Fear of Hopelessness, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. You're in one of two postures right now in relationship with the Lordship of Jesus. Hear this very clearly, you are not, you know, I'm doing pretty good. You are either totally surrendered or you're in complete rebellion. There's only one deal that Jesus will make. He will give you all of himself for complete control of your life.

There is no other negotiation that he will have. Do you want the favor of God in your life? Do you want hope? Hope is found in knowing you have the favor of God given to you as a gift in Christ. Welcome to Summit Life with pastor, author and theologian J.D.

Greer. I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch. Today, we're going to look at a familiar fear, a fear felt by the mother of Jesus herself, but once she overcame. I think we look at Mary as an unbelievably brave young woman, which of course she was. But I think it's very important that we look at Mary as the mother of Jesus.

And I think even she struggled with the fear of hopelessness that gripped a nation. Through the eyes of Mary, we'll see that Christmas isn't just a luxury for those of us who feel at peace already. It's actually an answer for those of us who feel afraid.

Let's join Pastor J.D. in Luke Chapter 1. Hope, in the Christian sense, is the expectation of future blessings and the confidence that the best is not behind you, but the best is in front of you. Based on that definition, I would say that we have many people in our community this weekend who are living without hope. We have people who are asking, am I ever going to be happy again? In this message, you're going to see how Mary faced and overcame this fear of hopelessness.

Which we all have and how you, in her example, can overcome hopelessness too. Luke Chapter 1, Verse 26 is where we're going to be, so let's read it here together. Verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. He came to her and he said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and you will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

And of his kingdom there will be no end. Mary said to the angel, How can this be since I am a virgin? And look what happens to Mary.

Verse 35. The angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child that was born will be called Holy, the son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son. And this is the month with her, the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

For nothing will be impossible with God. Zechariah got put into time out. Mary got an explanation.

Why? Did Zechariah just get the grumpy angel? Is that what it was? No, it's the same angel, Gabriel. Maybe he hadn't had his morning coffee yet and he's in sort of a bad mood.

He's kind of a hair trigger and bam, he just, no, of course not. It's because there are two different kinds of doubts. Both ask questions. But there's bad doubt and there's good doubt. There's a kind of doubt, you see, that grows out of disbelief.

It is proud and defiant. It looks inward at itself in bitterness. And it says to the promises of God, There's no way this could be true.

That was Zechariah. Then there is the kind of doubt that grows out of a humble wonder. It stares upward with awe and it says, How can these things be true? I don't understand God. But I want to understand and I'm willing to learn that was Mary.

Can I tell you what's awesome to me? In answer to Mary's honest, humbled doubt, the angel gives to her one of the greatest, most faith-producing statements to me in all the Bible. Luke 1 37. Nothing is impossible with God. I cannot tell you how many times that phrase has bolstered my faith in the midst of situations. That verse has come to mind and I have said nothing is impossible with God.

Here's what's awesome. Listen, you know, the only reason we have that statement in the Bible is because Mary asked that honest, doubting question. What that means is that when you ask God with humble doubts, not only will God enlarge your faith, if you ask it from a position of humility, not only will he enlarge your understanding, he will probably give you understanding that will bless all the people around you because he's going to give you insight into the wisdom and the promises of God that you're going to use to share with others. So using Mary as our example, let's talk about how we overcome the fear of hopelessness. Three things I think you should have seen in that story.

The first one drives the rest, so we're going to spend a little bit more time on it. Number one, understand and embrace the favor of God. Understand the favor of God. The angel starts his command to Mary to not fear by announcing to her that she has the favor of God. That is important because it's going to be the key to everything else. So what is the favor of God?

What does that phrase mean to you? Well, think for a minute about the situation that Mary is in. She's just been told that she's going to be pregnant with no husband in a culture where this is not only frowned upon, it's punishable by death. What if her main problem, you see, was not her finances?

What if it was not a bad reputation? What if her primary problem was a severed relationship with God? What if the reason that she didn't have joy?

What if the reason she didn't have purpose had nothing to do with the size of her bank account or the status of her marriage? What if it had to do with where she stood with God? And what if that son would come to set her right with God? You see, the fact that her pregnancy essentially puts her under a curse of death is given as a symbol to you and me of what Jesus was coming for. You and I, like Mary is now, we were under the curse of death because of our sin. The son that was born to Mary basically says, you're under the curse of death, but I'm going to grow up and I'm going to die in your place. To us, he says, you're under the curse of death. I am born to a woman.

