HOPE FULFILLED Hope to cherish a desire with anticipation : to want something to happen or be true. someone or something on which hopes are centered Fulfilled Satisfied. Completed. Brought to realization. There are so many elements around the birth of Christ that we could talk about, about what the fulfillment of Hope, the longing satisfied through Christ, affects. God the Son, took on flesh, and was born into vulnerability, into seeming scandal, danger, dependence, into darkness, into dirt, in order to save us. To restore us back to the Father. To bring miraculous resolution to the unsolvable problem of sin. To fulfill our Hope with Himself. Today we will look at one word. This word first appears in scripture early on in genesis, and all throughout scripture are stories of people who experienced it, starting with Adam. It’s a word we still experience today, feel the effects of, and battle. It is, in fact, the first situation in all scripture that is not good. Genesis 2:18 [18] Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone;” (ESV) God didn’t create something sinful, or something broken. Adams' ALONEness is not sinful, but rather incomplete. Alone is a ‘not yet finished’ description. There’s something better yet. This verse talks about Eve’s creation, a helper suited for Adam. The heart of God for relationship, marriage, family, and gender, as well as a long list of implications find their start in this verse. But I see a thread even in Genesis 2:18 making its way to the manger. Alone-ness can be void of: Protection Accountability Wisdom Counsel Etc. Alone-ness can foster Fear Danger Depression Rogue thoughts Etc. Big Idea: Jesus meets us in our aloneness. Aloneness through the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Luke 1:26–38 [26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. [34] And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” [35] And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. [36] And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For nothing will be impossible with God.” She remembered the prophecy she had heard growing up. Isaiah 7:14 [14] Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (ESV) Her faith led her to respond. [38] And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (ESV) Matthew 1:18–25 [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. She was found to be with child. It was noticeable. You couldn’t miss it. [19] And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. [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.” [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). [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. (ESV) I imagine as every young woman did, she was excited for the thrill of marriage and to start a family, to have and build a home of her own, to take part in the first Mitzvah, first command, in the Torah: To be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with little image bearers. And she had a good man. But now, to Joseph, to her family, and to the community around her seeing her experience morning sickness and a growing belly, what she knew as holy and miraculous looked like a scandal to all around her. What feeling do you think she would have to battle? In Mary’s day, in the Jewish culture and law, the stakes for premarital sex, adultery, and pregnancy outside of marriage were high. Although she was pure and innocent before God of breaking the laws against sexual immorality, to the world around her she appeared guilty. There were consequences she could face. Deuteronomy 22:20–21 [20] But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, [21] then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (ESV) Jesus was born into the world in this manner in part to remind us that: In Christ, we are not alone. Christmas is about much more, but truly He came to combat aloneness. His very name says it. Emmanuel. God’s Gifts to Mary His Presence. Emmanuel in and with her. Mary had 9 months of a kicking and moving, heartburn inducing, growing reminder of God’s limitless power and plan of salvation. Every kick, every movement would draw her mind to remember His plan, stir up her faith in the one in her womb to battle fear and remind her she is not alone. His Word The angel met her not with an optimistic statement. But with truth. With hope saturated promise. The Lord is with you…You have found favor with God…Nothing is impossible with God. His People She had Joseph, faithful and just, committed to her and their Savior. Elizabeth. Her cousin who fully believed and rejoiced with her, and even hosted her for three months of her pregnancy. Just as with Mary, God gives us gifts that we need to combat aloneness. God Gives us Good Gifts His Presence His Word His People So, what do you do with a gift? Leave it wrapped? No, you open it. You use and steward it. We need Jesus, the One who walks in the door of our isolation chamber and sits with us, fulfilling our deepest hope. Isaiah 9:2 [2] The people who walked in darkness… those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness…(ESV) They have seen a great light, on them the light has shone. Ephesians 2:12–18 [12] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17] And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (ESV) Take Aways: Remain in His presence Remain in His word Remain with His people [The Gift of Gifts] A Puritan Poem O source of all good, What shall I render to you for the gift of gifts, your own dear Son? Herein is wonder of wonders: he came below to raise me above, was born like me that I might become like him. Herein is love; when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to himself. Herein is power; when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart, he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreate and the created. Herein is wisdom; when I was undone, with no will to return to him, and no intellect to devise recovery, he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost, as man to die my death, to shed satisfying blood on my behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for me! O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind! Let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore, my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father! Place me with ox, donkey, camel, goat, to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face, and in him account myself delivered from sin! Let me with Simeon clasp the newborn child to my heart, embrace him with undying faith, exulting that he is mine and I am his! In him you have given me so much that heaven can give no more.