If you have been reading this column for a while you will know I wrote on the theme of hope at Easter a couple of years ago. No, I have not run out of content. Rather, the topic of hope is one I come across a lot as people seem to be running out of it. This holds even for high performance athletes and those the world looks on with admiration due to their physical prowess. No, we all need the reminder of the hope that we find at Easter each year.
We hope for many things- to win the championship, to make more gains, to lose 10lbs. What really is this kind of hope? Often It is wishful thinking. When the Psalmist wrote: ‘Put your hope in God” (Ps.42:5) he did not have this whimsical idea of glory or fame. And no, he was definitely not thinking of ‘cross your fingers and think happy thoughts’. Just as Paul talked about being “joyful in hope” (Rom.12:12) the Bible has a very different take on it. When we read ‘hope’ here it means confident expectation or anticipation. It is like the days leading up to Christmas or the night before your birthday. You know it is coming and you cannot wait!
Hope is built on God’s promises
This kind of hope is built on the promises of God as found in the Bible. This is a hope that does not disappoint (Rom.5:5) . If we’re honest with ourselves, we do suffer a lot of disappointment in our lives. We are disappointed and discouraged by all the things we did not do, by the failed goals or losses. Our marriages are disappointing, our relationships are unfulfilling, and on and on it goes. We lack hope, despair crowds in. We try to rally our spirits, but it is hard. Yet when we put our hope in God, in the promises of scripture, no matter what is happening around us, we will find we are not disappointed because our hope is in God.
How do you experience that kind of hope? Simply, you need to align yourself to God and His rules for life. He cannot empower what He is not in. That means we need to practice the spiritual disciplines of confessing our sins and that Jesus is Lord. We need to repent or turn from the things that are displeasing to God. Then we accept His gift of forgiveness finally living according to the precepts and principles of the Bible. When we do that, we can truly experience a lasting, deep, and satisfying hope.
Easter reminds us of God’s love
At Easter time we are reminded anew that God loved us so much He sent His only son to die for us. The Word became flesh. Anyone who believes in Him, confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in their heart God raised Him from the dead will not perish. Instead, they will experience the joy, hope, and promise of life everlasting in Heaven, a real place. (John 3:16, John 1:14, Rom.10:9).
At Easter we remember Jesus dying a criminal’s death on a Roman cross but through that voluntary act defeating sin. We remember Jesus’ burial after his death, a reminder that there are dark days for those who are His followers. We also remember a stone rolled away, an empty tomb and that death could not hold Him down. He has defeated death. Through this we too will experience a future resurrection into a perfect living for eternity in a place where there is no more war, abuse, divorce, disease, or suffering-Heaven.
And that gives us hope and is our hope, our confident expectation, our anticipation of what is to come, found at this special time of year-Easter. That trumps everything we have and will face in the year to come. Let us celebrate this hope and let our lights shine!
