Follow the Lord Truthfully

When we look at the ministry of Jesus Christ while He was on earth, we see that He did many wonderful things: healing, teaching, preaching, and more. The apostle John even stated at the end of his gospel that we do not have a record of all the things Jesus did because the world wouldn’t be able to contain the books it would take to record them all.

As Jesus would preach and teach, we see that He basically gave the same invitation with each moment: Follow Me. To follow Jesus means that we give Him control of our lives and live according to His leading in all things. While that may seem like an easy task — to follow the One who created us and is all-powerful — we often go our own way instead.

Over the next few weeks, we will examine different aspects of this invitation Jesus continues to give to people to come and follow Him.

‌Hypocrisy

One topic that the Lord addresses over and over in the Scriptures is hypocrisy.

Our English word, hypocrite, is transliterated from the Greek word, hypokrites. It was a term used in Greek theater. It would refer to an actor who wore different masks in the same play so that he could play different roles. In theater, being a hypocrite was a very admirable thing. It showed great talent. In our daily lives, being a hypocrite is not looked upon very well. In our daily lives, we see hypocrisy as “saying one thing and doing the opposite.” It erodes a person’s integrity quicker than anything else can.

When it comes to following Jesus, He does not desire hypocrites. Jesus wants His followers to be genuine and allow the Holy Spirit to work in every aspect of their lives so that they will reflect Jesus to a watching world.

The Bible refers to Jesus’ followers as disciples. A disciple is a student who would come under the teachings of another (master). The goal of a disciple is to become as much like your master as possible.

⁴⁰ A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

​Luke 6:40 CSB

One important part of a disciple’s life is worship. While Jesus had a conversation with a Samaritan woman in John 4, He spoke about how God desires and is seeking those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth.

²³ But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him.

John 4:23 CSB

There have been many questions about what it means to worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth.” While we don’t have time today to dive deep into that, I would say that spirit refers not only to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives but also to a genuineness where our hearts are fully engaged and connected with God. Truth refers to the guardrails that the Lord has given to us through His word.

‌Hypocrisy in Worship

Can a person be a hypocrite when it comes to his or her worship? Sadly, the answer to that question is yes. We actually see it happening throughout the Scriptures. One instance is found in Isaiah 58. I would invite you to find that passage in your Bibles as we look at the Lord dealing with hypocrisy in His people’s worship.

‌Good Appearance

¹ “Cry out loudly, don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. ² They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”

​Isaiah 58:1-2 CSB

The Lord had Isaiah go to His people with a specific message about their worship. These two verses seem a little strange, almost contradictory. The Lord calls out the transgressions and sins of the people. In verse 2, it looks like they are actually doing pretty good.

• They seek the Lord daily
• They delight to know the Lord’s ways
• They appear to be a nation seeking justice
• ‌They seek the Lord for righteous judgments
• They delight being near the Lord

If you heard this description of a person or group of people, you would probably recognize them as followers of Jesus, right? On the surface, the people seemed to be doing all the right things. As we continue reading the text, we see a problem arises…

³ “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!”

Isaiah 58:3a (CSB)

We may be somewhat familiar with fasting. You may have to fast before a medical procedure. You may hear about intermittent fasting for weight control. Fasting is the act of going without something in order to prepare for something else. Fasting can be a form of worship to the Lord. We see different types of fasting throughout the Scriptures. Most of the time, fasting would be going without food for a time to seek the Lord’s direction on a matter or to ask for something.

We are coming up on a time known in the church world as Lent. It is a time of fasting to prepare one’s heart for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not something that is required by Scripture, but it may be a good thing for you to do to prepare your heart.

In Isaiah 58, the people had been fasting to the Lord but felt that He was ignoring them. The people felt that the Lord had ignored them since they were not receiving what they thought they should from their fasting. We would do well to remember this truth: the Lord is not obligated to do what we want. We may jump through every religious hoop there is, but that doesn’t mean that He has to do what we think is right. He is perfect and holy; He has a plan that He is carrying out to perfection. Things like fasting are not about getting the Lord to do what we want but tuning our hearts to His so that we can do what He wants more faithfully.

Reality Check

In the final part of verse 3, the Lord shares why their fasting was not accomplishing what they thought it would:

³ “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. ⁴ You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high.

