Our Hope Is a Person – Advent of Christmas (Two)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope — 1 Timothy 1:1

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ — Titus 2:13

In his two letters above, Paul referred to Jesus as our hope.

What does this even mean? To know this, we’ll have to look at the reason why we need this Hope.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Where did sin come from?

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. — Romans 5:12

This “one man” refers to Adam, the father of mankind.

Adam was created as a perfect human, but through his disobedience to God, he brought sin upon us all.

It would take another perfect human to atone for our sin.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 6:23

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16

Through the gift of God’s grace upon us, He sent us His Son to be our hope.

So, as believers, Christmas holds a special meaning for us. It’s a time to reflect on Jesus’ arrival on earth in the form of a baby to one day offer Himself up as the perfect sacrifice on our behalf.

This means when we, as believers, speak of hope, we don’t mean a desire that may or may not come true. No, our hope is certain as our future in an eternal life, forgiveness, and peace with God.

For our hope is in the person of Jesus Christ.