Where is your Hope?

Hope. Just exactly what is ‘hope’? The dictionary describes it as, ‘a feeling that what one desires will happen.’ It also says that, ‘happy is he whose hope is in the Lord his God’, (Psalms 146:5).

In Gods word, it is mentioned 13 times from Leviticus 26:40-45, to Revelations 22:21. In Leviticus 26:40-45, God is talking to the Israelites letting them know that He had not forgotten them or his covenant with them. They had hope that he would be true to his word. In Mark 5:35-36 he references ‘hope’ with believing. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 he gives the reader ‘hope’ in that what it troubling the reader, that it is only temporal. All the reader needs to do is believe and look beyond this world to what is unseen that is what is eternal. In Luke 18:35-43, the beggar here was condemned to a life of degradation and shame, but I believe that Gods spirit opened his minds eye to whom was passing and he shamelessly cried out to Christ to heal his sight so he might see. His hope was backed by the power of the Gods spirit and he was healed and believed in Christ.

In John 12:13(2), many people cried out “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!” They were expecting an earthly King that would drive the Romans out and set his rule in Israel. Not all who were there that day believed this, but those who did were not long in denouncing Jesus and even some were calling for his execution. This is a case of misguided or improper understanding of the Old Testament scriptures concerning a King that would free Israel from the rule of its suppressors. They had a false ‘hope.’ In 1 Corinthians 15:54-56, in this case, Satan seemed to be victorious, in the Garden of Eden (Genesis3) and at the cross of Jesus. But when God raised Christ from the dead, He snatched victory from what seemed defeat. The law would no longer make sinners such as ourselves attempt to live up to a standard that we were unable do. We would have been damned to Hell for eternity had Christ not risen, but having done so, gave us all ‘hope’ that a belief in Him and His sacrificial death for us had gained for us however unworthy, a place with Him in Heaven one day. That is the ‘Hope’ that cried from the very depths of our souls until we took that step, and accepted by faith, Jesus’ sacrifice on cross for us.

To be continued.