A disturbing fact was brought to my attention today as I was
listening with half an ear to radio. The statement that changed
my day was, “as others that have no hope...” There was much
more to the speaker’s remarks this afternoon, but that phrase
has haunted me since. Is there truly a class, group, family or
multitude of people on this earth, sharing the air, space and time
who do not have hope? If so, what are the circumstances of their
pitiable plight? Another question comes to mind, “What sepa-
rates the hopeful from the hopeless? So far three questions are
on the board with no answers. If we "hope" for answers, just
ask more questions. The first might be, “What is hope and is it
important?” Secondly, we ask, “How does one know when he
has hope, and how do you know if you or others are hopeless?”
First, look at the complete sentence I overheard that brought this
to my consciousness. From my radio, I heard, “Brothers, we
do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, (die)
or to grieve like ( others) the rest of men who have no hope.”
That's what I heard that changed my day; possibly my life.
According to the author who penned the words over 1,900 years
ago, there are two “classes” of people; hopeful and hopeless. We
may look at the subject from each side and ask, What do the hope-
ful know the hopeless do not? or What is the reason for one group
having hope and the other group having no hope? Will you agree
a definition of hope is; “Having a confident expectation of future
good?" We hope for future good, not seen at present. Another
way of expressing it may be; a person who has hope is optimistic
and one who has no hope is pessimistic. Just suppose the persons
involved are realists. Although hopeful is aware of the facts por-
tending good for him and ill for the other, hopeless isn't aware
there is hope to be had in this life.
Of course, the sentence causing the stir came from the Bible is
found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, written by an intellectual Jewish
leader of the first century who lived at the time of Jesus Christ.
This Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, was an early persecutor of
the Church of Jesus Christ. After a dramatic experience along the
road to the Syrian city of Damascus, he was converted to the very
faith he had opposed. He saw the risen and ascended Christ. He
was blinded by the experience. He later became the leading pro-
ponent for the faith he had vehemently condemned. His eyesight
was restored by a gentle, hopeful soul in Damascus. (That's in
in Syria.)
Now, what about the hopeful? There is a group of people, known
as the Church of Jesus Christ, who are hopeful that any one who
has died, fallen asleep, with their hope and faith in Jesus Christ,
God's unique, "only begotten Son," will be restored to new life and
an eternal body, to live in a prepared place with their Lord. They
love life here, and are not anxious to meet this enemy called death;
but they are hopeful about their eternal destiny, having “an expec-
tation of future good.”
What about the hopeless, or those “others having no hope?” Is it
possible they are unaware of their plight and are leading normal,
seemingly well adjusted lives. The truth is, they are aware with an
unease, that their destinies are out of their hands and uncertain.
They have concern for their eternal destination and find every kind
of diversion, good, bad, or indifferent, to fill the void of their hope-
less existence. There is every kind of person in this mix. There
are those who live respectable lives, and those who live in debau-
chery. There are the seeming religious as well as the irreligious.
All kinds of persons make up the group and even the hopeful were
part of that group at one time.
How then, do the hopeless become hopeful?
If you look further in the book of 1 Thessalonians you will find the
answers; correct action based on truth. If you find truth and act on
it, you will be free of hopelessness. In John 8: 31-31, "Then Jesus
said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in my Word, you
are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." This experience frees one from hurtful life-
styles and restores him/her to harmony with his creator and Lord.
The facts presented in this epistle are; You can live hopefully by
establishing a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Just
as Paul submitted to Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, we must
submit to the claims of this Christ on our lives. You see, He died a
sacrificial death for the sins of those who receive Him as personal
Savior and Lord. He rose again after three days; was seen multiple
times. At one time he was seen by over 500 persons. He then
ascended into heaven in sight of some of His followers, to be with
God the Father and is making intercession for you and me. His work
on the earth was finished to effect our regeneration from death to life,
moved us from hopeless to hopeful. The rest is history. (By the way,
this Jesus who came to earth, lived a totally righteous life of good
deeds and hopeful teaching, is one with God the Father. He is God,
the one True Living God of the Old and New Testaments, the Bible.
You too, no matter your condition, may be rightly related to the
Father through thoughtful acceptance, by faith, in Jesus Christ, as
Savior and Lord. We must all acknowledge (confess openly) Him
as the only hope for our miserable estate and recognize we have
put ourselves into this condition by the transgression of God's law,
sin. This is the state of everyone who has not claimed the name of
Jesus Christ as personal Savior, made an about face, or repentance
of our sin with the full determination to live for Him as He takes up
residence in and control of life. We must ask Him to enter into our
being by His Holy Spirit and release control of life to Him. (Indivi-
dually) The desire of Jesus Christ is to give us a hope of a future in
glory and in His mind, when we receive Him, it is done. (From God's,
Word, read the Apostle Paul's letter to Ephesian believers in that
letter, Ephesians 1: 15-23. Vs. 18, "...the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling
what are the riches of the glory at His inheritance in the saints."
As I heard these words this afternoon, it struck a note of sorrow.
It is sad to think there are people with whom we associate every day
who are hopeless, and on a dead-end street. What is my response to
this experience. If I continue business as usual, my seeming hopeless
friends and acquaintances will eventually depart life, entering a hope-
less eternity; their blood on my hands. One day I will stand before my
creator and give account of my response to this message of Jesus
Christ. He is counting on us to communicate the message of "Hope in
Christ" to those with whom we rub shoulders daily, and reach out to
people of the world who have lost their way...You too can have a per-
sonal relationship with the Lord of the Bible now, by placing your
faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. (YESHUA) Pray now and ask Him to
reveal himself to you by His Word. Pray the Lord God that He will
keep you and me from ever simplifying or denigrating the message of
salvation, but to learn to live the message through faith in the one
who created it all. The message is just that, "plain," by no means,
"simple."
(The ball in in your court.)
For words of hope, access the following from
God’s Word, the Bible:
Romans 5:1-5, 8:18-30, 1 Corinthians 15:19-22, Ephesians 1:15-23,
Colossians 1:3-8, 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17,
1 Timothy 1:1-2, Titus 3:3-8, Hebrews 6:11-20, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 17-23,
1 Peter 3:15, and...1 John 3:1-3.
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-new-creature-romans-51-2-81-4-14.html
Don Porter, 2/1/03 Updates 11.25.14, 2.04.15
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