We all hang our hopes on one thing or another throughout our lives. Once my wife and I were out in Las Vegas. On our way back into the hotel for the night, we walked through the casino floor and saw a woman playing the slots. One quarter after another. Ok, not so unusual in Vegas. However, the next morning when we were leaving for an early adventure, the same woman was at the same machine in the same clothes as the night before. She was hitting the bet button and pulling the crank over and over with who appeared to be a not too happy husband behind her. It was like she was just working out that last big payout. If she hit that jackpot it was a lifechanging amount of money. It was like she pinned all her hopes and dreams on hearing the winner bells.
I know that’s not realistic to expect the big win. The lights all over the Vegas strip certainly weren’t paid for by all the winners.
Well, what could be less of a gamble? How about the stock market. Sometimes there is just a sure thing. I was in high school back in the 1980s when Chrysler was about to go bankrupt. I was watching their stock plumet to under a dollar. I told my dad to please go buy some, it was certain President Reagan would bail them out. Dad didn’t, but Reagan did. Within months it was up 3000%. I saw GM in the same boat 30 years later and thought here was my chance to right history and bought it. They went bankrupt and I was out my investment.
We all like to think there is a sure thing. Not at the race track, not at the Super Bowl, not the Nigerian Prince promising me a 10th of his fortune, and not even banks. I’ve read stories that it still happens were a bank fails and customers only get what was insured.
Ok, so those are all bad examples to hang your hopes on. So why do we keep hoping? We live in a world where the majority of people are pessimistic. According to Statista.com 82 percent of the world identifies as pessimistic. But hope is important. It is more important than most people think.
Doctor Adam Stern of Harvard Medical understands the importance of hope. He wrote:
“The topic of hope is low-hanging fruit for pop culture and even politics: Not all that long ago, one US president hailed from a town called Hope, and another campaigned on it. But hope is also beginning to reveal its value in scientific studies. Among young adults with chronic illnesses, greater degrees of hope are associated with improved coping, well-being, and engagement in healthy behaviors. It also protects against depression and suicide. Among teens, hope is linked with health, quality of life, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose. It is an essential factor for developing both maturity and resilience.”
“Fortunately, such benefits also extend into later life, as the opportunities for calamity start to increase. Our bodies fail us. We may experience life's setbacks like losing jobs, relationships, or family members. If our early challenges are so often related to growing and developing into healthy adults, later life can be thought of as a period of consolidation and acceptance of one's self, even as the physical body declines and circumstances shift for the worse.”
He went on to say:
“…. hope can be an opportunity for us to process events that seem insurmountable. A massive setback in life, a crushing accident, a vigil held during a relative's last days in the intensive care unit, or even our own final months living with a fatal disease can be times when hope for comfort or reprieve serves as a pathway from one stage to the next.”
And, he’s not the only one. Dr Brian Lawlor of Trinity College in Dublin says this of hope:
“… your brain operates more effectively, and you feel better, if you have hope when faced with adversity and uncertainty. But hope isn’t a given, you have to work at it, and connect outside yourself for it to take root and be experienced in your brain. Hope can be a powerful elixir for health: trust, caring and setting realistic goals aimed at well-being and quality of life can turn fear and stigma inside out.”
These are all great reasons to have hope; better mental health, better attitudes, just better health in general. But what reasons do we have for hope?
1. Love gives us hope
Love is powerful. And its effects are visible. But if love between us were a visible bright light, it would be blindly bright from our Lord.
Think of how many things the has Lord had done for you. How much of your life has personally been affected by His love. Christ came to cure the lame, heal the blind, and even raise the dead.
Even when showing us through his miracles the enormity of his power, he never lived a life of riches. He never ruled us by force. He only asked that we follow him.
And in the end, the Lord loved us so much that he was willing to sacrifice is own Son for our sake.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God gave us this incredible world to live in. He gave us the sun to warm us, the rain to cool us, trees to shelter us, and the plants to feed us. He taught us love by showing his love. And it was shown in the greatest sacrifice of all. The sacrifice of his own Son.
