“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 1 Peter 3:15
If you are looking for hope, and you need hope, and you can’t seem to find hope, or you feel like you keep finding hope but then losing your grasp on it and are unable to find it any longer, wondering how could it go again, be gone just like that, and sometimes you feel like you’re riding a roller coaster of hope, one day you have it, the next day you have everything but hope, or you feel like you’ve never known hope at all, not lasting hope anyway, or the kind of hope you know, and have, and have had all along, seems fine, just fine, but you sense there’s something more, much more, to hope than the hope you experience, may you find in this message the greatest hope that ever was, that ever is, and that ever will be. Need hope? Want hope? A deeper hope? A greater hope? A lasting hope? An unfathomable, indescribably awesome hope?
There is only ONE HOPE that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING HAS ACCESS TO, that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING IS INVITED TO HAVE, AND TO HOLD, AND TO CHERISH, NOT AT DEATH WILL YOU PART FROM IT, BUT FOR ETERNITY YOU WILL HAVE IT, that is totally trustworthy, totally reliable, totally true, totally pure, totally amazing, totally beautiful, totally unconditional, totally not contingent on the ups and downs of the circumstances of our lives, that is totally everlasting, that no human being can give to us, not even we ourselves, and that no human being can take from us, that is so totally lovely, so totally satisfying, that is so totally exciting, that is so totally rewarding, that is so totally unbelievably wonderful, that no hope on this earth can compare in its awesomeness, and that’s the hope of an everlasting relationship with God – now and forever in heaven – through Jesus Christ who is Lord.
When we acknowledge we are sinners, which all humans are, and are genuinely remorseful over sinning against God, and genuinely believe in Christ as Lord, and Savior, believing He died on the cross in our place to take God’s wrath at us upon Himself for our sins, and the accompanying punishment of death, hell, and the lake of fire forever apart from God, Christ as the perfect atonement for our sins, believing in who Jesus Christ is, what He did, what He is doing, and what He will do, believing in what He says in God’s Word, believing in our hearts He is Lord and was raised from the dead, genuinely devoting our lives to God almighty through Christ, we obtain the perfect hope, the ultimate hope, the everlasting hope, no matter our trials and tribulations on this earth, of forever in heaven with the Lord. There is NO GREATER HOPE than surrendering our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, than living for Him, than knowing we are His forever and ever!
No worldly hope we can ever experience, based on our circumstances on this earth, can possibly compare with the hope of everlasting fellowship with Christ as Lord, Savior, redeemer, healer, King, friend, and master of our lives forevermore! Every other hope we experience on this earth will come and go, will rise and fall, will be tangible and then one day gone, will be strong and at other times less so, but not the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ. For even when the world as we know it is one day gone, when there will be the new heavens and the new earth, there will be one constant who was here before the foundation of the world, whose Spirit is in His followers on this earth even now, and who will reign forever and ever, and that is Christ who is Lord and King of His forever Kingdom who is the greatest hope in the universe for all who yield their hearts and lives to His forever lordship! Oh, come to the Lord, my friend, come to Him! And, if you are already His, you already follow Him, but you are struggling, discouraged, dismayed, frustrated, broken, hurting, whatever challenges you may face, do not look for the hope that is of this world, but redirect your focus to the hope of the Lord, to the Lord Himself, oh come, my friend, come to the Lord, come! Glory be to the Lord who is the hope of this world, oh, come to the Lord!