Photo by Ben White
Hope. If there is anything people need today it is hope.
We see this today in the record number of suicides among both the young and old. Despair rather than hope fills the minds of so many today. The outcome of confining all our dreams to this world is often bitterness, anger, fear, and depression. I have tasted of this despair, too, in my past.
Where do we find hope today? Or better yet, what is the basis for our hope? Is it a politician who may be out of power in a few years if not already? Is it in religion where you discover a long laundry list of what to do that you can't possibly keep?
No! Our hope rests in our risen Savior whose promises, revealed in Scripture, give us hope. Our expectation of a glorious and joyous eternity rests totally on Jesus and His revealed words.
3. The Bible Alone Gives Us Hope
Without the trustworthiness of Jesus’ word revealed throughout all the pages of Scripture, it’s just one person’s opinion versus that of another as to the source of our hope?
It boils down to one’s opinion versus another’s as to what portions of Scripture we can trust, does it not?
Here are just a few examples of this:
- Some accept the portions of the Bible that speak of love, but reject those that speak sin and its consequences. God is thus all about love and not justice. No need for a Savior with such thinking. But where is the hope in that?
- Some accept the teachings of Jesus, but reject His claim to be the only way to the Father, the only way of salvation. His death on the cross is thus reduced to an example rather than the necessary means of gaining eternal life. Do such beliefs really give people hope? I don't think so.
- Some regard Jesus as a great teacher and example, but reject all His claims regarding Himself, including that of being equal with God the Father. How can we trust someone to give us eternal life that was wrong about so many things?
- Some believe in God, but reject the account of creation along with Jesus’ validation of it. Do you see how such thinking eliminates the need for a Savior?
A Bible that is only partially correct does not give us any hope regarding our future. Who becomes the arbitrator of what parts of Scripture are true and what portions are false? And even if we come up with sections we believe are true, does such an approach really give us confidence in eternity?
How does a Bible that is only partially correct give us any hope regarding our future? It cannot!
Satan is at the root of all the present day attacks on the Bible. He has at least two reasons to vehemently oppose God’s reveal Word. First, it speaks of his final doom. Second, rejecting God’s Word removes all hope of an afterlife from humanity and thus sets up the world for the deception, violence, and chaos of the tribulation, which we already see the signs of in our current world.
Jesus said this about His words, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Soon after making this claim Jesus walked out of His grave forever proving the truth of all His assertions. And not only that, His resurrection proves we can trust our Savior’s promises of a glorious kingdom and an amazing and joyous eternity.