​Isaiah 58:3-4 CSB

The Lord told the people through Isaiah that their lives were in complete contradiction to their religious acts. The Lord points out that the people were oppressing their workers and fighting with one another.

At the end of verse 4, the Lord says the people cannot hope to be heard by Him. In the New Testament, Titus would say it this way:

¹⁶ They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

​Titus 1:16 CSB 

We may think that we are doing well because we are able to check off the religious boxes in our lives (Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, giving, serving, etc).

As the Lord delivers this reality check to His people, He also shares with them what He desires.

⁵ Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? ⁶ Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?

​Isaiah 58:5-7 CSB

What the Lord desires from those who follow Him is not mindless obedience. He wants to transform sinful and selfish people into reflections of who He is and the work He can do in a person’s life. It is not just about checking boxes, but it is about being made more like Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.

Later in the New Testament, James would state it this way:

¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

​James 2:15-17 CSB

The Lord is One who invites His followers to come and be made new from the inside out for His glory. As this happens, we reflect His goodness to a watching world that desperately needs Him.

When you think about your worship, what difference is being made? Do you check off the boxes continually but remain the same person that you’ve always been? Are you like the Israelites of Isaiah 58 wondering where God is and why He isn’t doing what you want? It could be that your worship of Him is tinted with a hypocrisy that He cannot listen to. Your life may have a ton of checked boxes, but there is no difference. If this describes you, I would encourage you to listen to the Lord’s reality check here. Begin allowing the Holy Spirit to transform your daily actions and words to reflect what you say you believe.

In verses 8-12, the Lord shares with us what happens when that takes place.

⁸ Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. ⁹ At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, ¹⁰ and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. ¹¹ The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry. ¹² Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.

​Isaiah 58:8-12 CSB

‌Results of Genuine Worship

• The first thing the Lord says is that your light will shine (v 8, 10)
• Recovery will come quickly (v 8)
• The Lord will protect you (v 8)
• ‌You will know the nearness of Jesus (v 9)
• You will be led and satisfied (v 11)
• You will see restoration (v 12)

‌Conclusion

The Lord is seeking followers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. This means that hypocrisy has no place in our lives. As we do this, we come to know the Lord greater and experience His power in our daily lives. He wants to transform each of His followers’ lives into something that points others to who He is and what He can do in a person’s life.

If you have not made the decision to become a follower of Jesus, I would encourage you to answer the invitation Jesus extends to you today. He says, as He has to so many others, “Follow Me.” You can do that by coming to Him by faith, confessing and turning from your sin to following Him. Receive the forgiveness that He paid for with His sacrifice on the cross. Begin to live a new life reflecting and knowing Him in the power of His resurrection.

May we be followers of Jesus who do so in spirit and in truth… in every aspect of our lives. As we do that, we will see Him do great and mighty things among us.

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What the Love of God Does

The Christmas season is a special time of the year. This season is filled with so many wonderful things: lights, decorations, special songs, and time spent with friends and family. Another part of Christmas is gifts. I thought about putting that in the wonderful section of this season, but sometimes gifts can be one of the biggest headaches of this season. How many times have you found yourself banging your head against a wall trying to figure out that perfect gift for someone? You just want to get them an Amazon or Visa gift card, but then you realize that you might come across as copping out and not putting any real thought into it.

The truth is that this season is about the greatest gift that was ever given. It didn’t come from some warehouse or website. It wasn’t delivered to us by some guy in a brown suit or GrubHub. The greatest gift came from God as He sent His one and only Son into this world to bring to us the gifts of Advent: hope, joy, peace, and love.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us that…

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

Love is truly the greatest gift of all. As we celebrate the Christmas season, we celebrate the love of God coming to us in a tangible way. As we look at Matthew’s account of the first Christmas, I want to show you a couple of things about the love of God that came to us that first Christmas.

‌The love of God comes to us

As Matthew begins sharing about the first Christmas, he points out the truth that the love of God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:18 ESV

The virgin birth is an important part of the story. The fact that Mary was pregnant is truly a miracle in itself. This was a sign that this baby was no ordinary baby. This child in Mary’s womb was the Son of God.

The apostle, John, shares with us that God is love. The baby that was growing in Mary’s womb in this verse was in fact love coming to us. God didn’t just write a message in a sunset that says He loves us. God came to us… to where we are — in the muck and mire of our situations — to show us that He cares for us and has not abandoned us.

