The Promise of Better Days

THE PROMISE OF BETTER DAYS
Jeremiah 33:14–16

God's promises of better days eventually find fulfillment in the coming of Jesus Christ.

Hope is a vision for better days that changes us in the present.

I. Jeremiah Confronts the Real Situation

When Jeremiah was about the age of a High School junior God said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as prophet to the nations” Jeremiah 1:4.

In a national crisis, Jeremiah is thrown into jail for telling the king to surrender and trust God.

II. Jeremiah Preaches Hope

A. Christian Hope Is About a Promise

Hope always depends on the reliability of the one who makes the promises.

Christian hope is based on history with God that gives glimpses of God’s character and provides reasons to place our hope in God.

B. Christian Hope Is About a Person

Hope is not in a season, a program, a new job, a better spouse, a promotion, or a bigger house.

The biblical word for this person is Messiah. In Jeremiah 33:15, this person is called “a “righteous branch who will sprout from David’s line.”

In Jeremiah 33:16, Jesus is called the “Lord our Righteousness.”

Jesus on the cross took upon himself our unrighteousness, and we received His righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

C. Christian Hope Changes Us in the Present

Once you start hoping your heart starts to burst with longing, now you have something that you want.

God gave Jeremiah a vision of a new future and a new hope. Jeremiah couldn’t look back even if it meant suffering and going to jail.

When we really start to believe God that, “Better days are coming,” it will change us.

D. Christian Hope Brings Risk

If you have hope, hold onto God’s promise of better days, and you trust Jesus, it works itself into your life.

Think through these key issues on a personal level.

>Is your hope centered in the person of Christ or something else?

>As you have grown as a Christian, has your hope expanded or diminished?

>What are you willing to risk because of Jesus?