ADVENT--The Promise
Notes
Transcript
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Advent means “coming” and our gatherings during these Wednesday evening services are exploring the progression of why this “Coming” is so important. Last Wednesday explored THE NEED for the Lord’s “Coming” and this evening we will unpack the need a little more in order to understand THE PROMISE of His “Coming.”
Have you ever thought about decisions you make, every response you have to the situations and relationships of your life? In many ways they are motivated by hope. Our story of life is a story of hope. We are always looking for hope. We are always attaching the hope of our heart to something.
We are almost always hoping in something. And, we tend to look for hope in all the wrong places. We look for hope where it can’t be found, and when we do we’re often disappointed, or frustrated, and often confused. Because we want things to give us hope that just can’t give us hope. For me, that means I want to find my hope in the constant affirmation of the people in my life.
Isaiah 59 is a wonderful because it’s written in a dark moment. This is one of the darkest moments in the history of God’s people. I want to ask you the question: when life is hard for you, when it’s difficult and confusing, when you’re dealing with the unexpected, when your story is not what you would like your story to be, where do you run for hope? Where do you run for comfort? Where do you run for security? Where do you run and hide?
The children of Israel had been in captivity in Babylon, and they have come back now to Jerusalem, and it’s a mess. The city walls and temple are destroyed. There is no central government. There is no obvious leadership. There is no justice. There is massive poverty. There is a complete social breakdown. It is a mess. And into that darkness, there is an amazing discussion of hope, maybe one of the most brilliant in all of Scripture. Because in those dark moments, your true, real hope will be exposed. And your true, real hope will come through for you, or it will deeply disappoint you.
This evening we will speak briefly being alienated from God, why it happens, what it causes us to do, and God’s plan for relief.
Sin Brings Alienation from God
Sin Brings Alienation from God
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;” God, through the prophet, is answering a charge that the people are making against God. You see, here’s what often happens to us as well.
When life isn’t working as planned, when we’re suffering in some way, or disappointed, when the comfort and ease that we so often enjoy is interrupted, it’s very tempting to bring God into the court of our judgment and question His faithfulness and goodness. It’s very tempting to say, “God, where are You? I thought you were near to me. I thought you answered my prayers. God, where are You?” That’s exactly what these people in this moment were doing.
So, God says, “No, you’ve got it wrong. What’s going on is not a sign that My hand is too short to reach you. What’s going on is not a sign that My ears are so dull that I can’t hear you. I’m not the problem.” Often the grace of God comes to us in uncomfortable forms. That’s exactly what’s going on here. God says, “I love you. I’m seeking to wrap My arms around you. I’m seeking to get you to return to Me in real, true, living faith. Yet, I’m allowing you to go through this difficulty, not because I don’t love you, not because I can’t hear your prayer, but because I DO love you. Sometimes we are tempted to question God, and His goodness, tempted to wonder if He hears us.
This misplaced charge is followed by a divine accusation. In fact, it is an incredible diagnostic that’s in these verses. Look at it; verse 2: “. . .but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” And it goes on to describe the real problem.
I like to think that my biggest, deepest problems in my life are outside of me, not inside of me. They’re problems of situations, of location, and they’re problems of relationships. I like to think I’m one of the good guys. But God says, “No, you are the problem.” The problem exists inside of you. We have taken God’s beautiful, glorious, wisely created institutions and we’ve made a mess out of them. It’s us!
The problem is that there is something that lurks inside of me that is dark and dangerous, that kidnaps my thoughts, that diverts my desires, that distorts my words, that drives my behavior. And the prophet here uses three words for this thing: iniquity, transgression and sin.
And So, because there is iniquity inside of us, because there is transgression inside of us, because there is sin inside of us, we make a mess of God’s good creation. We cannot blame situations or other people. Because we are the common denominator.
Our greatest problem, the thing that most needs to be fixed is inside of us, not outside of us. That’s the truth. And we’ll never find hope if you don’t listen to God’s accusation.
