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Christmas Celebration: Hope

The Advent season is upon us. This is a time that is used to tell of the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. As you read the short blogs leading up to the "Christmas Celebration", I pray you will find a new sense of love, joy, hope, and peace. 

As we kick off this Christmas season, I want to take a look at the word Hope. Hope, by definition, is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, but the hope we speak of is the prophecy of the coming Messiah. The Messiah is the subject of several Old Testament prophecies. Only one of those is the familiar scripture we find in Isaiah 9:6. 

Isaiah 9:6 "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

The passage exemplifies Israel's desire for a leader to bring out the best in us through his goodness. Of course, Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. No typical Davidic ancestor meets the requirements. Jesus descended from heaven to become the perfect example of what a God-man should be. The Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, and the Everlasting Father are all titles that belong to him alone. But when Jesus initially arrived, some people did not accept him. He fell short of their expectations. Jesus was the sort of ruler that few Jews wanted, even though he upheld the requirements of the Bible. So they disregarded him. And even now, many continue to reject Jesus.

This week, there are four things we can focus on as we kick off the Advent season. Will you take the time to center your hope on the one who is the HOPE for the world.

  1. Center your hope in the Wonderful Counselor
  2. Center your hope in the Mighty God
  3. Center your hope in the Everlasting Father
  4. Center your hope in the Prince of Peace
I wrap up this post leaving you with this question, How will you proceed? 

1. Turn down the world's hope? 

Or 

2. Are you going to turn and acknowledge Jesus Christ as the long-awaited Messiah? 

Pray as a family or individually: God, we are grateful for your gift of hope. We are grateful for Jesus, your Son and our Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. When I look up and take in everything that you have made, I am brought back to Hope. We wait with eager hope and anticipation as we look forward to Jesus' second coming, when He comes once and for all.  Amen.


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