We celebrate during this season as we realize that through Jesus, love came to us.

The love of God transforms us

While Matthew starts his first Christmas account with the wonderful news of God coming to us, in verse 19, Matthew shows that it was a difficult event in the moment.

¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:19 ESV

Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and they were looking forward to a wonderful life together. I’m sure they were dreaming about their future together. But when Joseph realized Mary was pregnant and the child was not his, he didn’t understand what was going on. What we see in verse 19 is how the work of God’s love on a person’s heart can transform them.

Joseph thought that Mary had been unfaithful to him. The Jewish law gave Joseph every right to humiliate Mary. A normal person might have done this, but Joseph was not a normal person. The Bible doesn’t say a lot about Joseph, but what it does points to the fact that he loved and walked in faithfulness to God. Because of Joseph’s relationship with God, God’s love transformed Joseph from being one who wants to get even to being one who looks out for one whom he thought had betrayed him.

The love of God transforms a person’s heart, words, and actions. When we experience and walk in the love of God on a consistent basis, it transforms us to live in a way that reflects God. That transformation doesn’t come by any other means.

The love of God teaches us

While Joseph was making plans in his mind to gracefully part ways with Mary, God sent an angel to him in a dream to teach Joseph the truth about what was happening. God cared deeply for this young couple. God didn’t want there to be a split or shame or anything like that. In verses 20-21, God sends a message which teaches Joseph the truth of the situation.

²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20–21 ESV

The very first temptation that a human being experienced was when Eve was tempted to doubt God’s goodness and think He was holding out on humans. God’s love for us proves that to be a complete falsehood. God’s word is truth, and He has shared His truth with us. We may think that we know what our situation is all about, but we would do well to seek the truth from God if we want a better understanding.

God shares with Joseph that Mary had not been unfaithful to him. The baby she was carrying in her womb was a gift from God placed there by the Holy Spirit. Notice that the angel said that Mary would bear the son, but Joseph would name the baby Jesus. This indicates that God desired Joseph to continue with plans to take Mary as his bride and help raise this child.

The love of God saves us

In verses 21-23, Matthew shares with us that the love of God comes to save us.

²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Matthew 1:21–23 ESV

The angel shares that what Joseph is experiencing at this moment is the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior. The prophet Isaiah foretold how the Messiah would come about 700 years before it happened. It wasn’t the way or when most people expected, but God is true to His word and always comes through at the perfect moment.

Jesus’ coming that first Christmas was the foundation that John 3:16-17 stands on. These verses are well-known by many because they share that God’s coming to us for the first time was not about judgment as much as His love toward us.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16–17 ESV

A person is saved from their sins by turning from their sins and trusting in Jesus Christ. This work of God’s grace brings eternal life to any person who trusts in and follows Him.

The love of God empowers us

In Matthew 1:24-25, we see Joseph awakening and responding to what God had shown him.

²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

​Matthew 1:24–25 ESV

Joseph had to make a decision. He could go with what he originally thought about his situation, or he could listen to God’s word and walk in obedience. Because Joseph had experienced the love of God, he was also empowered to walk in obedience to what God wanted. There were going to be people who whispered about him and his bride. There were going to be people who made fun of him for being so foolish to believe that Mary was carrying the Messiah.

There are times in our lives when the decision to walk in obedience to God’s ways is not easy. There are times when walking in obedience to what God wants is not seen as popular or even logical at times. Because the love of God has come to us, we have been given the empowerment to live as God desires when we experience His love.

‌Conclusion

As Matthew shows us in his account of the first Christmas, it was a time when God’s love came to us in a special way. God’s love came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He came to make the only way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be reunited with God.

Gifts are definitely on people’s minds in this season and rightfully so. The first Christmas brought us the greatest gift of all — the love of God. The interesting thing about a gift is that it doesn’t become yours until you actually receive it. Have you received the gift of God’s love through Jesus by confessing and turning from your sins to Him by faith? I would encourage you to do that today if you haven’t. It is truly the greatest Christmas present ever.

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The Caring, Eternal King

During the Advent season, the church is called to remember some key gifts that God has given to us through the coming of the Messiah. They are hope, peace, joy, and love. Each Advent season, there is a focus on these wonderful gifts. These are some of the most basic necessities of our souls.

