Hopeless End or Endless Hope?

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”

Psalm 42:11


If there is one thing we all could use more of in the midst of all the negative news about the COVID-19 global pandemic is hope, endless hope. The good news today is there is an ample supply of hope in these unprecedented times where toilet paper and hand sanitizer have been in short supply. In 1 Peter 1:3-4, the apostle Peter penned these words, “"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you." Did you read that? In a world where anything and everything has been or is in short supply, God’s hope is ours in abundance!

Why is hope so important? Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, ‘To live without hope is to cease to live,’ and Emil Brunner put it like this, ‘what oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.’ And yet, abundant hope can’t be purchased in any store or even ordered one line as God’s abundant hope can only be received by faith, by placing our hope and trust in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why the resurrection you might be thinking? The answer is simple. Because Jesus lives we have hope. If Jesus were dead and still in the grave the hope of our own resurrection from the dead would have died right along with Him. But, because Jesus lives, He offers a living hope to those who look to Him.

From reading the gospel account all those who had followed Jesus when He walked the earth were heartbroken on the day Jesus was crucified on Calvary’s Cross. They scattered like sheep without a shepherd just as Jesus said they would. Life had lost its meaning when Jesus died as all the promises He had made involved living and not dying. With Jesus death nothing made sense and all hope seemed lost. That is until three days later Jesus rose again from the dead just as He promised He would.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest moment in human history as on the day Jesus rose again, hope was born, endless hope at that! Because Jesus forever lives, our hope is living, never fading away, reserved for us in heaven! Put your hope in anything other than God and you will eventually be disappointed as people, places and things this side of heaven are corruptible and the longer time goes on they decay and eventually die.

Do you want a hope that lasts, one that never decays and can’t die? Put your hope in God and trust in Jesus and the power of His resurrection. The choice is ours today. We can die once and live twice or we can live once and die twice. The resurrection changes everything! Because Jesus lives, we can live too. Hopes alive!

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”

Hebrews 6:19

I LOVE YOU.