Hope for Brighter Days
The first Sunday following Thanksgiving is typically the start of the Advent season. A season full of anticipation. A time to celebrate and reflect on the birth of Jesus.
The word advent translated from Latin means “coming.” The ultimate celebration of Christ’s birth and the knowledge that one day soon there will be the ultimate celebration and reunion in eternity. A sense of true hope no matter what is going on in our days.
The Israelites had been waiting for centuries for this Messiah they had heard so much about. Talk about a test of faith. I don’t wait well for one day, much less years, or hundreds of them.
We read in Deuteronomy, that Moses foreshadowed the coming Messiah that would one day come and be their forever, Prophet.
Deuteronomy 18:15-19, ESV
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
There was a sense of hope for brighter days. Something to look forward to. A true reason to live.
The prophet Isaiah also foreshadows this hope of Heaven. The darkness turned to light. A light has dawned and will change the world forever.
Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah shares these verses.
Isaiah 9:2-3, 6-7, ESV
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
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. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The hope of Jesus changes everything. No matter what our circumstances, God is greater. A hope of a coming Messiah meant the same for the Israelites thousands of years ago, much like it means for us today. Our sins can be forgiven. We can live with hope for eternity. A place where all the wrong will be made right and there will be no more dark days.
In verse six, we see four names this Messiah will also carry. There is hope intertwined through them all.
Wonderful Counselor → When I am lost, Jesus will guide me.
Mighty God → When I am weak, Jesus will give me strength.
Everlasting Father → When I feel alone, Jesus is an ever-present help.
Prince of Peace → When I am broken, Jesus makes me whole again.
If you find yourself feeling discouraged this Christmas season, cling to the hope the Messiah brings. There is hope that the Messiah will again return, signaling the end of life as we know it.
Jesus brings the only true hope. Nowhere else and through no one else will we find the peace and hope that Jesus Christ brings for us. May you remember the reason and source of hope this Christmas. It’s available for you and me.
