Immanuel: Hope is a Person
Matthew 1:21
Jay Haugh
Part of Sunday Notes
December 24, 2024

Hope is a Person
Matthew 1:21
December 24, 2024
Jay Haugh

Most know “the what,” but I’m not certain we know “the why.”

The general answer for “why” is hope.

“We can go 40 days without food, 3 days without water, 8 minutes without oxygen, but we can’t go a second without hope.”

Christmas is a yearly reminder of the hope we have.

Christmas records and reminds us that hope has arrived, and it arrived in a person.

Jesus is the way to God.

But as he [Joseph] considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” —Matthew 1:20-21 ESV

Jesus came to save us from sin.


The standard by which we are judged is God.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. —Romans 3:23 ESV
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. —1 John 1:8 ESV


Hope is a person, and His name is Jesus.

Jesus offers forgiveness and life.

Forgiveness and life require two things.

(1) Repentance.

Repentance means “change the way you’re thinking.”

Repentance requires that we change the way we’re thinking and turn the other way.

(2) Acceptance

We live in a culture where we want to repay all the wrongs we receive.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. —Psalm 103:11-12 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” —John 3:16 ESV
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” —John 3:17 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:23 ESV

Big Idea:

Hope is a person and His name is Jesus.