A description of the course that explains what you will learn and how it will help you grow closer to Jesus
4 lessons
4 lessons
4 lessons
God was faithful to send Jesus—we can trust him for his return
I'll never forget the year my godmother promised to take me shopping for my birthday. I waited eagerly on the couch by the window for hours—but she forgot her promise and never arrived.
Have you ever felt that God is like my godmother?
Have you ever been let down by unfulfilled promises?
God made a promise to Adam and Eve that their offspring would defeat humanity's greatest enemy (Genesis 3:15). So repeatedly, the Israelites wondered if a particular king or prophet was the promised Messiah. But these leaders kept falling short.
For centuries, they wondered if God had forgotten them. The Psalmist directly asks him, "Why have you forgotten me?" (see Psalm 42:9).
With so many delays, is it any surprise that some Israelites lost hope? Yet isn't it also a testimony to God's faithful love that so many continued to trust God?
But then Jesus came. And the early Christians noticed that God had fulfilled his promise to Adam and Eve! We often skip over the genealogies, but this is where Luke confirms that Jesus is the promised offspring of Adam and Eve (Luke 3:38)! Another important passage is Hebrews 2:14, where the author states that Jesus' death destroyed the devil.
Yet, as we will repeatedly see, Advent is about both the first and the second coming of Jesus. In Romans 16:20, Paul assures us that God will soon finish the work: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."
My definition of "soon" and God's definition of soon aren't always aligned. For the Lord, a thousand years is like a day, but that's not how I experience time (2 Peter 3:8)!
The first gift of Advent is the gift of hope.
God was faithful to send Jesus. This Advent, as we reflect on Christ's first coming, may we wait with hope for his return!
Genesis 3:15
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.
Reflect on a time when you had to wait for something important in your life. How did that experience shape your understanding of hope and patience?
When have you felt like God was slow in fulfilling His promises? What helped sustain your hope?
How does the fulfillment of God's promise to Adam and Eve give you hope?
Start a "Hope Journal" this Advent season. Each day, write down one promise of God that you are holding onto. Reflect on how this promise brings hope, peace, joy, or love into your life.
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