An Unashamed Hope

[0:00] Let's pray together. Father God, Creator of all things, Giver of all that is good, Faithful to all your promises, Truly we praise you this Christmas, And we praise your Son Jesus, Our Saviour and King.

[0:23] As we sit under your word now, Please, by your Holy Spirit, give us understanding That we might better know your love and your peace, And better hope in your promises.

[0:37] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I wonder whether you remember, A few years back now, Malaysia had this program called The Angkasawan Program.

[0:52] I was there, a program to send The First Malaysian Astronaut into Space. Applications were open to all Malaysians, So I applied.

[1:07] Just to try it out. But then, I received an email To attend a fitness test. So I went.

[1:20] One test required me to run Three and a half kilometers In under 20 minutes. And I actually passed that test.

[1:33] By then, my hopes were going up. I was thinking, Wow! I have this chance To become an astronaut. A chance to go to space.

[1:47] But in the end, It was not to be. My astronaut hopes Were too good to be true. Too far-fetched. My hopes also had no basis.

[2:01] I was too thin. And I was not good-looking enough To be an astronaut. And after those early hopes, After sharing those early hopes With my friends, Now I feel a bit ashamed.

[2:18] A bit malua. A bit paise, you know. Our hopes can disappoint us, Isn't it? Even if it is not too far-fetched.

[2:30] Even if we have good reason To hope, Some hopes can still disappoint. Our hopes of getting married, But ended up being single.

[2:43] Our hopes of having Your grown-up children near you, But they don't visit often. Our hopes of having your career, Of having a career that you enjoy, But it turns out to be unfulfilling.

[2:59] Our hopes can disappoint. But there is one hope. Is there one hope that will never disappoint us?

[3:12] Is there a hope for a future That almost seems too good to be true? And yet, It is very sure. It has such a secure basis.

[3:22] Is there a hope that we can be 110% sure? Is there a hope That can never put us to shame?

[3:34] And we can rejoice and boast in it? Well, the Bible's big answer is a big yes. Are there risks such a hope?

[3:45] An unashamed hope That will never disappoint. It's a hope from God Through Christ, Through Jesus Christ, Whom we celebrate this Christmas.

[3:56] And as we reflect on this passage, Not only will we be sure, So sure of this future hope, We will even rejoice That we have it today.

[4:10] So let's begin With having peace And boasting hope, Which is the first point In your outlines. But also look with me At verses 1 and 2 Of Romans chapter 5.

[4:24] Verses 1 and 2, There it says, Therefore, Since we have been justified Through faith, We have peace with God Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Through whom we have also Gained access by faith Into this grace In which we now stand.

[4:46] And we boast in the hope Of the glory of God. The first few words, Since we have been justified Through faith, These words give us a hint Of what's come before, Don't they?

[5:03] And the section before, Humanity's biggest problem Is summarized in chapter 3, Verse 23. There it says, All have sinned And fall short Of the glory of God.

[5:19] And that means No one is righteous Before him. Any and all sin Makes us fall short. Any and all sin Deserves God's Righteous anger And punishment.

[5:33] But the good news is, God graciously Gives us his righteousness. He justifies Or declares righteous All who believe In his son Jesus Christ.

[5:50] In Romans chapter 3, Verse 22 and 24, There it says, This righteousness Is given through faith In Christ Jesus To all who believe.

[6:01] And all are justified Freely by his grace. Through the redemption That came by Christ Jesus. So, Our believers are presently Now justified, Declared right before God Through faith in Jesus, Through putting their trust in him.

[6:23] And now can you imagine The unimaginable. Here in God's courtroom, God declines God declared the guilty To be not guilty.

[6:36] He declared the unrighteous To be righteous. And not because He doesn't care about Justice and righteousness, But because With complete justice, Jesus his son Has paid the price.

[6:54] The price for redemption. The price for freedom Of believers. And as a result Of that justification, Paul the author Begins to Tell us the benefits Of being justified.

[7:11] What are the benefits Of being justified? In chapter 5, Verse 1, It says, Therefore, We have been justified Through faith. Since we have been Justified through faith, We have peace with God Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[7:27] So, The first benefit Of being justified Is having peace With God. Is being reconciled to him.

[7:40] Made friends with him. Are no longer at war, But at peace. A gracious standing with God.

[7:50] That's the first benefit. Peace with God. The second benefit Of being justified Is in verse 2.

[8:03] Having the hope Of the glory of God. A hope That we can boast in. But what is this hope Of God's glory?

