trbccoffeebreak

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.” Ephesians 1:18

(If you missed part 1 of this yesterday, please check it out https://wp.me/p1jp5a-2FH.

Those who don’t believe that God created, well, everything, won’t worship the Creator—they’ll worship the creation (earth, stuff, people). And because all of creation is on a trajectory of death, hope in creation will always fail and disappoint the worshipper.

For those who reject Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to pay our debt and set us free (making us a new creation), what hope do they have for their future? They hope in self. They may try to be “a good person” and satisfy some nebulous universal accountant. But how can they ever be sure they’ve done “enough”? The result can only be despair.

Finally, our world (nation, culture) is in a constant state of decay, any way you slice it. Whether you believe God’s clock has run out, or if you anticipate generations of continued patience on God’s part, the fact remains: Jesus is coming back. Without going into eschatological discussion or hitting on the non-essentials of pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib theology, etc., suffice it to say that a New Heaven and New Earth will be created. And our respective new bodies will live forever there.

So, I am not hoping science to “prove” our world is billions of years old. (In fact, the more science learns, the more it aligns with the Bible—but that’s another blog altogether.) I will not put my hope in “saving” the earth through some New Green Deal. And I do not put my hope in governments or civic leaders who themselves are fallen and rotting.

My hope—and I pray yours—is in the One True and Living God, who made it all, sustains it all, and rules it all. His love never fails, so neither will my hope.

“Lord, all my hope is in You, even as these times seem hopeless. Help me have ready a reason for my hope, so I can share it with others.”

For His Glory

Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Ministry