SET YOUR HOPE UPON CHRIST JESUS

In the movie "Shawshank Redemption" Red says to Andy - "Hope is a dangerous thing my friend, it can kill a man." Andy replies, "Hope is a good thing, maybe even the best of things. And good things never die."

God gave the world Hope thousands of years before Christ arrived. Many Christians who study the Scripture know of Old Testament passages that reveal the prophetic word of Jesus' miraculous birth, His life, suffering and death for the redemption of all. 

However, how many of us know or research the Old Testament passages that foretell Christ's resurrection? Paul mentions this prophetic support  of Christ's resurrection in the O.T. in his letter to the believers in Corinth.

• “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:2, 3-5).

Without the resurrection of Jesus, we just have another man claiming to be The Messiah. However, Jesus did rise from death, Hades and the grave, plus He fulfilled Old Testament passages that said He would. Isaiah 53:10 said "he will see his offspring and prolong his days..." after He sacrificially gave His life for ours - "though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin".

• "Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand."

One cannot "see" and live on after being "an offering for sin" if their was not a bodily resurrection.

In a second Old Testament passage, David utilizes his prophetic anointing and states - 

• "...my body also will rest secure,
  because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. (Psalm 16:8-10)

Notice that David is at peace for when death comes knocking. He says, "my body also will rest secure" creating an image that his body is a deposit or loan to the grave, meant to be taken back "because you [Christ] will not abandon me to the realm of the dead". However, David goes a step further and proclaims that as for the "Faithful One", not even "decay" will be seen on Christ's body before He rises - "nor will you let your faithful one see decay".

As a final example of Old Testament prophecies foretelling Christ's resurrection, part of The Lord's response in Matthew 12 to the Pharisees demand for a sign was that of an analogy to Jonah's predicament in the belly of the great fish for three days. 

• "'For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth' (Matt. 12:40). As Jesus explains, Jonah and the big fish is an analogy of the death and resurrection of Jesus, though Christ is a much greater prophet than Jonah. Craig Blomberg is insightful: 'Just as Jonah’s time in the fish would have proved meaningless had he not been spit up onto the shore to continue his appointed ministry of preaching repentance to Nineveh, so also the crucifixion is not the decisive sign of who Jesus was, for his subsequent rescue from death is what vindicated his ministry and enabled his mission to go forward'” (https://credomag.com/2013/03/the-resurrection-of-christ-in-the-old-testament/)

Isaiah saw the major highlights of Christ's coming including His resurrection. David foretold Jesus would not be in the grave long enough to acquire decay. Jesus brought back to remembrance the story of Jonah and used Jonah's time in the belly of the great fish as an analogy and/or sign for His great mission - victory for us all through Him.

All of these Old Testament words are fulfilled events of Hope in Christ's first coming. In addition, not only did He fulfill the Hope of Salvation for everyone, but He also established another Hope - the resurrection and/or glorification of the body. Paul explains this to the Romans like this - 

• "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved." (Romans 8:22-24)

We have always had Hope since Genesis. Right after we messed up with God, The Lord declared His Word of Hope as He spoke to the serpent of old, He said, "he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Gen. 3:15)

Now that Christ has come, lived, died, risen and ascended - He continues to give us Hope.

Christ has told the Disciples and all believers - 

• "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:2-4)

Later, Paul elaborated on this Return in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 - 

"...so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope - 

Let me pause here and insert the fact - when our last breath escapes our lungs and we no longer are part of this world, The Gavel falls in judgment on - What have you done with Jesus in your life? For those who have rejected the free gift of Salvation by Christ for their lives there is no hope, only damnation to eternal separation from God. Isaiah describes the finality of the lost like this - "...those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your [God's] faithfulness." Isaiah 38:18

For those that will have chosen Christ and His lifestyle - eternity blesses them with ruling and reigning with Christ, being married to Christ, having a new name, living in a new body, in a new city, on a new Earth, in a new Heaven without any sin, curse or pain. The decision for either of these locations and experiences is now - "I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2)

Now, Paul continues the 1 Thessalonian 4 passage by injecting the reader with The Hope that will help believers endure and persevere from Christ's ascension forward. 

• "For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thess. 4:13-18)

Christ sealed the deal for everyone's spiritual, physical and mental salvation, empowerment and glorification after He rose from the dead and sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within believers. Peter said it nicely when he stated -

• "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," (1 Peter 1:3)

Our hope is not just some wish or whim on the haphazard expectation that we might see what was promised. Instead, we have a track record of faithfulness by God to the great witnesses of our faith and all other believers willing to die for their testimony. The Christian's Hope is based on a solid foundation in the past, "an ever-present help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1) as we live now and the guarantor of all our future promises, for everything is "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Everything depended upon The Head Crusher (Gen. 3:15), The Savior, The Firstfuit of those who have died (1 Cor. 15:20) and still does. 

"Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming." (1 Peter 1:13)

Set your hope upon His promises, set your great expectation upon Him, The Hope - Christ Jesus.