As we look around our world, we see the need for these gifts. It seems every direction we turn there is more and more fighting, division, and depression than the day before. The sin that plagues our world brings these things that make our hearts long for hope, peace, joy, and love.

Sadly, many people look to different things to bring these. Some look to substances and find a temporary relief that crashes into a worse situation. Others look to relationships, which are good things in our lives until we expect those people who are just as broken as we are to fulfill us and make us whole. We end up frustrated and pushing away when others do not meet all of our expectations.

What we come to find out is that our hearts are seeking someone or something to make us whole… to fulfill us… to give us meaning and purpose. The problem we run into too many times is that we don’t realize what that someone or something must be in order to do what we need. They need to have the ability to be present when needed. They need to have the power and authority to be able to do what we need to do. They need to have unconditional care for us and will seek our best at all times.

When you look at that list of qualifications for the One who can bring hope, peace, joy, and love to our lives, you begin to realize the qualified list is very small. In fact, there is only one name on that list: Jesus.

‌Pentecost

When we look at the Bible, we find accounts of people who lived many years ago, but their needs are not so different from our own. Take Acts 2 for example. In this chapter, we read about the beginnings of the New Testament church. The events of this chapter take place about 50 days after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Pentecost comes from the Greek word meaning ‘fiftieth’.) Pentecost was, first, a Jewish festival called the Festival of Weeks/Harvest. You can read about it in Numbers 28:26-31. This festival was to celebrate God’s providence by bringing gifts from the first harvest of the year to Him.

During the Pentecost festival recorded in Acts 2, God provides a new gift: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within each believer. This gift brings about what we know as the New Testament church. There were different opinions about what was going on that day. Some people were amazed at what God was doing through His people (2:7-11). Some people were confused (2:12). Others thought Jesus’ followers had just gotten drunk (2:13).

Because of the confusion that was taking place at Pentecost, Peter stepped up and delivered a sermon that changed history forever. In this sermon, Peter is quick to show there is no drunkenness happening, but God was doing a great work and fulfilling what was prophesied through Joel in the Old Testament.

In this sermon, Peter points to King David from the Old Testament to help explain what is going on. King David is the poster child of the Jewish religion. He was known as a man after God’s own heart. By mentioning King David, Peter was relating to the Jewish people who had gathered for this festival.

While David had been a great king, the fact that he was not ruling anymore was evident. The Jewish people, at the time of Acts 2, were living under the reign of the Roman Empire. They were desperately awaiting the Messiah to come and restore the kingdom as they thought it should be. As the old Christmas hymn talks about weary souls rejoicing, these people were weary souls indeed, but there was little rejoicing going on.

Peter takes a strange turn with King David in Acts 2:29-31…

“Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.

Acts 2:29–31 CSB

While King David may have been a great king who oversaw the glory days of the Jewish Empire, he was dead. Those days were gone. It is interesting how similar people are. Sometimes we can hold on to things of the past that we thought were so great. We can long for the glory days of old. When we do that, typically two things happen:‌

• We don’t give a clear picture of what the “glory days of old” were.
• We miss out on what is happening right before us.

‌Peter recalls a promise

In Peter’s mention of King David, he recalls a promise God made to King David in verse 30. God had promised David that He would establish the throne forever with one of David’s descendants ruling over God’s people. We can see this in 2 Samuel 7:11-16 and Psalm 132:11. While many people thought God was referring to a lineage that would always sit on a throne ruling, God had a different idea in mind. This promise was not about a lineage but a Person. This promise was a prophecy about how the Messiah would come through David’s line.

Peter explains how this all comes about in verses 32-36.

32 “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. 33 Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

​Acts 2:32-36 CSB

Peter wastes no time in showing that Jesus, whom many of the people had seen crucified, had risen from the dead and sits as Ruler over all creation, especially those who place their faith in the one true God. It is Jesus who is the promised Messiah. It is through Jesus that the hope, peace, joy, and love we all so desperately need comes.

As you look at the remainder of Acts 2, you see God use Peter’s sermon to draw people a point of asking what they needed to do. When God speaks to us, it is an invitation to join Him in something. He may be calling us to a decision that changes the direction of our lives. He may be calling us to share with someone His good news. To hear God speak through someone is not something given to us to just share on social media. It is a call to repentance, faith, following, and knowing God more.

What does this mean for us?

As we look at what God did on that Pentecost in the first century and how He worked through Peter, what can we take away from this for our lives today?

