The Hope Of Christmas

The Hope of Christmas

Subject: Christmas Hope

Text: Isaiah 9:6, 7

Theme:

Introduction:

Isaiah 9:6, 7 is a prophecy of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. At the time Isaiah prophesied these words only darkness, gloom, and despair appeared to lay in store for the Nation of Israel. Darkness as black as an Alaskan Winter Night prevailed upon the land through the sin of the people and the coming judgment by the hand of God. Isaiah 8:21-22 declares to us, “And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. [22] And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. “

Man’s hope is usually built on what expect, want, or desire to happen. But the Bible never allows the Child of God to build his or her hope on the likes of Man, but we are allowed to build our hope on the immutability of God Himself.

Where is your hope today? Is it wrapped up in the expectations of a gift under a tree? Is it lost in the darkness that surrounds your life? We all need to learn to hope again for there is always hope.

By all appearances there was no hope in the days of Isaiah. It appeared that the nation of Israel was quickly coming to an end. But out of the darkness a voice was heard that spoke of the Light of Hope that would touch the very soul of man. It was the Hope of Christmas! Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” A child would be born that would bring hope into the hearts and lives of the hopeless. The child was the Light of the World. John 8:12 states, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. “ Jesus came to pierce the darkness that we live and not die. The Child of Hope is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. The one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.

It was Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who prophesied of the Light of the Christ Child. Luke 1:67-79 declares to us, “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, [68] Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, [69] And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; [70] As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: [71] That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; [72] To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; [73] The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, [74] That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, [75] In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. [76] And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; [77] To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, [78] Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, [79] To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

When Jesus was brought to the temple for circumcision it was Simeon who saw and spoke of the hope of this One. Luke 2:32 says, “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

Christmas is filled with the wonder, counsel and peace of hope that exceeds our expectations. It lifts us from our darkness into the marvelous Light of Jesus Christ!

I. Christmas Hope is Wonderful! (In other words Christmas is full of wonder. And it is so much more than, “Wonder what I am getting this year?” It is a wonder that exceeds the carnal minds of men, women, boys, and girls because this wonder is composed in the miraculous.