Alienation Leads to Confession
Alienation Leads to Confession
Well, that accusation is followed by a confession. “Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.”
Now what I have read for you is a description of people who have completely lost their way and suddenly, it’s like someone has turned off the lights of your life and you’re in the dark. This picture is a picture of people who are groping along a wall.
When we have lost our way, we are at a very significant moment of decision. You will either point the finger and blame, or you will confess your sin. That’s what happens next.
Verse 12. “For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the LORD, and turning back from following our God.”
This is, “God, I’ve got a problem that I can’t solve,” and it is the doorway to real hope because God gives us the gift of Confession. It is a gift because in reality, we cannot solve our problem ourselves. Further, we cannot look to any other person to solve our problem of sin, because we all suffer from the same condition.
1 John 1:5-8, 5This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
King David was such a man. He was caught in his sin and instead of blaming others, he realized that only God can help. Psalm 51:3–4, 3For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
Likewise you and me. We confess because of God’s solution to our problem: 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is able to take away our sin because of His own arm.
Alienation Points to the Promise of God
Alienation Points to the Promise of God
Look at what God does. “Then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.”
Whenever you see the phrase in the Old Testament “the arm of the Lord,” it is a Messianic promise pointing to our Lord Jesus. God is saying, “Now that you’re at this moment where you utterly have no hope and nowhere to look. I’m going to send you hope. It will be a person, and His name is Jesus.”
That is the Christmas story. The Christmas story is hope coming. That’s why the angels sang those glorious songs. That’s why the wise men came to worship. That’s why the shepherds were blown away. Because hope had invaded the earth in the person of the Lord Jesus. Hope had come. Hope that had been so long lost, hope that had been destroyed is now returning in the person of Jesus.
God is going to deal with evil. He’s going to punish wrong. Evil will be repaid. The holy God takes sin seriously because it is evil, it is disastrous, and sin leads to death. And this holy God will never say, “It’s okay for you to sin. It’s okay for you to transgress. It’s okay for you to have iniquity. As long as you’re happy, I’m fine.” No, this is a holy God who hates sin. He will not tolerate it. He will punish every sin. You see, the problem with humanity is that we don’t always see sin as sinful. Sin doesn’t always look evil to me. Yet, it is very clear that this is God is perfectly committed to justice. Sin will be dealt with. And there is comfort in these words.
There will be a moment where sin will be no more because there is a holy God committed to righteousness. Look at these words: “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD” (Isaiah 59:20).
“I’m going to send a Redeemer.” Redemption is a beautiful term. To redeem means to buy something back. “I’m going to send My Son and He is going to live on your behalf the perfect life that you could not live.” He is going to take your sin on Himself and die the death that you should die. But He dies as a perfect Lamb, a perfect sacrifice, and His death satisfies God’s anger. And then He’s going to rise again and conquer death so that He we can have eternal life. So, by His life, death, and resurrection, His righteousness is now given over to your account. So, you can stand before a holy God unafraid of His wrath and have Him wrap His arms of acceptance around you; all because of Jesus. Because no longer does your sin separate you from Him. That’s redemption.
All the wrath that belongs to you and me God has inflicted this on Christ Jesus. He bears the anger of God, He takes all that penalty that is ours and God’s grace explodes in abundant forgiveness and mercy. On the cross, the One who is hope brings together the justice and grace of God. And hope is returned, because that moment where justice and grace kiss deliver to us the Promise of God — the only solution to our problem with sin.
In the messiness of life between the “already” and the “not yet,” true hope is placed God the Redeemer, Christ Jesus the Lord. He not only enters our difficulty in this moment but promises us a place in eternity where there will be no sickness and there will be no suffering and there will be no sin. And we’ll live with Him in a place of absolute peace, absolute righteousness, and absolute joy forever and ever.
ADVENT — the coming of Christ is about God’s promise to solve our sin problem and to flood us with hope. And hope has invaded our life in the person of the Christ Jesus. Now there is hope in the world for all who will believe.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.