Titus 1:1-2 "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; (2) In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began"
Hebrews 6:17-19 "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to
shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by
an oath: (18) That by two immutable things, in which it was
impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled
for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: (19) Which hope
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil"
Recently we have been looking at the subject of "Hope." For me,
I have been reminded just how important it is for us to have hope and to be
able to hold onto it. Most of our thoughts have been concerning hope for God's
love, mercy, and grace to intervene in our lives during times of hardship and
struggle. It's most important for us to understand that every valley has a
beginning and an end. It's also most important for us to understand the great
truth that David wrote in Psalm 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me." I am deeply grateful to the Lord for
the sweet precious hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
But today, as we conclude this week of hope, I want us to see the deepest part
of the subject wherein is found all the hope that we seek in everyday
life. I know that was a complex sentence and maybe my thought went over your
head as it did mine. All hope that we seek in this life is only grounded by the
ultimate hope that has been given to us as is found in our first Scripture
today: "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised
before the world began." Yes, the greatest hope that we have is ETERNAL
LIFE in Christ Jesus. I want to stress that word, "eternal." We can't
pass that up and still hold onto hope at the same time. According to Strong's
Concordance and Dictionary, it means perpetual. Man is always looking to invent
the perpetual motion machine in which the motion NEVER ceases. Yes, I'm
stressing certain words today because I believe it is very important. You see,
God has promised... Let me repeat that... GOD has PROMISED ETERNAL life.
Eternal means that it never ceases. If our receiving that life is based upon
us, then losing that life would be the result of our action also. But the basis
of eternal life... the promise of eternal life.. is not based upon us. That's
why I used the passage in Hebrews. Again, the meaning of the word hope is
the "calm assurance and anticipation" of a coming event. God
promised. God cannot lie. That promise was made "before the world
began"; that is, it was made before we were born. God promised His Son to
die on that old rugged cross to redeem us from our sins. God promised. God
cannot lie. But then God also gave us "an anchor of the soul, both sure
and stedfast" and that anchor is JESUS. There is so much more that I could
say about this, but I just want us to correlate our hope with Christ. As long
as Jesus lives, we shall live also. There is no other way. I realize this is a
long devotion, but it's one of the most important ones that I have ever
written. Yes, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and His
righteousness."