Unprecedented Hope
“Finding Hope When Life Hurts Most”
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Life comes with a list of side effects. Life can be full of fun, adventure, excitement, and joy, but it also has side effects. There are illnesses, abuse, broken relationships, betrayal, sorrow, loss, injuries, disappointments, heartache, crime, and death.
Therefore, since this is the case, I think that, like any product we buy at a store, life should come with a warning label, which is exactly what Jesus gives us in the Gospel of John.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NKJV)
Jesus first tells us the benefit of living our lives for Him rather than for ourselves or the world. And the benefit is peace. But He warns us of what this life is like when we live for ourselves or for this world, and that is trouble and tribulations.
The things this world throws at us can be overwhelming. There are things like sickness, illness, disease, betrayals, overwork, unemployment, economic difficulties, foreclosure, not enough money and too many bills, not enough time in the day, loss of loved ones, terrorism, war, and the list of stressors seems to go on forever. And to top it all off, there’s the devil, tempting us and trying to get at us any way he can.
Now, all of these troubles and trials are caused, in one way or another, by sin, that is, the sin inherent in humanity, or what is known as the sin nature. It was caused by mankind’s fall at the beginning. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s one and only commandment, “Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). From that one sin, sin entered the world and was passed down to each succeeding generation, all the way to you and me.
This sin nature comes in two forms.
First, there’s moral evil, that is, immorality, along with the pain and suffering that result from our choosing to be selfish, arrogant, uncaring, hateful, and abusive. And this is present in all of us. The Apostle Paul says, “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glory, (or God’s holy and righteous standards for life).” (Romans 3:23 NLT).
It has been estimated that 95 percent of the world’s population is suffering as a result of the sins of others or themselves.
Take the problem of hunger. Lee Strobel said, “The world produces enough food for each person to have 3,000 calories a day. It’s our own irresponsibility and self-centeredness that prevents people from getting fed.”
Let’s take a moment and look at our hands … We can choose to use these hands to hold a gun and shoot someone, or we can choose to use them to feed hungry people. It’s our choice.
But it’s unfair to shoot someone and then blame the gun or gun makers. It’s also unfair to fail to feed those who are hungry and blame God and the existence of evil and suffering.
It’s like the Pogo comic strip, written back in 1970, saying, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” We could say it like this, “Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy.”
Besides moral evil, there’s also natural evil. These include natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, extreme heat or cold, too much or too little rain, and famine, all of which can result in the loss of property or life.
The Apostle Paul said, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22 NKJV)
But this is also a result of sin being allowed in the world. Basically, we told God to shove it by doing what we wanted and claimed we could handle this world by ourselves, and the world, that is, nature, revolted. The earth was cursed, genetics broke down, and disease entered the world. And as a result, pain and death became part of the human experience.
But troubles and tribulations aren’t the end of the story, which is one of the great things about God. He doesn’t keep the ending a secret. He isn’t like those Hollywood screenwriters who leave us hanging. You know, those cliffhangers where we don’t know “who done it” until the end, or worse, we’d have to wait until the beginning of next season.
God wants us to see the big picture to give us hope for our present and our future, and that is what the resurrection of Jesus is all about.
God wants us to know that He wins, and because He wins, all who believe in Him win as well. We see this as a second benefit: since Jesus overcame, all who believe can be overcomers as well.
So, we need to remember not to take Christ out of our crisis. There are many passages in the Bible that tell the same story, and when Jesus said to take heart and not be sorrowful, He summed it up quite well, giving us hope for our present and future.
How did Jesus overcome the world? By dying on the cross, being buried, and on the third day rising from the dead and ascending into heaven, where He is now our advocate with the Father, speaking on our behalf when we blow it again.
But His advocacy is only available to those who believe in Him and in what He did on the cross, taking our place and dying the death we deserve. He also rose from the dead and is alive, and He will forgive our sins when we confess and repent.
This is what Jesus had in mind when He told Nicodemus that unless one is born again, they will not see the kingdom of heaven.
We also see this benefit in what the writer of Hebrews says.
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20 NKJV)
Like the Jewish High Priest who went behind the curtain separating the Most Holy Place from the rest of the Tabernacle to shed the blood of the sacrifice upon the Mercy Seat for the forgiveness of Israel’s sins, Jesus, our Great High Priest, entered the heavenly Temple with His own blood and forgave all our sins.
