Where do I find my Hope in the middle of trials?

The first three chapters of the Word of God have been under great attack in the last century.  After God created in six days, He said, "It is good."  There was no death.

But, Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned."  It was not so good anymore.

But in the midst of Adam's great fall, God gave the promise of the Redeemer in Genesis 3:15 as He told the serpent who deceived Adam and Eve, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."

God promised the Messiah who would destroy the works of Satan (Rev 12:9, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world) by delivering a fatal head wound...but first, the Messiah would be "bruised on the heel."

There is only one death that causes a bruised heel and that's crucifixion.  Psalm 22 gives a very graphic description of crucifixion 400 years before its inception by the Romans!!  Note particularly Psalm 22:16-18  "For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.  I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me;  They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."

This all came to pass as the Son of Man, Jesus, hung on the cross.  Note also Isaiah 53:4-5,  "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed."  Romans 5:8 tell us, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 

But...Jesus did not stay in the tomb!

Listen to what Paul (a learned Jew from the tribe of Benjamin) said in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve (apostles).  After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also."

And in Acts 2:23-38, this is what Peter (a Jewish fisherman who followed Christ as one of His apostles) said, "This Jesus, God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.  Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.  For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord (God) said to my Lord (Jesus), "Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.'  Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified.  Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?'  And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' "

John 3:16-18,  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

If today, your hope is in anything but Jesus Christ, it is in vain and will lead to eternal death.  Twice in Proverbs (14:12 and 16:25) we are told, "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."  However Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." 

I pray that you will make the right choice today, then no matter what comes your way in the future...cancer, car accident, plane crash, terrorism...you will know that you are secure in His love and you have a future hope. 

Philippians 1:20-21, "according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

 
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