Christmas 2018 Hope
Hello this is Eric again. A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?” So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question. To do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.
(Read the previous blog here.)
Christmas is a wonderful season. Do you agree or not? Why is that? What is it about Christmas that engages people in such a visceral fashion? Everyone is emotional during the Christmas season. Whether you are the bubbly effervescent fountain of Christmas spirit, or the gloomy-gus of Scrooge’s past, or somewhere in-between, Christmas is a time of year that grabs our hearts, whether we like it or not and won’t let go. Why?
I believe that Christmas engages us like this because of the Hope that is woven throughout the fabric of the season. Too often life is painful, and disappointing; leading to moments where we are confused and don’t know what to do next, and even if we did know what to do, the means to do it seem out of reach. This leads to despair. Despair is defined as, “An utter loss of hope.”* We desperately long for Hope. Our souls ache and thirst for Hope in a way that we cannot hide from. A taste of Hope enlivens us, seemingly, beyond our ability to contain it. This little bit of Hope is a watershed moment in our hearts that overflows into our lives with joy. But, like the Bible says in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” When Hope is put off, or seems out of reach—our hearts ache with a depth that we weren’t aware of, and it feels like it will crush us. Christmas brings out the reality of this tension that lies deep within us— what a stark contrast. Why is this so? A prophecy from God helps us answer this question.
In Genesis 3:14 we find ourselves in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve have been lied to, have chosen to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and have had their eyes opened (we are not God)—and have hidden from God. God has come to be with them, like He would do every day, and they have chosen to hide from Him instead of running to Him. He pursues them, and calls out to them and finds them, hiding. God confronts them, and asks them if they have sinned. When they are exposed and found out they begin to blame one another, and even God Himself. God listens, and then pronounces judgement.
“Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.’”
Satan had lied to Adam and Eve. He had made them question God’s goodness, and had tempted them with the thought that they should be god of their own world. Why? Satan was the most powerful angel created, and somewhere he began to think that he should be in charge, and he convinced a 1/3rd of the angels that this was the case. They rebelled, and tried to throw a coup in Heaven, and lost. God judged them, and Hell was made for them—a place away from God and all His goodness that would mete out the punishment sin deserves. Then, they were tossed out of Heaven knowing that one day, when the final judgement came, they would end up in Hell. So, this defeated enemy of God realized that he could not hurt God with a frontal assault, so instead; he would tempt and lead the children of God, those that God loved so dearly, to sin—just like him—and they too would be condemned to Hell. This was how Satan would crush God’s heart.
Satan took the form of the serpent and was the one who tempted Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3:14 we see God beginning to hand out the judgement. First God judges Satan— “Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.” God addresses Satan and the vessel that Satan chose to use for this villainy.
What would you expect next? I would expect that God would call out Adam and Eve, and do the very same thing that He did with Satan. Condemn them, declare that they future would be away from God, and eternally this would be so in Hell—a place that is the utter opposite of God, and would be absent God and all His goodness. A place where judgement would be meted out for ruining the holy gift God had given them. That’s what I would expect.
That’s not what happened. Read Genesis 3:15,
“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God gives a prophecy. There will be conflict between humanity and Satan; And in the future Adam and Eve, one of your children will come and defeat Satan, even though He will be injured in the process. A Rescuer will come and defeat Satan. No one expected this. And, to have a Rescuer come out of the family of Adam and Eve, no one expected that either.
Galatians 4:4 says,
“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”
God would send a Rescuer, from Adam and Eve’s family—humankind—to defeat Satan, and Rescue us. This is the Hope that Christmas offers, the Gospel—Good News—God loves us, and has a plan to rescue us, to give us a Hope and a future. Let’s read the rest of the passage in Galatians 4:5-7 to see this Hope Christmas flourishes with,
“God sent him [Jesus] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.’ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”
This is the Hope of Christmas, the Hope that defeats despair.
(If you want to know more about how to receive this gift of Hope that God offers click here.)
