All I Want for Christmas: (Part III)

GOD'S GIFT OF HOPE

Luke 1: 31-33

During Christmas time, deciding what gift to give our family and friends can bring a lot of stress. When I visited Pastor Tim last Monday he shared to me an article which he found over the internet entitled, "What Not to Buy Your Wife." Here are some of the tips in this article:

1. Don't buy anything that plugs in. Anything that requires electricity is seen as utilitarian.
2. Don't buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are one in seven thousand that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6999 times. "Do I look like size 16? Too small a size doesn't cut it either: "I haven't worn a size 8 in 20 years!"
3. Avoid all things useful. The new silver polish advertised to save hundreds of hours is not going to win you any brownie points.
4. Don't buy anything that involves weight loss or self-improvement. She'll perceive a six-month membership to a diet center as a suggestion that she's overweight.
5. Don't buy jewelry. The jewelry your wife wants, you can't afford. And the jewelry you can afford, she doesn't want.
6. Finally, don't spend too much. "How do you think we're going to afford that?" she'll ask. But don't spend too little. She won't say anything, but she'll think, "Is that all I'm worth?"

Well, I hope our wives will tell us what they really want this Christmas, and if we can't afford it, we'll just negotiate.

As we continue to ponder upon Jesus being God's gift to the world this Christmas, one aspect we need to also emphasize is the fact that He is a gift of hope.

Our main text comes as part of angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary concerning the coming of the Promised Messiah through her. Although this message came as troublesome to Mary, being a virgin engaged to Joseph, these words definitely brought great expectations knowing that the coming of Jesus as the Savior and deliverer will radically change her life and the nation of Israel for the better.

Basically, when we speak of hope, we always associate this with having a better future. I believe a message of hope is essential in our time more than ever. Evidently, there had been some factors, which have heightened a greater sense of hopelessness among many. Consider the growing number of natural calamities:

1. A tsunami struck in Asia, killing hundreds of thousands of people and leaving millions homeless.
2. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed a major American city, flooding New Orleans and causing unbelievable destruction along the Gulf Coasts displacing thousands from their homes.
3. A massive earthquake struck Pakistan, registering 7.6 on the Richter scale. It was the deadliest quake in modern times, killing over 70,000 people and sending aftershocks throughout India.

Then, you also have other sources of concern like:

1. International health organizations are warning of a deadly flu pandemic, from the lethal strain of bird flu. It has spread from China to Russia, Romania and Turkey. If it mutates, it could kill 2 million people in the U.S.
2. In the forty nations around the world, terrorist cells are growing and threatening those nations within their borders.

So, where do you turn for hope? Who can give us some assurance that the future will turn out great? There are at least three significant sources of hope that we will find wrapped around the Christmas story:

I     THE PRESENCE OF GOD:

In our desperate moments in life, we need to be assured that God is never absent. He is always there ready to help us.

If you carefully study the context of our passage in relation to the history of Israel as a nation, the appearance of angel Gabriel to make the announcement about the coming of Jesus through Mary was meaningful. You see, Israel at this point had no known prophet for quite some time already. The last known prophet who ministered to the nation was Malachi. The period between Malachi until the appearance of Gabriel is often regarded by Bible scholars as the Silent Period, which lasted for 400 years. During this time, God was silent. He never gave instructions, rebukes, corrections or encouragements directly using a prophet. Can you imagine how difficult this time was? The coming of Gabriel was God breaking His silence. He was giving the assurance that though He was silent, yet He was present. He was accomplishing His perfect work for His people.

The coming of Jesus into our world must only reinforce what has always been a reality for God's people. He is always present with us.

He is the Immanuel. It's so easy to feel hopeless when we think we are all alone. The Christmas story must remind us about the purpose of Christ coming - God gave Him up so we can have a constant companion in our life's journey. He promises never to leave us or forsake us.

None of us will escape going through very difficult times and it is certain that we will all come to those times when people whose presence we counted on will no longer be available to us. The good news is the presence of God is always available for us.

May you find great hope this Christmas knowing He is there for you!

II    THE PROMISES OF GOD:

Another truth we need to take to heart whenever we think of Christmas is the fact that God kept His promise about the Messiah. We can surely be hopeful on a God who keeps His promises.

In the Old Testament, the very first promise about the Savior appeared right after man fell into sin:

This prophecy was followed by hundred of prophecies about the coming of Jesus. Then, 4000 years later God fulfilled His promises. When it seems, He has already forgotten His promises, He came and delivered according to His timetable. Today, I believe one reason why many people are in despair is because they put their hope on people who break promises. And the reality is even the best people will break their promises. Praise God because this is not applicable with Him.

Both of these verses highlight the character of God. He never lies; thus, we can always count on all His promises.

Accordingly, trust is a very important issue in our Christian walk. We are absolutely taught to put our lives into the hands of God. It's good to hope on a God who whenever He makes a promise they're guaranteed. We can count on Him to fulfill them.

Let me say that the real challenge is for all of us to walk closely with God. Mary and Joseph experienced the fulfillment the God's promises because they both honored God in their lives.

III   THE POWER OF GOD:

Last but not the least; Christmas brings a lesson of hope because God gave His own Son who possesses almighty power. Our passage specifically verses 32-33, explicitly expressed this message.

In another text, Zechariah after his speech was restored prophesied and gave the glimpse on what the Messiah will do:

The Messiah was to be Israel's horn of salvation (v. 69). The horns of an animal symbolized its power. Thus, the Messiah would be strong and would deliver the nations from her enemies and everyone who hates them (v. 71).

As we go through life, we have to be confident that God's power is working in our lives. We don't have an enemy bigger than our God. He is always able to deliver us. The Bible gives a warning concerning looking at other people or things to help and save us:

All believers in Christ have a wonderful hope because we have a wonderful God. His presence, promises, and power can guarantee our victories whatever we are going through. Let's continue to put our hope in Him!