Our Eternal Hope this Advent Season

I often marvel over Christians working through the uncertainties and difficulties of life while remaining people of great and sincere hope. Seared into my memory are examples of faithful Christians whose lives have exhibited such hope, even in the midst of great human strain and turmoil. Notable figures like John the Baptist, Stephen (Acts 6-7) and the Apostle Peter loom large in our collective Christian experience, but many of us also carry a mental rolodex of Christians we have personally known and touched, whose lives are testaments of the hope of Jesus Christ, even in trying times.

There was a time, however, when hopelessness abounded. Because of the sin and defiance of man, he was separated from our holy and perfect God. God had given His perfect law to His people, but they found themselves incapable of keeping it. The world needed a Savior. And because God loves us so much and He desires for us, men and women, Jew and Gentile, to be reconciled with Him, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to be our Savior. The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus make it such that:

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

For that reason, Christians’ hope rests in Jesus. It is because of Jesus and Jesus alone that we have reason to be hopeful.

People today need a Savior as much as they did during the time of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. The promise of hope for men and women who will place all their trust in Jesus is as real today as it was then. As the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, Christians have the responsibility of carrying the Gospel’s message of salvation and hope to those people. As we begin to celebrate this advent season and prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior, may we renew our conviction to spreading the Gospel’s message of hope in Jesus. And for each of us, may our hope, rooted in Jesus alone, always be bigger and brighter than the hardships, heartaches and uncertainties of our lives.