‌1. God keeps His word

We’ve been seeing this message pop up all during this Advent series. God’s word is true. If God has promised or said something, you can count on it coming true at the perfect time. God has perfect integrity.

2. God is able

We may hear this phrase and be quick to shout, “Amen!”, but do we really understand what that means? When we say, “God is able,” we are saying that He has the full ability to work all things together in order to accomplish His purposes. There is nothing that He cannot do. Even when everything around us is going crazy and we don’t see how it can possibly get any better, He has everything under control.

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

​Romans 8:28 CSB

‌3. Jesus is the caring, Eternal King

This is the main point Peter shared in Acts 2 with his audience, but it is just as relevant to our lives today. Jesus is the Eternal King. This means that Jesus has all power and authority in the palm of His hands.

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

​Matthew 28:18 CSB

Jesus being the Eternal King also means that He is able to be present with us at all times. Do we understand that Jesus is not bound by time and space? He is omnipresent – in all places at all times. This means that while we worship here this morning, He is here. When we go to work or school tomorrow, He is there. When we go to our homes in the evenings, He is there. When we are hanging out with friends or doing our favorite hobby, He is there. When you are going through that difficult time, He is there. When it feels like no one around you sees you, He is there.

Jesus is present, but more than that, He cares about us. He not only sees us where we are, He loves us enough to come to us and help us get where we need to be. How do I know that? I know that is true because we are celebrating this season called Christmas right now. Jesus saw our need and came to us who were hopeless, miserable, and feeling abandoned to bring the gifts we talked about earlier: hope, peace, joy, and love.

‌Conclusion

At the beginning of our time, I said that far too many people look to things and/or people for the wonderful gifts of Advent. They look for hope, peace, joy, and love in places that cannot bring those. I mentioned that there was only One who could meet all the qualifications to bring these wonderful gifts into our lives. Hopefully, through Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, we can see that the Jesus, whose first coming we celebrate during this season, is the only One who can bring us hope, peace, joy, and love. These are gifts He longs to give to us if we will receive them. We do that by coming to Him in faith and following Him.

Where are you looking for hope, peace, joy, and love to come from today? I would encourage you to turn your heart towards Jesus. It is only through Him you will find these wonderful gifts.

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The Promise Keeper

As we celebrate this season, we must remember what this season is about. Christmas is about the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It is most definitely a time to celebrate. If Jesus had never come, we would truly have no hope, and there would be no peace available to anyone.

The Bible has four gospels at the beginning of the New Testament which tell about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Two of those gospels actually share about the birth of Jesus: Matthew and Luke.

When you look at Matthew’s gospel — which is at the beginning of the New Testament — you find something interesting. Matthew begins his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ through his earthly father, Joseph.

Why is this genealogy of Jesus important? That is one thing that I want to look at today. It is so much more than just a list of names. This genealogy is actually proof that God is one who always keeps His promises.

If you look at the genealogy in Matthew 1, you see that it goes from Jesus’ earthly father (Joseph) all the way back to Abraham. There are four important parts of this genealogy which are each separated by 14 generations:

• Joseph – Jesus’ earthly father
• The Babylonian Exile
• King David
• Abraham

It is almost like God had this all planned out from the beginning.

But why would this genealogy go back to Abraham? It is because Abraham would play an important role in God’s plan of redemption.

‌The Call of Abram

In Genesis 12:1-3, we see God calling a guy named Abram to leave everything he had ever known and follow this God who was calling him.

¹ The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Genesis 12:1–3 CSB

With this call, God promised that He would make Abram (who would later have his name changed to Abraham) great and would bless the entire world through him. That is a pretty big promise.

The Power of a Promise

Promises can be tricky things in our lives. I’m sure that we have all had someone make a promise to us. Some of those who have made promises to us have made good on them. Others have broken their promises, which leads to distrust and hurt that can last with us for some time.

In the movie, Hook, Robin Williams plays a grown-up Peter Pan who has forgotten who he was and becomes a workaholic. Peter had broken many promises to his son, Jack, in the movie. When Peter’s children are kidnapped by Captain Hook and taken to Neverland, Jack doesn’t have much of a problem at first with Captain Hook becoming his dad because his real dad had broken so many promises.

How do we know that God is One who will keep His promises when there are so many around us who fail to do so?

