1. The problem “...remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12
A. There was a time when we had no hope. Those without Christ remain without hope.
B. For over a year our circumstances have seemed hopeless. But as Christians we are not without hope.
2. The provision “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Gal. 4:4-5
A. God provides the basis of our hope. The first advent. Emmanuel God with us.
B. In God’s perfect timing
C. God sent His Son
D. Born of a woman
E. Born under the law
F. To redeem us
G. To adopt us
3. The promise I Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
A. The promise of hope. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises. All of God’s promises and all of God’s earthly activity is centered in Jesus.
B. The new birth is a living hope, an active hope.