Even though there is no command in the New Testament to celebrate Christmas, we happily join with millions of Christians around the world in celebrating the birth of our Savior – “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” The familiar carol also reminds us that, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
But what hope was bound up in Jesus’ birth that starry night? Our hope is founded in two facts 1) Jesus (God himself) clothed himself in humanity and came to save us and 2) the empty tomb of Jesus assures us of the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice and our own eternal life. Hope of the unseen and the not yet of God is always anchored in a faith based in the veracity of God.
Hebrews 6:17–20 (ESV)
17So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
18so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
20where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
At first glance, this verse doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Christmas but in its context, these verses are an encouragement to first-century Jewish believers and us to hold on to our faith in Christ because of the promises of a faithful God. The writer of Hebrews traces those promises back thousands of years ago to a man named Abraham who met God while he was a pagan businessman in Ur of the Chaldees. This meeting with God radically changed his life, altered the course of human history and revealed God’s grand redemptive plan for humanity. God promised to give Abraham a land of his own, he promised him a whole nation of descendants even though Abraham and Sarah had no children and were old. And even more incredibly, God promised that through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). From this beyond belief promise came the nation of Israel and (2000 years later) the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate “seed of Abraham.”
The “two unchangeable things” of verse 18 are the promise of God and the oath of God. In order to help Abraham (and us!) believe in a God we have not seen, God first gives a promise and then he swears by himself that he will keep his promise. When we are tempted or discouraged or afraid or when we feel backed into a corner or when we want to give up, when circumstances overwhelm us, when our loved ones encounter hard times, or when our friends turn against us, we can remember God’s promise and God’s oath, and in those “two unchangeable things” we have hope that gives us great encouragement. A hope that is an anchor for our soul, in the midst of trial and difficulty, that is founded in the character and faithfulness of our all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God. Love came down for YOU!
0 Comments