Now, as a side note to this blessing, the Jewish High Priest had to do this every year, and the people would often bring their offerings, especially during the High Holy Days. But we don’t, because our Great High Priest, Jesus, entered the heavenly tabernacle and sprinkled His own blood, the blood He shed on the cross, upon God’s Mercy Seat once, thereby forgiving all our sins, past, present, and future.
And this is the hope that anchors our souls, the assurance that not only are our sins forgiven, but that heaven is our eventual home, and that we will live in the Lord’s presence and experience His peace forever.
But Jesus came for more than just giving us this future hope, but also to give us a hope for our present as well.
He said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)
The thief is Satan, and he’s out to steal our joy, kill our chance at salvation, and destroy our soul in the process. But not Jesus. He came to give us not just life, but abundant life, not only for eternity, but for right here and right now.
Yes, troubles, trials, and tribulations are going to come as part of this world, but Jesus overcame them and suffered in our place so that we can have a life that is truly worth living. You see, God has a plan and a purpose for our lives that exceeds our understanding and expectations and supersedes our present reality, that is, our present difficulties.
Louis Giglio said, “Jesus is an overcoming Savior, and there is hope in that.” That hope is found in the cross of Christ and in the fullness of God’s love for us.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (that is, the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.” (1 John 4:10 NKJV)
With the understanding that our sins are forgiven, the abundant life that Jesus provides is His peace.
We see this in what Jesus also said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27 NKJV)
What’s the difference between the peace Jesus gives and the peace of this world? To begin with, the peace the world offers is at best a cessation of hostilities. But such a peace can never last, as we have seen throughout history.
Many also try to achieve peace through denial and addiction. Denial is refusing to accept the truth because it hurts, and addiction is trying to drown out the pain.
But the peace Jesus brings is a peace with God, which means we can be reconciled to God in the same kind of relationship Adam and Eve had at the very beginning, before the fall.
The Apostle Paul said it this way, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17 NKJV)
While the warning label for life reads tribulation and trouble, the benefits of having a life in Christ are that when these troubles happen, we can still have an abundant life. And the major aspect of that life is having peace with God, which is what our heart and soul long for.
This peace is further extended to us in that we are no longer limited to this earth while we are here. Through prayer, we can enter into the very presence of God, where He not only hears us but also gives us the grace we need to make it through all the evils, all the trouble and trials that assault us.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)
It’s not that we can physically enter, but rather that we can enter through our prayers. This is what the word “boldly” means, that is, “with all speech.” And so, through our prayers, we can enter into God’s throne room of grace to obtain the mercy we need to help us through this life of trouble and tribulation.
With this understanding, I believe the Apostle Paul writes, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV)
How do we know we have this access and that God hears our cries?
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)
And so we need to humble ourselves, get on our knees and pray, asking God to forgive us, and then repent, that is, turn away from our wickedness. Then He will hear, forgive, and heal.
What prevents God from hearing our prayers is our failure to ask Him for His forgiveness and to repent.
What are the consequences for unconfessed and unrepentant sin? It’s seen in what the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah.
“But there is a problem — your sins have cut you off from God. Because of your sin, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” (Isaiah 59:2 NLT)
So the first thing we need to do is confess and repent of our sins. And just as a reminder, repentance means turning away from our sins and turning toward God.
“And we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will.” (1 John 5:14 NLT)
In essence, His will is anything that glorifies His name and anything that advances the gospel of Jesus Christ. What prevents His hearing and our receiving is wanting what we want the way we want it, benefiting only us, not God or others.
“And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong — you want only what will give you pleasure.” (James 4:3 NLT)
Now, there seems to be a disconnect at this step. We go to God in prayer and forget to ask Him what He wants from us. Instead, we only ask Him for what we want from Him.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.” (James 1:5-6a NKJV)
James then goes on to say, “For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 5:6b-8 NKJV)
But what is faith? (Definition vs. Description)
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)
Faith believes without seeing and knows of its reality, like gravity. We can’t see it, but we know of its reality. If you don’t believe me, jump off a building.
We cannot see Jesus as the disciples did, but we can see him through other means, such as creation.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20 NKJV)
But our faith must exceed this.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)
When we come to Jesus by faith, diligently seeking Him above all else, believing that He is and that He exists, even though we don’t see Him face to face, THAT is when God is pleased and will grant what we ask.
And so, when we come to God in prayer, we must come by faith, believing in Him, turning from our sins, and making our requests according to His will, that which will glorify Him. Then He will hear and answer our prayers.
And then the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds against Satan and the evil in this world.
And so, what is this hope we’re talking about?
