Christmas: Hope for All

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Christmas: hope for all—a hope that arrived in the midst of the Curse. Six thousand years ago, when it seemed all hope for mankind was lost, God foretold His plan. Through the seed of a woman, He would send hope.

Hundreds of years later, through the pen of the prophet, Isaiah, came another promise of the hope of Christmas. He wrote, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

Christmas Hope is Jesus

Seven hundred years later, when the time was right, hope arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. “‘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).’” (Matthew 1:21-23)

In the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ lies all the hope we need for any trouble, any loss, any struggle. Jesus is God come to earth in human form, that we might know there is never a reason for despair. “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body …” (Colossians 2:9). We were dead because of sin, but our loving Father made us alive in Jesus Christ. He nailed the debt of our sin to the cross, and He, Himself, paid the debt we were powerless to pay. When He did, all the powers of sin and darkness were destroyed through Jesus’ victory when He rose from the grave.

Christmas Hope is for Everyone

Christmas hope is available to every person who has ever lived. Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So come, come to this place of hope, receive the blessings of the Christ Child.

Long ago, in a stable dark,

A little babe was born,

And hope came to this darkened world

That blessed Christmas morn.

From Adam’s time, the curse came down,

And all creation groaned.

A God-shaped void in all men’s hearts

And for his soul, no home.

God’s Promise of Hope

Through Adam’s choice, God ordained a time

That Satan’s wiles would rule…

To allow for man, himself, to see

Satan’s scheme as dark and cruel.

Through sin, man’s heart was altered,

He could not see his pain

As coming from his own wrong choice…

On God, he placed the blame.

God promised, the day He gave the curse

That He someday would redeem…

His word proclaimed His creation He’d save

Through the birth of His Son—the King.

God’s Promise Kept

Down through the ages, man went his way

Though God’s word was strong and clear…

His grace extended to all who chose

In His power and name to fear.

Then one night in a stable,

Dark and dirty as heart’s full of sin…

A tiny child was born to a world

That offered no more room than the inn.

The angels sang … The shepherds kneeled …

The wisemen traveled far …

All to see a child whose destiny

Was a Cross of pain and scars.

Man’s Need

And today, men still are puzzled…

“Why would I, a Savior, need?”

Their hearts are dark —their minds are dim …

They were weaned on Satan’s creed.

In the quiet of a thoughtful moment

When, unwilling, we admit our need—

We know the relationship’s broken,

His offer, we know, we must heed.

His return is quickly approaching—

Long prophesied, more than His birth—

The Hope of the Ages—to a world forlorn—

He is God—His judgment is sure.

The Savior, to know all our trials,

As a baby, chose to be born…

So come on your knees to the stable—

To the hope of that first Christmas morn!

Christmas Hope for You and Me

Whatever our need, our weakness, our sin, the answer is the same. Christmas hope is there for us. All we need to do is reach out to Jesus, accept that He is who He says He is, call on His name, receive Him as Savior and Lord, and trust Him for what He says He will do.