Have you ever hit a barrier that you
felt you could not make past? Ever reached a point where you said, “I can’t
take it anymore,” and it did not go away? At such a time what is most needed
is hope. But there is a bigger problem that engulfs the whole human race, of
which our individual problems are only a symptom. And it is an even greater
barrier than all the individual ones we face. That problem is the problem of
sin and death. The Bible says that we are all sinners in rebellion against a
holy God (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9). This has resulted in a
world under a curse (Romans 8:19-23; Genesis 3:16-19; Revelation 22:3), ending
in death (Romans 6:23; 5:12-21; Genesis 2:16,17). But we are helpless to change
this situation by ourselves (Romans 8:8; 7:18; John 15:5). But we are told
that, in spite of the seeming hopelessness of the situation, there is hope
(Romans 8:24,25; Hebrews 6:18-20; Galatians 5:5). What then is this hope based
on?
This hope comes from God, who in
order to deliver us from the trap we had gotten ourselves into, became a human
being (John 1:1-18; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 2:9-18) in order to pay the
full price for all the wrong we had done (1 Peter 2:24,25; Colossians 2:13,14;
2 Corinthians 5:21). This was in fulfillment of the promise that God made in
the beginning and that many had hoped for since then (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah
9:1-7; Hebrews 11:13-16). The result of this is that those who put their faith
in Him (Romans 4:4,5; Ephesians 2:8,9; Philippians 3:9) are forgiven for all
their wrongdoing (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 3:24-26; Acts 26:18). Therefore, we are
saved to hope for an ultimate deliverance, in which God will remake this evil
world we are in now into one that fits His original intention (Titus 2:13;
Revelation 21:4; Philippians 3:20,21).
But though this is so, we still in
the present have problems, even problems that might seem too big for us to
endure. But our hope in God puts these into perspective (John 16:33; Romans
8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Also, even if God does not immediately remove the
problem (sometimes He does, but frequently He does not), we know that God is at
work in our lives to accomplish His will even through the suffering (Romans
8:28-30; Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, we can trust Him for
all of life (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 127:1,2; Hebrews 11:6). And if we can trust
Him for our eternal salvation and all of life, should we not be able to trust
Him for the particular situation we are in now? I do not promise you that God
will deliver you from the circumstances you are in. But if He does not, He
will, if you trust in Him, bring you through them. And in the final analysis,
it is this hope in Him that makes the difference in how we face these
situations.
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