, he is the Messiah who carries the burdens

of the world. He rules justly, has ultimate authority, and he brings salvation, church.

He brings grace. He brings guidance to those who follow him.

You ever heard that old hymn, I have decided to follow, right?

You see, today, I want you all to think about this. Today, to realize the reign

of this Messiah and the hope that he brings to us.

We got to follow Jesus.

You got to make that decision. If you hadn't, you see, Jesus is offering himself

as your hope, but he's only your hope.

And as much as you say, Lord, I repent, I put my faith and trust in you, Lord, and I follow you.

There's no turning back, right? No turning back.

I leave the world behind me. I look to Jesus before me, right?

His cross and all he did for me.

And so he is the fulfillment. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise that we

see in Isaiah 9, verse six.

He's the reason, y'all, that a weary world rejoices.

And by the way, he should be the reason we rejoice today, amen?

I don't care how bad things look around you. I don't care how bad your circumstances

look, what's going on in your life. Jesus is your hope.

Treasure that. He is your hope.

And without him, there is none.

It's in Christ and Christ alone, church, that we place our immediate and our eternal hope.

We live our lives accordingly to that, right? As we follow him and we share

the good news of his arrival, his advent, and his reign with other people.

You see, this is our call. What is it? To share the good news of Jesus or the gospel, right?

And to spread the message, get this church, to spread the message of hope,

peace, joy, and love and forgiveness, by the way, especially this time of year.

You see, the holidays, y'all feedback with me here, but it can be chaotic, right?

Stressful. And for some people, it can be downright painful as the memories

of years past come flooding back again, or the memories of loss of a loved one,

right? There can be pain involved.

But I want to challenge us all today to take some time this coming week to check

in with your family, with your neighbors, with your friends,

to pray for them, to encourage them,

spur them on to love and good deeds, as Jude says, right?

And if it's possible, remind them that, guess what, church, Our hope is not

in the perfect gift that we can find or give or the parties that we attend or

the Christmas bonus from work, right?

Our hope is in the one who came to restore, to renew, and to set all things right again.

He is the wonderful counselor, Eastwood. He is the mighty God,

the everlasting Father, and he is truly the Prince of Peace.

And he is, Jesus truly is the reason for this time of year, for this season,

right? For this season in your life, man.

I'm telling you today, he is our hope.

Stand with me. Let's pray for a moment. Lord, we give you glory today.

We thank you for your word.

God, I thank you that you have promised us hope, that you have delivered true hope to us.

And Lord, I pray you would open our hearts today.

Lord, help us to, if we know you already, to be thankful, to be grateful,

and to go on mission, Lord, to share this hope with other people.

But Lord, help us to realize afresh and anew today, upon your arrival came hope.

This is where we find our hope. In Jesus' mighty name we pray.