I am born to a race that is under the curse of death because of their sin, but do not fear because I will one day take your place. It is because Mary went through these things. It is because she went through this unjust death sentence. Because she went through hardship that seemed impossible. Because of that, she got to understand Jesus and what he would go through. She got to understand more of who he was and how he would save. So God took her hardship and God reversed it.

He used it for good. All the sad things in her life became untrue. And if you walk with Jesus, he is doing the same thing. We have pain, he will reverse it.

You have disappointment, he will erase it. Verse 36, the angel brought back up Elizabeth's barrenness. Why bring that back up now? That's got nothing to do with Mary's situation.

Why? In Israel, for a woman to be married and to die barren represented the ultimate disappointment in life. To bring back up this story in that context is saying that the birth of Jesus is God's answer to erase our deepest disappointments. By the way, do not miss that the birth of Jesus is surrounded by two miracles of pregnancy. They both mean something very important to Jesus' life and ministry. That Jesus was born to a virgin means that the power to save would not come from man, it would come from God. So God did not have a human father for his savior. God himself was the father because salvation cannot be accomplished by any human being no matter how hard they try. It's a gift from God. That's why the angel said this baby will be called holy because he's not from the human race. He's got your blood in him, Mary, but he's going to be of the ton of the most high because only God can save.

That God also surrounded the birth of Jesus, listen, with a pregnancy with an older, barren woman is God's way of saying your deepest disappointment, I am going to erase that disappointment. A lot of people have what we now call a bucket list. You know what that is, right? A list of things you want to do before you die. I've got one.

Standard stuff on it. I want to hike the Inca trail, streak at the Super Bowl. I want to meet Nicolas Cage and star on the Left Behind series. Just things that are on everybody's list, right? Well, the idea behind a bucket list is that I need to do these things before I die because YOLO, right? You only live once. And what if you die without experiencing these things?

You've lost your one shot. For some, what they would put on that list is not glib at all. It's not a trip to the Grand Canyon.

It's not jumping out of an airplane. What's on that list is getting married, having children, being financially stable, being pain free. I have a bucket list.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having a little harmless bucket list, but I just don't take my bucket list that seriously. Why? Because in the resurrection, under the reign of the son of David, every disappointment that I faced in life will be fulfilled. There is no disappointment that I went through.

There is no ruined reputation. There's nothing I missed out on that God will not restore and multiply in abundance. I will restore, he says, what the swarming locust have eaten.

The sons and daughters you lost in this life will be brought again from afar. And once again, Joel says, my people will eat and be satisfied and they will never again feel disappointment and they will never again be put to shame. We have pain, he will reverse it. We have disappointment, he will erase it. We yearn for justice.

He will restore it. We go through seasons like the one we've just gone through and a lot of people ask, is there ever going to be justice? Some people say, well, where's the justice for the families of the victims? Other people say, well, where's the justice for the police officers and their families? That perfect justice that we crave will be restored when Jesus rules from the throne of David. That is not to excuse our not working for justice now.

We should and we must. It just means that down here justice will always be imperfect, sometimes even terribly skewed. Maybe you say, maybe you look around and you say, why do the wicked always seem to go unpunished?

Why do those who are hypocrites, why do they prosper? Maybe it's personal to you. Maybe you've been wrong.

Maybe it's a spouse or somebody in your family or a business partner that has wronged you. And you say, where is the justice? Where is it ever going to come? The angel says to Mary, Mary, have hope. The son has been born who will sit on David's throne.

Like I told you, I know that for many of the Christmas season represents a time where they feel pain and loss and injustice and disappointment more acutely. Hope is the expectation of future blessings and the confidence that the best is yet to come. That hope is found in embracing the favor of God given to you in Christ. And what is the favor of God? It is the assurance that Jesus Christ has paid for all your sins. He has restored you as a son and daughter to the almighty God. That God could not love you any more than he does right now because Jesus suffered in your place. That God has promised that one day he will erase every disappointment.

He will reverse every pain, that he will restore justice and that he is right now working in your life for good, taking the bad things in your life and using it for his glorious plan. That's the favor of God. God's favor is not always easy. It was not easy for Mary.

