FOUNDATION OF HOPE

As the hymn states - "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my Righteousness." Christ Jesus is my Right Standing with Father God. All of my expectations, desires and needs are found in the confidence I have in my Savior.

A person needs an event in their life to spark hope, to establish a different perspective worth holding onto. Jesus did that for all humanity, I have just chosen to accept and believe in His compassionate gift of grace. Father God has loved the world so much that He gave His only Son - Jesus Christ - that whosoever would believe in Him would be saved. (John 3:16) 

However, Jesus did not just live an exemplary life for us and die a martyr's death. If He had done only this we would be living for just a good cause and not The Good Shepherd. The Good News is not complete without sharing Christ Jesus rose from death and the grave after the third day from purchasing everyone's relationship gap with Father God through His death on The Cross.

Jesus promised He would return for those who believe in Him as their Savior. In the meantime, Christ delivered on the promised Holy Spirit by sending Him to indwell each new believer. There is a lot of hope here. As believers in Christ we have faith in the completed work of Christ's redemptive actions. But because of His love poured out like this - we have hope in every category of our lives. 

Christ's love and forgiveness is not just glorified at Calvary some 2,000 plus years ago. History and the believer's heritage will always remember those precious days. But Jesus continues to love and forgive us daily in spite of our imperfection. Some hopes we cling to as believers are - sin being demolished, our bodies being perfected, and our relationship with God, each other and nature being the way they should be.

In the Old Testament, time and time again there were events and foreshadows that pointed to The Hope humanity has in the salvation Christ Jesus provides. When Jesus was here, He left no doubt that He was the One to place ALL your hope in - "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6) Now and in the future, due to the Holy Spirit's indwelling, believers should share this Hope, especially in our deteriorating world. Christians will always have The Cross, The Resurrection - Jesus - to refer back to their Foundation Of Hope. 

• "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)