[8:15] What does it mean? Well, In its larger context, And in this context, This hope means That it's the future hope. The hope of being Like God In his glory.

[8:31] The hope of being Like God In his glory. It's the hope Of no longer Falling short Of that glory. It's the hope Of no longer sinning.

[8:42] But perfect In every moral sense. Being all That God Wants us to be. Now, Can you imagine this?

[8:56] That one day, Everything you do Pleases God. Everything you think In your private thoughts. Everything you say To another person.

[9:08] Everything you do. Is exactly How God Would have acted. And no more Angry outbursts. And no more Selfish desires.

[9:21] And no more Impure thoughts. Can you imagine that? Well, This is what being Like God In his glory.

[9:32] What being glorified Is like. This Is our Future benefit. Our Future hope. If we are Justified in Christ.

[9:46] And even if that hope Seems distant. Even if things Don't look so good Now. Even if we suffer Or struggle In our godliness Now.

[9:59] It doesn't Stop us From rejoicing In that hope. And that's what we see In verses 3 and 4. In verses 3 and 4. It says that Not only so But we also Glory in our Sufferings.

[10:14] Because we know That suffering Produces Perseverance. Perseverance Character And character Hope. So we Can even Glory in our Sufferings.

[10:29] Boat in our Sufferings. Rejoice in our Sufferings. It's all the Same word In the Original. Present sufferings Shouldn't cause us To doubt the Future.

[10:42] No. Present sufferings Actually encourages Our hope. Because suffering Produces Perseverance Or endurance. Perseverance Produces Godly Character A kind of Progress In godliness.

[11:00] And character Produces Hope. Strengthens Our hope Of being Like God In glory. The benefit Of being Justified Is having Peace And having The hope Of glory That we Can boast In.

[11:22] But is This hope Too good To be True? Is this Like my Astronaut Hopes That ended Up in Shame? Considering That we Are Considering The type Of people That we Are now How far We are From Perfection Is this Hope For perfect Godliness Too far Fetched?

[11:45] At what Basis Do we Have To be So hopeful To even Boast In? Well we Know this Hope Won't End In shame Because of Two big Reasons First Because God Loves Us And Second Because God Reconciled The second Point In your Outlines Our hope Is an Unashamed Hope Because God Loves Us In Christ How do We know God Loves Us?

[12:23] He Pours Out Into He Pours It Out Into Our Hearts So That We Feel It Deeply Now Look With Me At Verse 5 Verse 5 And Hope Does Not Put Us To Shame Because God Because God's Love Has Been Poured Out Into Our Hearts Through The Holy Spirit Who Has Been Given To Us Do You See Here God Doesn't Just Give A Little Bit But He Pours Out His Love Into Our Hearts And He Does It Through His Holy Spirit Whom He Has Given Us Who Lives In Us So We Know God Loves Us Because He Pours That Feeling Into Our Hearts But We Also Know God's Love Because

[13:24] He Demonstrates It Because He Shows It Look Now At Verses 6 To 8 Starting From Verse 6 You See At Just The Right Time When We Were Still Powerless Christ Died For The Ungodly Very Rarely Will Anyone Die For A Righteous Person Though For A Good Person Someone Might Possibly Dare To Die But God Demonstrates His Own Love For Us In This While We Were Still Sinners Christ Died For Us Here's A Sense Of How Far God Loves Goes To Reach Us Isn't It It's Quite Possible To Sacrifice Your Own Life For Someone Who Has Been Good To You Whether It's Your Loving Spouse Or Your Parents Whether It's Someone Who Has Sacrificed A Lot For You It's

[14:25] Quite Possible That You Are Quite Willing To Sacrifice Your Life For Them But Would You Give Up Your Own Life For Someone Who Has Done So Much That Is Evil Would You Sacrifice Your Life For Someone Who Has Opposed You All Their Life Would You Die For Your Enemy Logically Speaking I Wouldn't Maybe You Might I Wouldn't I My Guess Is That You Probably Won't Too But Look How Far God's Love Goes At Verse Six At God's Appointed Time While We Were Spiritually Powerless And Ungodly Christ Died For Us Verse Eight To Demonstrate God's Great Love While We Were Still Sinners Christ His Son Died For Us

[15:25] Our Friends Here Is Concrete Proof To Accompany The Feeling In Our Hearts That God Deeply Loves Us Beyond All Measure Beyond Comprehension On One Occasion When I Was A Teenager In One Of The Lowest Points In Our Relationship With My Mom I Said Some Very Very Hurtful Words To My Mother That Night I Had A I Had Said After I Had Said Those Hurtful Words I Had A Fever And I Went To Bed Early About About Midnight I Was Woken Up From My Sleep And It Was My Mom She Handed Me A Mug And Quietly Said Drink This

