God of Hope (Isaiah 40:6-11)

God of Hope (Isaiah 40:6-11)

 

      6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

      7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.

      8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

 

Head)

 

 1. George Sweeting, Chancellor of Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute, once said, “Man can live about 40 days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.”

 

2. German philosopher Kierkegaard stated that “Despair is a sickness that leads to death.” Psychologist Erich Fromm described humans as “homo esperans” meaning, “the hoping man”.

 

3. Romans 15:13 says, “¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The Apostle Paul knew our God was one of hope and he trusted Him entirely. His faith planted hope into the hearts of Christians in Rome, who were enduring immense persecution at the time.

 

Our God is still a God of hope. We believe in God through such difficult realities. But what is our hope? What has God told us and the Israelites is our hope? We will find these answers through today’s scripture.

 

Body)

 

A) First, God’s words(message) is hope.

 

1. Today’s scripture comes from the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah was a great prophet who did great things for Israel. The Book of Isaiah is an incredibly important section of the Bible, mainly because it is an abridged version of the entire Bible itself: It has 66 chapters for each of the 66 books, with 39 chapters making up the first portion of the book (the Old Testament) and 27 chapters for the second part (New Testament).

 

Just like the Old Testament focuses on God’s judgment and righteousness while the New Testament speaks of God’s love and grace, the first part of Isaiah concentrates on Israel’s sins, the surrounding area’s sins, and the entire world’s sins, then proceeds to explain the consequence of these sins is judgment. But the second portion, like the New Testament, makes proclamations of hope; it tells us of the coming Messiah and the peace and grace he will bring. This is what makes the Book of Isaiah so amazing.

 

 2. Today’s scripture comes from the second “New Testament” part of the Bible, where we start to see the message of hope. Verses 6-8 compare Israel to grass. Grass and flowers wither, meaning Israel will one day wither and receive judgment and ultimately die. However, God’s word and message gives hope. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (verse 8)

 

What was Israel’s hope? What could possibly be their courage and hope when their nation had crumbled, they had become prisoners of war, and suffered through so much? God’s everlasting steadfast word was their hope and they held on to it.

 

What is our hope today? It should be God’s word. This has not changed since the time of the Israelites. God’s message should be our hope, our courage, and our salvation.

 

Since the word of God was their hope, the Israelites made to sure to keep His message with them always.  Moses tells the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 “⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

 

God’s message is our only constant hope; therefore, we must make conscious efforts to keep it close to our hearts and turn our ears to His message. Don't just hear His message, truly listen and understand it and then follow it. Do this and it will lead you to abundance, success, and victory. Hold tightly onto the word and remain steadfast.

 

B) Second, Jesus is our Hope.

 

Verse 10 in today’s scripture gives hope of coming messiah to the people who are being captured.

Verse 10 says “10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.”

After 700 years Jesus came to this world, just like Isaiah’s prediction. Verse 11 describes more details about why our Jesus is hope. “11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Jesus is our Shepheard who feeds us and guide us. That is what Jesus does He protects us and save us from danger. If this is not a hope what is hope?

 

When you see or country of people who are living without Jesus in their life, it is miserable. Like North Korea, Iran, China, Afghanistan, and India. Without Jesus, darkness takes over life.

 

Jesus is the only hope for our generation. He should be the one who rule everything and in the end he will lead us to the ultimate goodness and blessing.

 

C) Present with Jesus is hope.

 

Isaiah in today’s scripture sure gives his people hope by telling the good news of coming messiah. However, it did not happen right away. His people were starving, killed, and destroyed. Everything was chaos for them, however they had hope that their messiah will come and save them in the future. Not just back in the days, today is chaotic for us too. The world, America, and even individuals have all sorts of problem with them. However by living today we have hope for tomorrow.

 

We are God’s children, we are not His slave neither servant. He treats us like His children. Jesus once said in the bible “what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

 

  David in Psalms 103 also says “³ Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

⁴ Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

⁵ Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

King David knew what God gives to us is always the best ones. Eventhough when he walked through the valley of death, he knew God had some good intention behind it.  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” God would never let you down. He will fulfill all our needs, believe that and He will.

 

Conclusion)

 

 Psalms 146 says “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:” When we believe and look for our God who is our hope he will lead us and give us thousand blessings. We believe in God of hope. Our God is hope, Bible is hope, our present and future with Jesus is hope. I hope and pray that all of you to hold on to this scripture until the end of the year with hope in your mind our Lord Jesus.

 

 

* 060417, by Pastor; IK SUN AHN/ Translated by Sung Woo ahn