To answer that question, we must look back to the promise that God made to Abraham. In Genesis 12, God says that if Abraham will follow and trust God, then God will make his life a blessing to the entire world.

Through Abraham’s lifetime, God gave more information about how this promise would be fulfilled.

‌The Promised Son

In Genesis 18 and 21, God promises that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, will have a son. It would be this son, Isaac, that the promise would come through.

In this step of the process, we learn a little more about how the God of the Bible is the God of the impossible. In Genesis 21, Abraham is 100 years old, and Sarah is 90 years old. Talk about impossible!

‌The Promised Sacrifice

When we come to Genesis 22, we find a very strange passage. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to the Lord on a mountain God would show him. I thought it was through Isaac that the promised deliverer would come. The Messiah cannot come if Isaac is no longer living.

What we see from Abraham is a true measure of faith.

⁹ When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Genesis 22:9–10 CSB

This scene should make any person scratch their head. God is not one who is pleased with child sacrifice. Why would God be telling Abraham to do such a thing? Why in the world would Abraham go through with this?

We see a glimpse of Abraham’s faith in God in the New Testament letter of Hebrews.

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son,¹⁸ the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. ¹⁹ He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.

Hebrews 11:17–19 CSB

Abraham knew enough about God that this was out of the norm. Abraham knew that he would be walking off that mountain with Isaac alive. He wasn’t sure how it was going to happen, but Abraham knew it would happen.

This brings us to a point we need to pause and think about. Are we willing to take God at His word, or do we need to know all the details before we are obedient? Faith is seen when we trust in the Lord without all the answers. Abraham trusted in the Lord and we see God answering in a mighty way.

¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” ¹² Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” ¹³ Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

Genesis 22:11–14 CSB

The Lord stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and provided the needed sacrifice for the moment. It just so happened that in that exact moment and place, there was a ram caught in the thicket.

It is through this part of the story that God gives us an additional piece of the puzzle. God will provide the needed sacrifice at the right time.

This shows us that the promised Messiah would be one that would be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. This moment on the mountaintop with Abraham was pointing ahead to Calvary where Jesus would lay down His life as a sacrifice for you and me.

²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:21 CSB

Conclusion

The genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel is so much more than a list of names. It is a reminder that God keeps His word.

The promise made to Abraham to bless the entire world through him would come at the finished work of Jesus Christ. Abraham may not have seen it with his own eyes here on earth, but he trusted that the Lord would keep His word.

We celebrate this season because God kept His word then, and He continues to keep it today.

¹¹ For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, ¹² since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. ¹³ For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:11–13 CSB

Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ? He has promised that any person who does so will not be put to shame but experience the salvation the Lord offers. That promise is the greatest gift that one could receive this season.

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God Promises A Savior

There is something special about this time of the year. There is a different feel in the air that is not just the colder temperatures. You can see the lights and decorations. One thing about this time of year is that it brings out a playlist of songs that are just special.

The classic Christmas carol, O Holy Night, has the memorable line: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” While those eight words seem so simple, they are so profound.

We live in a weary world. It seems everywhere we turn there are things going on that causes our hearts to ache and even make our souls yearn for hope.

During this season, we want to look at a series of messages we are calling The Thrill of Hope. As we move towards the celebration of Jesus’ first coming, we want to see through these messages how in Christ, all of the promises of God have come true.

In the New Testament, the word translated as “hope” is a Greek word that means “an expectation of hope,” and it appears about 87 times in the New Testament.

‌The Gospel is a message of hope

The message of the Gospel is one of expected hope, which comes through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We find the Gospel all throughout the New Testament, but the fullness of the Gospel starts back in the Garden of Eden.

The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” In order to see how the gospel is good news, we must first hear some bad news.

‌The Beginning

As the Bible opens up in Genesis 1 and 2, we see the story of Creation. In these two chapters, we see God creating everything in a matter of six days. Genesis 1 gives an overview of the Creation story, and Genesis 2 shares a little more detail about what the first humans did in their beginning days. It is a beautiful picture of all being right.

‌The Fall into Sin

In Genesis 3, we see a turn in the story of humanity.‌

¹ Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. ³ But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” ⁴ “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Genesis 3:1–7 CSB

Satan comes to Adam and Eve in the form of a serpent and tempts them to disobey God’s commands. Satan is very cunning. He sells this false truth that Adam and Eve could be like God and that God was actually holding out on them.