[16:25] It Was Dark It Was It Was I Drank It I Knew It Was Chinese Ginseng Tea Made With Expensive Herbal Roots I Was Bitter But It Would Make Me Well Despite What I Had Said To My Mom Despite The Hurt That She Felt From Me She Set Aside Her Feelings Took Time To Boil Those Ginseng Roots And Quietly Said Drink This That's Love Isn't It The Deep Love Of My Mom For A Rebellious Son Like Me Our God's Love Is Much

[17:25] Much Greater Greater Is The Love Of Our God For Rebellious Sinners Like Us That's What He Demonstrated When He Sent Jesus To Die For Us 2000 Years Ago On The Cross As His Son Willingly Led Himself To Be Shamed As Jesus Suffered And Breathed His Last God Is Saying Look That's How Much I Love You Even Though You Are Sinners That's How Much I Love You And If God Love You This Much If God Loves You That Much Will He Not Fulfill A Hope That He's Given You Will He Not Make You Like Him In Glory Yes He Will Make You Like Him He

[18:25] Will Fulfill This Hope He Won't Put You To Shame So You Can Be Sure Of Your Future Glory Even Though Presently It's Hard To See You Can Be Confident Of Perfect Godliness Even Though It's Hard Now To Kick Your Panography Habit Even Though It's Hard Now Not To Lose Your Temper You Can Be Confident Of Perfect Godliness That's To Come You Can Rejoice In Your Future Hope Sing And Long For The Glory That Will Be Yours No Matter How Discouraging Life Is Right Now Our Hope Of Glory Is Unashamed God Will Not Let Us Down Because He Loves Us Deeply Through His Son Jesus This

[19:29] Hope Won't End In Shame Because God Loves Us And This Hope Will Not End In Shame Also Because God Has Reconciled Us God Has Reconciled Us In Christ That's The Last Point In Your Outlines Unashamed Hope Because God Reconciled Us In Christ Look Now With Me At Verses 9 And 10 Verse 9 Since We Have Now Been Justified By His Blood How Much More Shall We Be Saved From God's Wrath Through Him For If While We Were God's Enemies We Were Reconciled To Him Through The Death Of His Son How Much More Having Been Reconciled Shall We Be Saved Through His Life There's A sense Of Sureness Here Isn't It A sense Of Certainty That If God Has Done The

[20:29] More Difficult Thing Now He Will Definitely Do The Easier Thing In Future God Has Done The More Difficult He Will Do The Easier In Future Look With Me At The Details In Verse 9 We Have Been Justified We Have Been Declared Righteous By The Precious Blood Of Jesus Can You Imagine The Unimaginable Here Back Again In God's Court Room God Declares You The Unrighteous To Be Righteous With Complete Justice Jesus Paid The Price To Redeem You So In Future On Judgment Day How Much More Shall We Be Saved From His Wrath Saved From His Righteous Anger For Sin Since God Has Done The More Difficult Thing He Has Declared Us Righteous Then

[21:29] He Will Definitely Do The Sorry If God Has Done The More Difficult Thing Declared Us Righteous He Will Definitely Do The Easier Thing He Will Save Us From His Anger As Very Similar In Verse 10 God Has Reconciled Us His Enemies To Himself He Has Brought Us Into Peaceful Relationship With Him Again Through His Son Through His Son's Death And So Can You Imagine The Unimaginable In A Personal Relationship With You Though You Were His Enemy He Gave You His Son To Make Peace With You To Have A Relationship With You To Make You His Friend So In Future On Judgment Day How Much More Shall We Be Saved Through His Son's Life Through His Resurrection

[22:30] Again If God Has Done The More Difficult Thing Reconciling Us Through The Death Of His Son Then He Will Do The Easier Thing Definitely He Will Save Us Through His Life The Future Hope Is Now The Hope Of Salvation And The Christ Of Christmas Is Crucial For That Hope Isn't It Jesus Coming Both As God And Man His Sinless Life On Earth His Sacrificial Death On The Cross His Glorious Resurrection All Of These They Secure Our Hope Hope So Our Hope Of Salvation Is A Secure Hope A Sure Hope A Future With Certainty An Outcome That We Can Be Confident In On A Day Of Final Judgment So

