Hope

'The cross and the empty tomb tell us something.  They prove that all of God's promises can be trusted.  For the promise that his Son would suffer in our place (Isaiah 5 v 4-6) was surely the hardest promise the Father ever made.  And he kept it.  In fact, says Paul, "all the promises of God find their Yes in him [Christ]" (2 Corinthians 1 v 20).'

Sinclair B. Ferguson

Love Came Down at Christmas (p. 101)

"The Christian is, by definition, a hopeful person.  That hope is not artificial self-projection.  It is produced in us by God's promises.  Because we love and trust the Lord, we believe the promises he has given in his word.  They have become the spectacle lenses through which we view everything--and that is what injects the melody of hope into our lives."

Sinclair B. Ferguson

Love Came Down at Christmas

p. 104

"Our biggest hope is for everlasting life: for heaven and all that will follow it in the new heavens and earth.  Being sure of that, even although we don't yet experience it, changes everything.  It is like light appearing at the end of the tunnel, dispersing the total darkness that engulfs us.  It enables us to see our way forward.

....

Love incarnate--Jesus Christ--came down to earth....  He did so to stoop further down--to the humiliating death on the cross for our sin and its shame....  But he stooped to conquer.  He rose again in triumph over sin, death, and Satan.  Since he did all this for us, his resurrection is the guarantee of the resurrection of all who belong to him."

Sinclair B. Ferguson

Love Came Down at Christmas

p. 105