Christ: The Treasure of Our Hearts預覽

Human beings are constantly in search of hope. Hope is the gasoline that keeps our engine running. Without hope, people quickly shut down—they may be “living” but are no longer fully “alive” when they lose hope. Why is hope so important for people? Because hope is the foundation of faith, and faith is the substance of everyday life. You have to hope something is possible before you can have faith it will happen. When you lose hope, faith cannot operate, and life shuts down. When people lose the will to live, it is because they have lost hope. That’s why God specializes in giving hope to hopeless hearts. He is the source of eternal hope.

That’s what the Christmas story, recorded in the four Gospels, is all about – HOPE. The story in the Gospels begins far before Jesus came into this world as the Son of God. Jesus was introduced as the hope for fallen mankind after the fall of Adam and Eve as the “seed” of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head to redeem us from sin (Gen 3:15). He was the covenant maker with Abraham who promised Abraham would be a “father of a multitude of nations,” thereby including every tribe on earth in his plan for salvation (Gen 4-17). God perfectly described Jesus Christ, born of a virgin and best described as “Immanuel.” Translated “God with us (Isa 7:14). Even Jesus’ death on the cross was described 1,000 years before it happened in great detail, from the piercing of his hands and feet to the dividing of his clothing by the Roman soldiers, all the way to his last words as Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why hast though forsaken me?” (Psalm 22). Why all the detail? Because God wanted to give you something to bank on in your hope. Something you can be sure about. Something that has stood the test of time and been found true.

When you find your hope is at a weak point, or perhaps you have run out of hope all altogether, remember what God promises us in Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.

The same God who sent his only Son as a baby in Bethlehem makes this promise to you. He is the one who fulfills his word and has proven that for many generations. He is a spring of eternal hope, and that is what we celebrate at Christmas—Jesus Christ, the hope of the world. Could you use a fresh fusion of hope in your life today? Christmas is a time for renewing hope.

Prayer

Lord, my well is dry today. I am running low on hope. But you are the wellspring of life and hope. I pray that you flood my soul with living hope today so I can trust you and take you at your word. I reach out by faith today as an act of hope, trusting that you are the same one who sent your Son to earth to die for my sins so I can be forgiven. I have hope for my future welfare and that of my loved ones. I hope you will calm the storms surrounding me and place my future in your hands. Thank you for renewing my hope and, through that, energizing my faith. In the name of your Son Jesus Christ, I pray—Amen!

James Flynn, D.Min. serves as associate professor and associate dean for the Regent University School of Divinity.