Jesus Gave Us Hope
"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." -- Romans 8:25
The season of advent began yesterday. Each Sunday we look forward to Christmas Day and the birth of Christ. We celebrate His arrival and the hope that He brought to a dark world.
Hope. A four-letter word filled with such promise.
Jesus came to save us from separation from God. We are sinners. We didn't stand a chance on our own. Jesus promised that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. His blood restored us to a right relationship with God. Jesus gave us hope.
What is hope? It is a belief that somehow, some way, things will be better tomorrow. Hope is what separates the person who commits suicide from the one who doesn't. Hope is what urges a cancer patient to fight when everyone else has given up. Hope is believing that people can change, no matter their past. Hope tells us that God's love surrounds us even in our darkest hours.
God's love. Amazing, isn't it? After all the heartache we've caused Him, He loves us still. God sent His Son to die for us. He planned it all along. Jesus suffered for us. Truly. But on the first day of advent, and throughout the Christmas season, we remember the hope that came with a newborn baby. We celebrate the promise of a new world, one without sorrow and pain.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -- 1 Corinthians 13:13
Faith comes when we believe in our hearts that Jesus is God's Son, that He died on a cross to take our sins on Himself and that He rose three days later and now sits at the right hand of God. That's faith. Believing what we do not see, yet knowing in our hearts that it's true.
God sent Jesus in love. Jesus brought hope. Faith keeps us steady as we travel the paths of this life. During this season of hustle and bustle, take time to remember that what we are celebrating isn't found in a brightly colored package. It's found in the hearts of believers who show Jesus to the world around them.
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