Advent Week 2: Hope That Fixes What’s Broken Isaiah 59 Advent: An Act of Advent calls us to stop, listen, and our lives around the promise of Jesus’ coming. Big question: Do you live in the expectation that ? 1. Hope Requires an Object “You’re always attaching the hope of our heart to ” —Paul David Tripp Hope depends on you look to in order to make life better. Common False Hopes: ● Money – Problem: We never have , and money can’t fix everything. ● People – Problem: People are broken and the sins of others make us . ● Self – Problem: We to ourselves more than anyone else; we ourselves more than anyone else. In order to have real hope, we have to be honest about our need for help to come from . 2. In Order to Have Real Hope, We Must Let Go of False Hope Isaiah 59:1–3 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. Isaiah 59:1-3 “your cut you off from God.” When we blame others, we keep looking for hope in all the places. Isaiah 59:9–11 – Israel confesses that their strategies have failed: ● “We look for light, but find only .” ● “Our sins are up before God.” When our hands are emptied, they are finally open to receive . Isaiah 59:9-11 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. Isaiah 59:9-11 3. Hope Fixes What’s Broken Isaiah 59:15–18 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. Isaiah 59:15-18 With no one able to save, God says: “So He stepped in to save them.” This is a prophecy about . What Jesus Will Do: ● Bring perfect . ● Crush all systems of . ● Answer the cry of every victim: “How long, O Lord?” This is part of the promise of . 4. Hope Through a Redeemer Isaiah 59:20 “The will come… to buy back those who turn from their sins.” To redeem means to back. Jesus takes the justice we deserve so that we can be and free. 5. Hope Through a New Heart Isaiah 59:21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord. Isaiah 59:21 God promises His will not leave us. We don’t just need forgiveness—we need new . Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27 Ezekiel 36:26–27: God gives us a new heart and a new . Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 Jeremiah 31:33: God writes His on our hearts. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit so we no longer have to live in . Conclusion Without hope no one can live. In Jesus we have a hope we can our lives on. Reflection Questions 1. Where Is Your Hope Right Now? What are you most looking forward to? What does that reveal about what you are hoping in? 2. Which False Hope Do You Most Easily Rely On? Money, people, achievement, control, comfort, self? What fruit has that produced in your life? 3. What Would It Look Like for You to “Let Go of False Hope”? Are there expectations, habits, or coping strategies God is calling you to release? 4. How Do You Respond to the Idea That “No One Has Lied to You More Than You Lie to Yourself”? Does it ring true? How might God be inviting you into honesty? 5. Where Do You Long to See God Step In With Justice or Mercy? How does Isaiah 59 shape your understanding of what Jesus will ultimately do? 6. Are You Walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit? Where do you sense God giving you a new heart, new desires, or new strength? 7. How Can You Live More Fully in Hope This Advent? What is one practical way you can reorient your life around Jesus’ coming?