Pastor Kyle continued last Sunday in our church’s Advent Sermon series, stating that there is no doubt that we are living in uncertain times. Joseph and Mary also lived in uncertain times, but trusted in God with a sure hope.
Luke 2:22-38 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Joseph and Mary dedicated Jesus to God and gave the offering allotted by the Mosaic Law. The King of Kings was born into a humble and obedient family. A hope-filled life has a trademark of daily obedience to God as a way of life. In Exodus 13:1-2, the Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” Exodus 13:11-12 confirms, “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. God has always, and shall always, want to be the first and requires the best from every one of us. We do not give to God out of what is left after using what we receive for ourselves first. We are to give the first and the best out of our lives.
Even though it is something that we have to do for the Lord, it is really something that we get to do for the Lord in worshipping God in this unique way. That is dedication to God. Our heavenly Father rewards us for our obedience and sacrifices, more than we’ll ever understand. Obedience to God is the only way to find lasting hope in this life, no matter how difficult the sacrifice might feel at the time. Obedience and hope are inseparable. The very best that this world has to offer is a fleeting glimpse of hope that fails away quickly. Obedience is a willing response of the heart, where we want what God the Father wants for us, because we know and trust that He loves us and that his heart for us is truly good.
Once we know what obedience is in certain situations, then we have two choices. (1) we can submit to it, or (2) we can rebel and go the other way. There is no middle ground when it comes to obedience. If we choose to go our own way, we are deciding to build our lives on what Jesus called “shifting sand”, rather than on the “solid rock” of obedient faith that we so desperately need. Obedience meets that God wants to be first in absolutely everything in our lives. A hope-filled life looks expectantly for those divine substitutions, which foreshadow that God provided a substitute for our sins at the Cross, His one and only begotten Son Jesus.
Colossians 1:15 explains that, He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. The sacrifice that Joseph and Mary where making by dedicating their first born [Jesus], was a way of foreshadowing that Jesus was really God’s firstborn over all creation who would be the perfect substitute to redeem the world by standing in the place of our sins so that we could then stand in the presence of the heavenly Father. God wants to be first and obedience defines our life. The practical reality of putting God first means making daily decisions of obedience that are often sacrificial to pave the way for lasting hope. This daily obedience is what we saw in Jesus’ parents, what we saw in Jesus and what leads to lasting hope today.
Let's continue PAstor Kyle message of "Hope" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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