After a year fraught with chaos, disappointment, loss, and socio-political strife, an abiding expectation of good is not the default emotional or mental state. Graduations were canceled, traveling postponed, weddings delayed, jobs lost, and people isolated from one another. For many, hope was shattered as normal life was lessened to a shadow of itself. At the end of 2020 and the beginning of the Advent season, sons and daughters of God are perfectly positioned to display what He does best—give lasting hope to humans in the midst of discouraging situations.
In and of itself, hope is a faith-filled expectation. It is not merely a passing excitement about something that might occur. Hope is a deeply rooted, joyous expectation for the future and it is not to be tethered to our ability to understand, expect, or master what is to come, but rather to be connected to the God in whom we trust. God is not simply at the genesis of human history, watching from a distance, but has joined Himself to it and invited us, sons and daughters, into the glorious unfolding of His story. With Advent, we remember and place ourselves once again into the larger narrative that speaks the light of hope into the darkest days.
In the beginning, God walked in the garden with man and woman, communing with those He created. Adam and Eve heard His footfall and His voice. However, deception crept in as Satan lied to Eve, whispering that God was withholding something good from them. They believed this lie and rebelled against God. As a result of their disobedience, the inheritance for humanity should have been despair, yet God gives reason for hope. He promises one who would crush Satan (Gen. 3:15).
Here, God begins to establish a Messianic hope for humanity to be restored to full communion with Him and to be delivered from Satan’s reign. God draws near to the lowly, humbles the proud, and delights in those who hear His voice and obey in faithful expectation of His goodness, despite their personal doubts and disappointments.
Married for many years without children, Abraham and Sarah heeded the voice of the Lord and left their homeland. They believed in God’s promise to create a nation from them by whom all other nations would be blessed. God chose Moses, a Jew disowned by his own people for being raised in Pharaoh’s house, to lead the Israelites out of captivity. Generations later God chose David, an unlikely shepherd boy, to be king over Israel-- and promised him an heir who will sit upon the throne forever.
These are some of the many unlikely people that God chose to include in the story of how humanity’s hope was fulfilled. With the coming of Jesus Christ, the sum of the law and the prophets were accomplished. He lived holy before God and in listening to the Spirit affected all that was spoken concerning His first coming. In remembering the story of God’s faithfulness during Advent, we take hope in two ways.
First, Jesus has come already, and He is coming again. The testimony of Jesus is called the spirit of prophecy because His character and nature are one. His words, actions, and promises reveal Him in complete unity. We can trust that He is coming again to redeem and reign, because He has already come and offered new life, breaking the world of Satan’s reign. Second, our hopelessness and disappointment never disqualify us from being a part of God’s story. No matter how 2020 has affected our hope, God still desires to bring us into His story and to reveal His glory in every situation.
And so it is not in spite of the world’s evils that we are able to hope but rather because of what God has done that we do hope and thus sing—
“Come, thou long-expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.”
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Writer Bio:
Natalia Dahlgren is a writer, barista, and aspiring grad student. She is a recent alumna of Moody Bible Institute, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Theology. In her free time, Natalia is an adrenaline junkie who enjoys outdoor sports of all kinds and exploring with friends.
Photo by Tatiana on Pexels.