26TH OCTOBER
ABOUNDING IN HOPE (2)
“If in Christ we have hope in this life only,
we are of all people most to be pitied.”
(1 Corinthians 15:19)
How wonderful to know that many promises of God in scriptures, written thousands of years earlier, have received fulfilment, even when some circumstances made them seem impossible. A standard example is the restoration of Israel. Many of the Old Testament Prophets – including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Hosea and Amos – predicted the scattering and eventual restoration of Israel. For instance, in Amos 9:14-15 God said He will bring Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine; make gardens and eat their fruit and they will plant never be uprooted in Israel in the land He had given them. The fulfilment of these words began about 2700 years later, in 1948, when many Jews returned to Israel and reclaimed sovereignty over a portion of their ancient homeland, after centuries of exile. The words stand true to date! Please visit Israel, if you haven’t done so.
In this world, there are a few tangible benefits of being a Christian. Christians live a life of spiritual victory but experience persecution, poverty, pain, sorrow, alienation and other challenges, despite our faith or sometimes as a result of our faith. In the midst of it, we struggle to pray and live in obedience as we ought.
In view of this, our text for today stresses that if there were only earthly values for our faith, then Christians should be the most pitied. If Christ is not resurrected, then our sins are not forgiven and our present struggles and sufferings are in vain and there is no hope of eternal life. God forbid! Surely we abound in the hope of the eternal value of our faith. In faith and obedience to the words of our Lord, we await the second coming of Jesus, our Redeemer, to make us dwell in the new heaven and the new earth, a land of “Immanuel” – God with us – for He will be our God and we will be His people forever.
ACTION: Praise God for this hope of eternal life.
PRAYER: Oh Jesus, my Redeemer, let me reign with you, forever and ever. Amen!