Promised Hope
Adrian Thornton

Isaiah 9:6 says this about Jesus:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

That sounds incredible. A wonderful counsellor. A mighty God. An everlasting Father. A Prince of Peace. What a promise!

But here’s the interesting thing, that promise was spoken 700–750 years before Jesus was born. More than that, life slowly got worse for the people it was spoken to. God’s people, the Israelites, lost their land, their freedom, and eventually became a minority group living under Roman oppression. Year after year, nothing seemed to change.

Yet, God hadn’t forgotten them.

I think that speaks to us. Because when we hope for something, and nothing happens, hope starts to fade. Joy disappears. Christmas words like peace, joy, and hope can start to feel hollow, especially if you’ve been waiting a long time for something to change.

Disappointment chips away at our hopes and dreams until there is nothing left but a mundane existence and acceptance of the way things are.

Some are carrying that right now. Life feels heavy. Bills are piling up. Relationships are complicated. Work is uncertain. Or maybe nothing is “wrong”, it’s just numb. Same routine, same cycle, no real expectation that anything better is coming.

The truth is, the world can’t promise us anything that will fix our problems. In fact, the only thing it truly guarantees is that one day we’ll die. As well as taxes and a multitude of emails from your children’s school, that’s it.

At just the right time, God fulfilled His promise. A child was born. Light broke into the darkness. A star shone in the night sky and led people to the very One who would bring hope into the world.

The hope of God’s promise to His people was not just a hollow statement. It might have taken many years to be fulfilled, but it all came to pass in God’s timing.

Jesus is Wonderful Counsellor.
Jesus is Mighty God.
Jesus is Everlasting Father.
Jesus is Prince of Peace.

These are great promises that are real and available to all people, but they are only fulfilled in Christ. If you need all that God promises, you need to come to Christ.

If you want hope, come close to the One who is hope.

Hope is the one thing our world desperately needs. So many dark things are happening around the globe. If your life has been robbed of hope, then it’s time, like those on the night of Jesus’ birth, to walk towards the light.

Walk towards the light and discover the Son of God, who is the hope of the world.