Hope In The Darkness
Death comes for us all. We are but a vapor, (James 4:14). Scripture is clear that our purpose in creation was to have a free will relationship with God, but also to take care of his creation, the earth. God holds such value in us, that Lucifer rebelled against God the Father, and knowing he cannot win an outright attack on the Father, targets the children, us. While we no longer live in the several hundred years range, and the theory I have for that, is the longer our bodies are corrupted by Sin, and death, without modern medicine we would die far younger and younger. Obviously, we aren’t a healthy creature, as we can see here in the U.S., just look around. There is hate abounding all around us. “So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate? (King Theoden, Two Towers). The hope Theoden was looking for was the sunrise to the East, where Gandolf had said, on the third morning look to the East. We too, like King Theoden, need to have hope and look to the East.
We live in dark times, and by the looks of it, getting darker by the day. Even though we live in dark times, and we should expect them to get darker, we also need to remember the one who conquered death. Before Jesus, the trinity did not know the taste of death. It was Jesus that died on the cross, and just when Satan had believed his victory was complete, Jesus was raised, the stone pulled away, and a resurrected Jesus walked out of that cold dark tomb. What hope do we have in death? Tetelesti, ‘It is Finished’. (John 19:30) The price we were owed for our sins was death, and is death if we do not have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But Jesus paid the bill for us.
In Exodus we see a mirror for the cross. The serpents bite and kill the Israelites, and God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent, raise it on a pole, and if those who look upon it in faith, for them they shall be healed. The key word is faith. Our hope rests in what Jesus had done, but ultimately it is our faith that saves us. Jesus gift to us, his grace and mercy, are gifts, but if we do not accept it, it is useless to us. It is our faith, as simple as faith is in concept, it is this faith that saves us.
I have heard many in my life say, ‘show me evidence that there is a god and I’ll believe it.’ This is perhaps one of the most foolish notions I have heard. Judas spent nearly three years with Christ, he witnessed all he was, all he said, and still betrayed him for the price of a common slave, 3O pieces of silver. When someone sees and still rejects, we need to understand that for some people, they may never accept Jesus, no matter the evidence. We have hope because as the Israelites needed to have hope in God’s plan, there is hope is the savior, Jesus, and we are saved through that. There are multiple books that takes a deep look at the evidence, and two in particular were written by ex-atheist. “The Case For Christ” By: Lee Strobel, and “Cold-Case Christianity” By: J. Warner Wallace. Strobel was a journalist, and Wallace a Cold Case Detective, both Atheists, till they were led to disprove Christianity.
We can look at many figures in history that changed their path to follow Christ, the most prominent is Paul, formerly Saul in the New Testament. He gave up power, fame, prestige, wealth, comfort, to be beaten, prisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, and ultimately beheaded, all in the name of Christ. People to go great lengths to gain what he gave up, not the other way around. 10/11 people (Apostles) do not go to their deaths knowing something is a lie. The Bible also uses women as eye witnesses, which I have spoken about in Women, Why Women,
https://thearrowpreacher.com/2018/08/13/women-why-women/
We need to understand that while the point of this post is not an apologetics argument, it cements the hope we have in Jesus, because in a dark world, we need to have assurance that what we know is true, and that Jesus is in fact that hope. I have in fact written another post on apologetics
https://thearrowpreacher.com/2018/07/17/apologetics/
Jesus is our hope, because we have assurance that scripture is in fact that inspired word of God. We have assurance that Jesus rose again and was seen by no less than 500 people after his very real death, a death that the Romans could not fake or make a mistake. We have hope because Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies, and the odds of doing that are impossible, even statistically. So, again, why is all this important? Because we have assurance in who Jesus is, and who he said he was.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, who left his throne at the right hand of the Father, and came to Earth to be the propitiation of us sinners. Jesus became the atonement for sinners repenting and having faith in Him, that he is “The way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John14:6) While not everyone will be saved, it is important to make that distinction. Not everyone will walk through the gate at the end of the narrow way. Some people will reject Jesus, and will continue to reject Jesus in their own Hell. There is but one way to have hope in the darkness, and that way is to follow Jesus. To put your faith in him. You must realize you are a sinner, and there is nothing you can do to make that right. There is nothing in your own power or works, that makes you worthy of Heaven, the home of an almighty and perfect God. Our works before perfection are nothing. Heaven is not where all roads converge of many faiths or religions. There is but one way to Heaven, and that’s through Jesus, not by your own works, but of the finished work of Jesus.
I have seen much death in my life. I have watched as friends have died, close family. I have watched first hand as soldiers I knew died on the battlefield. I have watched death before my very eyes. We know death will come to all, and scripture tells us to number our days, so we may grow in a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12). Death is not the end but the beginning. Death is only permanent for those who don’t know Christ. Death is but the final frontier.
None of us know how much time we have, but we know that we are to live our lives. Though we live in a world of darkness, death, hurt and heartbreak, we can prevail over death, we have hope that this is not home, but home awaits us. We have a mansion waiting for us in a land we cannot comprehend, where the almighty God sits upon the throne and we get to worship a Holy God along with the choir of Angels. Do not wait till the trumpet sounds to make a choice. Know God and let God know and have a relationship with you. Trust in Him with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding, but walk in faith, not by sight.
The Arrow Preacher 