Sermon Series Blog: Hope For the World Pt.1
Hope for the World: Hope Begins Before the Beginning
Christmas Didn’t Create Hope — It Revealed It
Around church life, Christmas is often called the season of hope. And while that’s true, it’s easy to subtly believe that hope exists because of Christmas. Scripture tells a deeper story.
Christmas didn’t create hope — it revealed it.
Before shepherds heard angels sing, before Mary said yes, before Joseph dreamed, before a star appeared in the sky, hope already existed. Hope was not born in Bethlehem; hope existed in the heart of God before the world began. The Gospel of John pulls back the curtain and takes us behind the scenes of the Christmas story, anchoring hope not in sentiment, but in eternity.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… Through him all things were made.” (John 1:1–3)
Christmas is not the origin of hope — it is the moment eternal hope stepped into time.
Hope Begins in Eternity
John intentionally echoes Genesis. Before creation, before light, before life itself — the Word already was. Jesus didn’t begin in Matthew 1; He simply arrived there. The angel’s announcement to Mary wasn’t the start of Jesus’ existence, but the unveiling of the eternal Son on earth.
Think of an architect designing a building. Long before a single brick is laid, the blueprint is complete. Every load is calculated. Every exit is planned. What looks like chaos on the construction site is actually order unfolding according to design.
Bethlehem is the visible structure — but the blueprint of redemption was drawn in eternity.
Before Adam took his first breath, Jesus already existed. Before sin broke the world, the plan to save it was already in place. The manger wasn’t the beginning; it was the reveal.
So when life feels messy, delayed, or confusing, remember this: what you see last, God planned first. Hope existed before you did.
Hope Enters Our Story with Purpose
Hope is not a feeling. Feelings rise and fall. Hope is not an idea. Ideas can inspire, but they cannot save.
Hope came down as a Person.
Jesus Christ — fully God and fully man — stepped into human history. Because hope has a name, our hope is alive, unshakable, and personal. We don’t just hold onto hope; hope holds onto us.
Joseph’s story reminds us that hope often arrives as an interruption. His quiet plans were disrupted by confusion and misunderstanding, yet when God spoke, Joseph obeyed. Scripture says simply, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded.”
God’s purpose is often bigger than our plans, and hope frequently shows up where we didn’t expect it.
Hope Creates, Redeems, and Sends
Jesus is not only the Savior — He is the Creator. The One who spoke galaxies into existence stepped into creation to restore it from the inside out. The hands that formed Adam were wrapped in swaddling cloths. The voice that said, “Let there be light,” cried in a manger.
Christmas is the Creator entering creation to redeem it.
And redemption never stops with us. The shepherds show us that God sends ordinary people with extraordinary news. They didn’t have credentials or answers — they had an encounter. And they went and told others what they had seen.
Hope came near so that hope could go out.
Living the Message of Hope
Christmas is not primarily nostalgia, tradition, or emotion. It is eternity stepping into time.
This week, ask yourself:
Where am I waiting to see hope instead of trusting the God who planned it?
Where has God interrupted my plans — and how am I responding?
Who can I intentionally bring hope to?
If hope has come to you, it is meant to flow through you — into homes, workplaces, relationships, and a broken world.
Jesus is not just the beginning of the Christmas story. He is the beginning of creation, redemption, and your hope.