It may not be seen as a beam of light but the connection of love between you and the Lord is a warmth you can feel. It may not be a visible beam of light but it affects the physical world when you see the Lord’s love when your prayers are answered and your sick healed. It may not be visible but it is more apparent than the strongest forces of world around us. And with love comes Hope. You have hope because you know you’re never alone. You never have to face anything alone. That gives you hope you can conquer any task.
2. Forgiveness gives us hope
How many of us deserve heaven? How many of us deserve eternal life? Ever since God created man, there hasn’t been a single one of us that has earned our right into heaven. Adam and Eve were living in Paradise and couldn’t even avoid doing the only thing that God told them not to do. And because of that they were expelled from the Garden. Even Peter, one of the Lord’s own Disciples. He lived with the Lord for 3 years and still denied Christ.
All of us have committed crimes against our Lord. We have all sinned. Because of our sins, we deserve punishment. How many times have you sinned in your life? How many times have you sinned this week? I’d venture that we all sin every day. Every sin deserves punishment. Every sin would prevent us from entering heaven.
God has it within his right and his power to punish us, but because of his mercy we can be forgiven. We can get a pardon for our sins. We can receive eternal life in Paradise with our lord.
If we want mercy on Judgment Day, then we will need to have mercy on others. This is what Christ was referring to when he said to turn the other cheek. In a society that was based on an eye for an eye, they would get their justice. If someone wronged them, they would get a fair and equal return. But now Christ is telling us that if we are wronged, instead of seeking justice, we should exercise mercy.
Christ said: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Knowing that we have forgiveness gives us hope that even though we are flawed, we can still return to our Father and be welcomed back home.
3. We hope to see Jesus return
Two thirds of the planet await the return of Jesus. The prophecy is all throughout the New Testament. Jesus, the Son of God returning is one of the centerpieces of Christianity. The scriptures say:
John 14:3
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
And again in John 16:22
22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
In Revelations 22:12-13 it says
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
And also in Acts 11:9-11
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
The return of Jesus is what gives us hope of justice in an unjust world. It gives us hope that he will bring peace to the chaos and hate.
4. We hope for Eternal Life with our Lord
People seem to go further and further to try to live longer. Now people are freezing themselves upon their death so that upon some future date, medicine will catch up with their diseases and they can be revived and brought back to life, achieving immortality. If you can’t afford the $120K to have your body frozen, for the bargain $40Kish, you can have just your head frozen with the expectation that science will also learn how to grow you a new body! So if you were frozen, and thawed a century or more later, would the world really be where you’d want to live? All your friends would be gone. The world would have moved on.
I believe what is driving so many people to strive for immortality is the lack of belief in an afterlife drives them to cling to this life. They only think that once their body gives out, there won’t be anything else. Just blackness. All that they ever were or ever could be, lost forever to return to the earth as dust once again.
A non-believer I know was a retiree. He spent his days playing tennis and laying by the pool. That was the existence he strived for. He made the comment “how could there be anything better than this?” That really showed how little experience he had. If you just watch the news and see what goes on in the world, there are wars, disease, famine, earthquakes, radiation poisoning cities, tsunamis, slavery and human trafficking. I find that kind of sad that he would think that nothing could be better than this.
I can think of a lot better. Never having to face death. Never being apart from my family. No more evil. Being in the presence of our maker.
John 3:35-36
35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
So God promises eternal life but what kind of eternal life would it be?
For one, there will be peace.
Isaiah 11:6-9 (NIV)
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Out eternal home's description is majestic beyond words. Could you ever imagine a city where the walls were made of gemstone and their foundations are covered in jewels. The place is so opulent its streets are paved with gold. And it’s meant to be our home forever, making our time on Earth seem so inconsequential. However, this seemingly inconsequential time compared to eternity, this life is the measure of our admission into Gods Kingdom.
And Jesus gives us hope that we can go!
John 6:35-37
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
In a world of turmoil, there is always hope; hope in the Lord that he is always with us. Hope for Love, hope for forgiveness, hope for Christ’s return, and hope for eternal life. It will carry us through all trials and tribulation.
I leave you with Psalms 33:20-22 NIV
20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.
1. https://www.statista.com/chart/26232/optimism-vs-pessimism-global-threats-survey/
2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/hope-why-it-matters-202107162547
3. https://www.gbhi.org/news-publications/what-hope-and-why-do-we-need-it