Satan still uses the same tactics today. He whispers to our minds untruths intended to get us to doubt God. He will try to twist God’s words and cause us to take a different path than what God intends for us. This is why it is important to study God’s Word for yourself and have an intimate and personal relationship with God.

Adam and Eve decide to listen to Satan rather than God and find out that what God had said is completely true. While they did not physically drop dead at that moment, a death did take place — spiritual death which would lead to physical death as well.

‌God brings judgment

In Genesis 3:8-24, we see the consequences of Adam and Eve’s decision. Some have viewed God’s actions and words here as harsh and even unkind, but the truth is that God had to do this. If God did not punish sin, then He would not be loving.

¹⁵ Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

James 1:15 CSB

The only thing sin can bring about in a person’s life is death. Some sins may feel good in the moment, but each sin sets a person on the path to destruction and separation from God.

We see this played out in Genesis 3 as God comes to fellowship with Adam and Eve, they are hiding. The once cherished time of walking and communicating with God is now replaced with shame, guilt, and fear.

While we may read this and shake our heads, we need to realize that this sin that Adam and Eve are plagued with has been passed down to every human being since.

²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:23 CSB

We are not so different from Adam and Eve. There are points in each of our lives where we have disobeyed God’s commands and gone our own way. Just as God pronounced judgment on Adam and Eve, so God pronounces judgment on all who sin.

We sometimes wonder how our world has gotten into the shape that it is in. The reason is that sin has entered into our world through us. It plagues everything it touches.

‌The First Glimpse of Hope

‌What is interesting to me is that in the midst of God pronouncing judgment on Adam and Eve’s sin, He doesn’t stop there. In the midst of judgment, God offers a glimpse of hope.

As God lays out judgment upon the serpent (Satan), He shares these words…

¹⁵ I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

​Genesis 3:15 CSB

In the midst of judgment, God offers hope to the hopeless. Adam and Eve (just like us) were helpless to do anything about their own situation. They had sinned against God and could not restore what was lost, but God is One who can do the impossible.

In Genesis 3:15, God promises a deliverer that would fix the problem that sin has brought about. This deliverer would come through the life of a person who came to be known as the Messiah. This Messiah would come from a woman (be born and live) and would pay the price for sins. Any person who would place their faith in this Messiah and follow Him would be forgiven of their sins and gain a restored relationship with God for all eternity — like Adam and Eve had before they fell to sin.

‌The Anticipation of the Messiah

‌Since the day God spoke the words of Genesis 3:15, the world has been looking for that Messiah. You can see throughout the rest of the Old Testament how the Jewish people longed for this Messiah to come and bring deliverance.

We are not so different from those in the Old Testament. Think about this: how many books/movies have been made that basically have the plot of a Chosen One coming and bringing deliverance?

• Star Wars

• Harry Potter

• Kung Fu Panda

• Lord of the Rings

There is something within all human beings that craves a deliverer to come and rescue us from the mess we find ourselves in. While there have been many who have written books and made movies about it, each one fails to live up to the reality of what God has put in place.

God promised that He would send a Messiah, and that is why we are celebrating this season today. If you fast-forward from the Garden of Eden to the New Testament, we find that our wait for the Messiah has come to an end.

We read in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel, that a young virgin girl who was about to get married was miraculously pregnant with the promised Messiah. God did not want this to be misunderstood, so He sent this message to Joseph:

²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:21 CSB

When Jesus came into this world, the promised Messiah that God said would come in Genesis 3 had arrived. He was not the creation of some producer or storyteller. He was “God with us.”

‌Conclusion‌

The God of the Bible is a faithful and true God. When He says something will happen, you can count on it. It may not happen in the exact time frame that you want, but it will come about just as He said it would.

Even when God had to pronounce judgment on sin, He provided hope that no one else could or even would. God didn’t have to provide the wonderful gift of forgiveness and restoration to us. We walked away from Him. I am so thankful that He chose out of His gracious love to reach out to those of us who were hopeless and give us hope.

This hope is a precious gift that comes to us through Jesus Christ. It is graciously offered to all, but it only truly belongs to those who receive it. We do that by confessing and turning from our sin and trusting in the finished work of Jesus on our behalf. I would encourage you to receive that gift if you never have. It is the greatest gift ever given — the only gift that truly brings the thrill of hope to our lives.

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