Perhaps you, like so many, feel the hard-pressed nature of focusing on Advent this Christmas season. Events of this year have caused a refraction of attention — redirecting our thoughts to immediate, pressing circumstances. We find it difficult to be still and think back on the manger scene. It is a challenge to slow our thoughts and consider what that silent, holy night means for the events in front of us today.

This Advent season, may we strive, more than ever, to consider the Babe born in Bethlehem, and let us take time to find peace and rejoice in the three ways He came to deliver us.

 

Jesus Came to Deliver Us From Hopelessness

 

“And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:3-5.

There are so many promises of hope in this world which do not deliver — solutions that fall far short under our present-day challenges. But the hope swaddled up in baby form under Bethlehem’s night sky? This is a hope which does not disappoint. Jesus came to deliver us out of our despair, our fear, and our anxiety, and into a hope which cannot be shaken. Hebrews 11:1 assures us, “Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.”

Along with King David in Psalm 71:5 may we declare, “For You are my hope; Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth.” Let the Lord be our confidence this season — as the word  “confidence” suggests in the original Greek, He is our surety, refuge, security, and firm hope.

 

Jesus Came to Deliver Us From Hardships

 

While God’s Word makes it plain that we will suffer hardships here on earth, He does not leave us alone in those trials. We find His promise in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

When Christ came to earth, He stamped an end date on our trials. In Psalm 74:12 we read, “Yet God is my king from of old, who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.”

We will suffer many hard things during our time on earth, but this is not the end, as we read in Revelation 21:5, “’Behold, I am making all things new.’” As we place our trust in Jesus as our Savior, we gain an eternal perspective on our hardships, and an everlasting hope for a future free of them.

 

Jesus Came to Deliver Us From Hell

 

We don’t like to talk about hell, do we? And yet, our deliverance from hopelessness and hardships hinge on this final point. Jesus came to earth with this ultimate mission: to free us from an eternity spent apart from God, in hell.

Like a dying tree in the wilderness, marked by paint and waiting for its final cut-down and disposal, we also were marked for death. But God sent His only Son to earth to change our story. In Colossians 1:13 we read, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” When we repent of our sin, hand our failures to God, and ask His forgiveness, Jesus removes our mark of death and places His own mark on our soul. We see this in Ephesians 1:13, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise.”

 

An Advent Prayer of Deliverance

 

Dear Jesus,

This season I take time to step away from distractions. I yearn to focus my frenzied thoughts, to think back on Your arrival to earth and why exactly You came. Lord, I acknowledge You came for me — to deliver me from hopelessness, hardship, and hell. Lord, often my spirit returns to that hopeless state. Remind me time and again that You came to free me from despair. Revive in me an assurance of Your steadfast hope. I realize while I’m still on earth that I will face many trials, but I also acknowledge that You came to be with me and walk me through each difficult day. I rejoice in the day to come when I will fully experience the deliverance You give from hardship. Lord, I know neither hope nor deliverance is possible without Your life being given for my own. That’s why I look back to the manger today. You came to free me from death’s grip. You came to take my punishment. I repent, Lord, of my wrong ways. I trust You to align my heart more and more with Yours, to shape me by Your grace. And Lord I eagerly anticipate the day I will enter eternity with You, and realize the full extent of why You came to earth … to be with me. In Jesus’ holy name, amen.