Sometimes it includes a lot of difficulties. But his favor is always good because it brings to you all the promises and all the presence of Jesus, which is eternal life itself. Which leads me to number two. You doubt with faith. You doubt with faith. Once you have the favor of God, you know that you can doubt with faith.

You should ask questions, but you should be open to answers. You should stare upward in wonder at the size of God and in all of the promise that he's given to you in Christ. You ought to meditate on that phrase in the midst of any doubt. Nothing is impossible with God. The way that you do that is thinking about the size of the God that you're talking to. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed reading the first chapter of Genesis, the third verse, I think, where God says, Let there be light.

Because sometimes I just stop. I'm not a scientist. I'm not hyper educated on all the scientific stuff. But I think about just the complexity that would be in those four words, let there be light. In those four words, he invented quantum physics. In those four words, he came up with the whole wave particle thing that none of us really understand.

In that word, let there be light, he invented the complexity of the atom. He stretched out the universe as far as all of its millions and billions of light years. Sometimes I look up into the sky and I think about the size of the universe and he created this with a word. And I think, How big is this God? How high must his understanding be?

How great is his power? How sure is his word? And then my heart will say, Nothing is impossible with this God. Which promise of God do you have trouble believing? Which promise do you feel like is junk mail?

He said junk mail, you get this mail and you're going to be a millionaire and you don't pay attention to it, you just throw it away. Which promise of God feels like junk mail to you? Is it Psalm 23 6? That surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. You will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Is it Isaiah 43 2 that when you pass through the waters, they won't overwhelm you?

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned? Is it Romans 8 28 that all things are working together for good to you who love God and are called according to his purpose? Is it Romans 8 32 that if God did not spare his own son, he will not also now freely give you all things?

Which of these promises seems like junk mail to you? You need to look into the face of your situation and then turn in doubt into the face of the Almighty God and say, Nothing is impossible with God. If God did not spare his own son, he will not also not freely give me all things. So listen, doubt, it's okay.

Pick your foot up. But doubt with faith. Now I know you say, Well, that sounds to me like a contradiction. How do you doubt with faith?

Those are the opposite things. No, faith is the posture of the heart behind the doubt. The doubt is good. In fact, faith is expressed in doubt. It's saying pick up your foot, ask your question, but do so by leaving room for an Almighty God whose answer might be bigger than you. And then pick up your foot and stare at him and wonder and say, God, I don't understand, but I'm ready to understand. And I'm ready to search your word for the answer. Number three, surrender at all. Surrender at all. The angel, even though he brought really good news, demanded full and total surrender from Mary.

I'll give you a good example of this. He tells Mary what Jesus's name will be. Parents usually name their own kids, right? That's a really important symbol. It's your child.

You want to choose a name that represents something you love from the past or something you want for the kid in the future. The angel says, nope, not this one. You're not going to call the shots with this one. And see, that's a really important symbol because what it means, listen to this, is that if you're going to have the blessing of Jesus in your life, if you're going to have the favor of God in Christ, you've got to fully surrender to him and let God call the shots, even in your most intimate relationships and even in your deepest dreams. Mary's response, behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.

Servant means I have nothing. It's all yours. Let it be to me according to your will and your word means I don't call the shots anymore.

I just want what you have for me. You see, you can only be in one of two positions in relationship to Jesus. You're either in full surrender or you're in rebellion. You cannot negotiate your way into the favor of God.

But most people try to do that. God, I'll be good so that you'll give me this. God, I'll go to church so that this will happen. God, I'll give this money so that you'll bless me this way.

God, I'll shape up here so that I can earn your favor. There was a guy in the Bible who tried to negotiate for the favor of God. His name was Saul. Saul was told by God to destroy everything in a certain city, but Saul didn't want to because that city was rich. So what Saul did is he took all the plunder and then he took about half of it and he sacrificed it to God. Because his reasoning is, well, God's getting a lot of sacrifices and that makes God happy. And then I also get mine and Samuel comes from God to Saul and says, Saul, what you've done is to God like the sin of witchcraft.

It's like Satanism. God does not want your sacrifice. God wants obedience. Saul, you cannot negotiate your way into the blessing of God. There's only one posture you can ever have and that is complete and total surrender. You're in one of two postures right now in relationship with the lordship of Jesus. I hear this very clearly.