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here: http://takingnextstepswithjesus.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
*https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/despair
(Read the previous blog here.)
Christmas is a wonderful season. Do you agree or not? Why is that? What is it about Christmas that engages people in such a visceral fashion? Everyone is emotional during the Christmas season. Whether you are the bubbly effervescent fountain of Christmas spirit, or the gloomy-gus of Scrooge’s past, or somewhere in-between, Christmas is a time of year that grabs our hearts, whether we like it or not and won’t let go. Why?
I believe that Christmas engages us like this because of the Hope that is woven throughout the fabric of the season. Too often life is painful, and disappointing; leading to moments where we are confused and don’t know what to do next, and even if we did know what to do, the means to do it seem out of reach. This leads to despair. Despair is defined as, “An utter loss of hope.”* We desperately long for Hope. Our souls ache and thirst for Hope in a way that we cannot hide from. A taste of Hope enlivens us, seemingly, beyond our ability to contain it. This little bit of Hope is a watershed moment in our hearts that overflows into our lives with joy. But, like the Bible says in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” When Hope is put off, or seems out of reach—our hearts ache with a depth that we weren’t aware of, and it feels like it will crush us. Christmas brings out the reality of this tension that lies deep within us— what a stark contrast. Why is this so? A prophecy from God helps us answer this question.
In Genesis 3:14 we find ourselves in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve have been lied to, have chosen to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and have had their eyes opened (we are not God)—and have hidden from God. God has come to be with them, like He would do every day, and they have chosen to hide from Him instead of running to Him. He pursues them, and calls out to them and finds them, hiding. God confronts them, and asks them if they have sinned. When they are exposed and found out they begin to blame one another, and even God Himself. God listens, and then pronounces judgement.
“Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.’”
Satan had lied to Adam and Eve. He had made them question God’s goodness, and had tempted them with the thought that they should be god of their own world. Why? Satan was the most powerful angel created, and somewhere he began to think that he should be in charge, and he convinced a 1/3rd of the angels that this was the case. They rebelled, and tried to throw a coup in Heaven, and lost. God judged them, and Hell was made for them—a place away from God and all His goodness that would mete out the punishment sin deserves. Then, they were tossed out of Heaven knowing that one day, when the final judgement came, they would end up in Hell. So, this defeated enemy of God realized that he could not hurt God with a frontal assault, so instead; he would tempt and lead the children of God, those that God loved so dearly, to sin—just like him—and they too would be condemned to Hell. This was how Satan would crush God’s heart.
Satan took the form of the serpent and was the one who tempted Adam and Eve. In Genesis 3:14 we see God beginning to hand out the judgement. First God judges Satan— “Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.” God addresses Satan and the vessel that Satan chose to use for this villainy.
What would you expect next? I would expect that God would call out Adam and Eve, and do the very same thing that He did with Satan. Condemn them, declare that they future would be away from God, and eternally this would be so in Hell—a place that is the utter opposite of God, and would be absent God and all His goodness. A place where judgement would be meted out for ruining the holy gift God had given them. That’s what I would expect.
That’s not what happened. Read Genesis 3:15,
“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God gives a prophecy. There will be conflict between humanity and Satan; And in the future Adam and Eve, one of your children will come and defeat Satan, even though He will be injured in the process. A Rescuer will come and defeat Satan. No one expected this. And, to have a Rescuer come out of the family of Adam and Eve, no one expected that either.
Galatians 4:4 says,
“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”
God would send a Rescuer, from Adam and Eve’s family—humankind—to defeat Satan, and Rescue us. This is the Hope that Christmas offers, the Gospel—Good News—God loves us, and has a plan to rescue us, to give us a Hope and a future. Let’s read the rest of the passage in Galatians 4:5-7 to see this Hope Christmas flourishes with,
“God sent him [Jesus] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.’ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”
This is the Hope of Christmas, the Hope that defeats despair.
(If you want to know more about how to receive this gift of Hope that God offers click here.)
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here: http://takingnextstepswithjesus.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
*https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/despair
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