We often think Hope means “to wish for, to expect, but without certainty of fulfillment; to desire very much, but with no real assurance of getting your desire.” But in the Bible, according to translation and usage, “Hope” means “a strong, confident expectation.”
The Hope Candle is also the Prophecy Candle. It is in Prophecy that Hope whispers, then shouts.
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Hope was born the day our first parents infected humanity with darkness. To the Serpent, God said, “I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. You will bite her child’s foot, but he will crush your head.” (Genesis 3:15 Easy-to-Read Version) Note the use of “will.” This will happen; God leaves no doubt.
And it did happen. Fulfillment began to happen at the first Christmas:
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 New Revised Standard Version
Jesus was wounded for us, yet He lives. But Satan’s wound will be fatal. His fate is sealed.
In another dark time, as Israel fell into chaos and exile, Isaiah prophesied, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 English Standard Version) Notice again “will” and “shall.” This, too, is Christmas. It happened. It is history.
Hope, then, is the confident expectation that what God has promised in the Word is true, has occurred, or will occur, in accordance with God’s sure Word.
The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity –
hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory –
because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, was born in a stable
so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.
J.I. Packer
This season,
keep your eyes and heart open for unexpected ways
that God will reveal to you the hope of Christmas.