[23:32] While We Boast In Hope Of God's Glory While Gloring In Suffering That Leads To Hope We Can Also Boast In God Himself The God Who Has Reconciled Us To Christ Our Last Verse Verse 11 Not Only Is This So But We Also Boast In God Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Through Whom We Have Received We Have Now Received Reconciliation We Boast In God Himself Who Has Reconciled Us To Christ After Two And A Half Months Of Conflict Between Israel And Hamas Can You See Any Peace In Sight Probably

[24:32] Not Peace Is Nowhere In Sight This Is Their Fifth War Against One Another Filled With Oppression And Revenge Violence And Kidnappings Bombings And Innocent Deaths And So They Have Never Been Further Away From The Hope Of Peaceful Existence There Is No Hope In Sight For A Peaceful Reconciliation You Can't See On The Horizon They Are Nowhere Near That They Have Never Been Further Away From Peace Together But Again Can You Imagine The Unimaginable That Something Would Bring About A Deep Lasting Peace Among The People There Can You Imagine Peace Between

[25:32] The Israelis And The Palestinians Can You Imagine A Peace That Can Never Be Broken No More Fear Of Violence No More Death Can You Imagine Something That Will Bring About This Peace That Is Forever Well If You Really Can Imagine Something That Will Bring About This Peace Then I Suspect It Would Be Very Similar To What God Has Done For Us In Christ What God Has Done For Us In Christ Has Brought About A Deep Long Lasting Peace Between Us And God A Peace That Can Never Be Broken What God Has Done For Us In Christ He Has Created A Peaceful Reconciliation That Saves Us From Judgment And We Never Have To Fear It That's A

[26:32] Certain Sure Hundred Percent Hundred And Ten Percent Hope Of Salvation So Can I Ask What Does It Mean For You Are You Afraid Of Life After Death Do You Fear The Day Of God's Judgment When All That You Have Done Will Be Evaluated Are You Scared That All Your Deeds Will Come Back To Haunt You Well If You Are A Believer In Jesus The Sure Hope Of Salvation Means You Don't Need To Be Afraid There Is Nothing To Fear Jesus Has Taken Your Punishment And God's Peace With You Is An Ever Lasting Peace Now This Doesn't Mean You Can Go On Sinning Deliberately As Though Nothing

[27:33] Will Ever Have Any Consequences God's Grace Doesn't Allow For Continuing In Sin But What It Does Mean Is That On The Day Of God's Judgment Nothing There Is Nothing That You Have To Fear Because For You It Will Be A Day Of Salvation A Day Of Hope Fulfilled Because God's Peace With You Through Christ Is With You He Has Reconciled You That Peace Is Everlasting It Ensures Into Life Forever Even Life After Death And There Is No Fear That Is Needed For God's Judgment It Will Be A Day Of Your Salvation And If You Are Here And If You Are Not A Believer In Jesus But You Really

[28:33] Want Salvation Not Punishment From God Then Let Me Urge You To Come And Put Your Trust In Jesus God's Son Come And Rely Upon His Sacrificial Death For You Don't Rely On Your Good Deeds Or Other Religions Those Things Will Not Bring About Peace With God Only Jesus Can So Please Can I Get You To Believe In Your Heart Today That God Loves You And That Jesus Alone Saves You And You Will Have This Sure Hope Of Salvation If You Do And You Will Have No Need To Fear God's Judgment That's To Come Now come, put your trust in Jesus to have this sure hope of salvation.

[29:33] Unlike my astronaut hopes, God has given us an unashamed hope through the Christ of Christmas. Because God pours out his love, he demonstrates it in Christ.

[29:48] Therefore, you can be sure that he will make you like him in his glory. He will make you perfect in godliness. So rejoice in this future hope.

[30:01] Sing of this glory that will be yours. And God's everlasting peace with you means, please don't fear his judgment day.

[30:13] If it is your day of salvation, God has declared you righteous. He has reconciled you because of Jesus. So how much more shall you be saved?

[30:28] Let's boast and rejoice in our God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, how surprising and gracious your love is for us.

[30:50] Because even while we were sinners, you demonstrated your love with Jesus' death for us.

[31:02] Even while we were your enemies, you poured out your love into our hearts. So not only do we have peace with you, our hope of salvation is secure.

[31:17] Our hope of glory is sure. Our hope will not be ashamed because of all that you've done for us in Christ. So please help us not to fear the day of judgment.

[31:33] Instead, help us to look forward to it, to look forward to it with hope, to look forward to the day of salvation in Christ and to the day of our glorious transformation.

[31:47] We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.