You are not, you know, I'm doing pretty good. You are either totally surrendered or you're in complete rebellion. There's only one deal that Jesus will make. He will give you all of himself for complete control of your life.

There is no other negotiation that he will have. Do you want the favor of God in your life? Do you want hope? Hope is found in knowing you have the favor of God given to you as a gift in Christ.

You see, I don't know what situation you're in. Maybe you're in a very Mary-like situation. What I can tell you is that if you have opened up your heart to receive Christ, if you have fully surrendered yourself to him, then everything that the angel said to Mary applies to you.

So you can believe it. And by the way, don't just give mental assent to it. Don't just nod your head and say, yep, I got the favor of God in Christ. Do what Mary did. Ponder it. There's a little phrase in the next chapter.

Let me jump there real quick. Luke 2 19, I love this. Mary treasured up all these things. Treasure, she put value on them. She pondered them in her heart until it reshaped her whole life.

And she burst into song, even in the midst of poverty, even in the midst of destitution, even when her most important relationships were crumbling, she worshiped with joy because she pondered the value of these things and she esteemed them to be a treasure. I heard an example this week that I just thought summarized my relationship with God. Imagine if a lawyer contacted you that a relative that you had never heard of had died and the lawyer said, he wrote you into his will, he's left you some money, and I went ahead and saw to it that it got deposited right into your savings account. Well, you've never heard of this relative, so you assume it's just a token amount, maybe a couple hundred dollars at most, so you just don't even go check the bank account. You're a young father and you're trying to make ends meet and you're barely scraping by and you're trying to take care of your family and one day, about five years after this, you go to this savings account because you haven't accessed it in a long time and you pull up the savings account and you realize that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in this bank account.

For the last five years, you've been barely scraping by, you've been driving a beater car, you've been trying to barely make ends meet. All the while, you've got hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in that bank account and I saw that and I thought, this is exactly where I am with the favor of God that's been given to me in Christ. I know it, I believe it, but I don't ponder it, I don't understand it and my prayer is, God, help me to know what I already know.

Help me to feel what I know to be true. God, I want this to become such a treasure in my heart that it reshapes all of my thinking until my disappointments and pain, even though they're real, I'm not trying to brush them aside, but even though my disappointments and pain are real, they seem so small in the weight of the treasure that I have in you until worry seems silly because of the treasure I know that I have in the riches of Christ, until the injustices that have been committed against me seem rather trivial and meaningless because of the esteem that I've been given by God in Christ, until freely I let go of everything in my life and I can say with Mary that in Christ I can give up all that I have because in Christ I already have all that I need until I ponder the riches of what He has given me that in my hour of being under a death sentence, in my hour of destitution, when my relationships fall apart, I can worship with the same glorious song that she did and I can say, Blessed be my God who has given me salvation, who will never leave or forsake me and in whom every promise of God is yes in Christ Jesus. You want to know a prayer that you ought to pray in the Christmas season? It's that prayer there.

It's what I would call Mary's prayer. In fact, I'm going to give it to you and give you a few minutes just to soak in it. Behold, I am your servant. Let it be to me according to your word. Can you pray that to God?

Total surrender. I'm your servant. All I want, let it be to me what you have said. I embrace your favor in Christ and I know that nothing is impossible with you. I could not think of a better season to pray. Honestly, whether you're a believer or not, whether you're a believer in Christ or not, I could not think of a better prayer to pray going into this season.

We say this often, but it bears repeating every single day. Jesus lived a perfect life and He died the death that we deserved in our place. We just have to receive His forgiveness and embrace the new life that He made available to us. You're listening to Summit Life, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor J.D.

Greer. To learn more about Pastor J.D. and this nonprofit ministry, visit us online at jdgreer.com. At this time of year, your financial support is more important than ever.

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You can, of course, keep track of your appointments, deadlines, and create to-do lists, but we're also including a year-long Bible reading plan to keep our focus on God's Word strong in the coming year. Ask for a copy of the 2021 Summit Life Day Planner when you give a donation today of $25 or more. Call 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220.

Or you can give online at jdgrier.com. That's all the time we have for today. Thanks for joining us. I'm Molly Vidovitch inviting you to join us tomorrow as we look at the first page of the New Testament. We're going to begin a new series called Upside Down Christmas, Thursday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer.