Now and Forever Hope

 

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:19-23 ESV).

 

You know that the year of 2020 will receive an asterisk beside any mention of the recounting of the events in it. Virtually every sector of life has been affected by the announcement of the global virus of Covid-19. I’m sure there are as many stories of these interruptions as there are people. Everyone has been touched in some way. Some have been devastated with the results of nearly a year of change and challenge. Without trivializing any of those losses, I thought of the difficulty that Santa might have in delivering the gifts tomorrow night. Will he need to have tested and quarantined? Will he even be able to cross some national borders? Will he even have gifts to deliver? What if the workshop at the North Pole was as affected as many other workplaces? You get the picture… and, I hope you know it is tongue-in-cheek as I broach the real topic of today’s thought: Hope.

 

It was such a time in which Jesus made his humble entrance into the world. The hopes of millions of people were dead, crushed by despair. Their eyes were swollen from all the crying. They were wounded by life’s setbacks. In that way the times were the same. People live in this world without hope and without God. They run after one religion or another and only reap disappointment. They run to the promised pleasures of sin and come out feeling even more frustrated. Eager to find meaning in life, many run to the oasis in the arid land of their lives only to find it is nothing but a mirage. Misery only deepens; and, pain multiplies.

 

Against this gray backdrop of despair, Jesus presents himself as our hope. He is our hope because he died in order to save us. He is our hope because he rose to new life to sanctify us. He is our hope because he will come back for us to glorify us. Jesus can be the perennial reason for your joy and the secure anchor for your hope. Already in the Old Testament Isaiah prophesied, “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). My prayer is that you will find this hope of the world and rise on the winds of the stormy present to soar above it all on the wings of Christ’s love and grace. We are not a people without hope!