Tag: Hope in the Bible

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Finding Hope

Hope is the desire or expectation for something to happen. In the Bible, hope is the desire for God to fulfill His promises. The Apostle Peter wrote:

“Always have an answer when asked about the hope that you have.”

Find Hope in the resurrection of Jesus

For Bible believers, it is the hope of the resurrection, that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will have eternal life. It is the hope that Jesus gave to the thief on the cross before He died:

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Because we cannot prove the existence of God, we hope. Biblical hope is faith founded on fact.

The Bible is our source for hope

Hope in God’s promises is not mere blind faith, but hope based upon the Word of God, the veracity of the Scriptures. Hope is something that every person needs. In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, people are hoping for vaccines, a cure and the end to a long and difficult path.

People have lost their jobs and don’t know how to make ends meet. So many have lost people they love and just hope that others are spared. We wait for the end to the pandemic to come, we hope the end is soon.

The late C.S. Lewis, a truly marvelous Christian author, wrote:

“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.”

The old saying “keep the faith” can also be said “there is hope.” Hope is looking forward and not focusing on the moment. The hope of eternal life in heaven, the hope of God providing justice, the hope that no matter what happens God will prevail and protect us, is the hope that is presented in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 31:6 reads:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5 states the same promise:

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Faith informs our hope

The difference between hope and faith is important. You hope that something happens and you have faith that it will. Your faith informs your hope. The Apostle Paul wrote that we are saved by the Grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our hope.

Hope plays an important part in the lives of every man and woman. Without hope no goals are achieved. Without hope dreams never become reality. Without hope tomorrow is no longer something to look forward to.

In 1 Chronicles 29:15, it says:

“We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”

Job 8:13 states:

“Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.”

Psalm 25:3 says of God:

“No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.”

God gives us the faith we need to have hope. Like faith, Biblical hope is based on God’s amazing track record of keeping His promises. Far from being baseless, it is founded on the certainty of His Word.

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Hope In the Bible Comes From God

Hope in the Bible

According to the dictionary, hope is the desire for something to happen. Or it can be the desire, with expectation, for something to happen. In the Bible, hope is so much more. Hope in the Bible is filled with prophesies of things that will happen and promises of good things to come.

We hope for things in life, like food, a place to live and some happiness to go along with those essentials. We hope for a better life and parents hope their children grow up to be healthy and prosperous. It’s universal. People are people, no matter where they come from.

Hope in the Bible

Biblical hope is entirely different. For starters, we cannot prove that God exists. Those to believe in God and believe in the Bible do so out of faith and hope. There is, of course, facts to back that up our beliefs, but since the beginning of recorded time, people look at the evidence and draw their own conclusions. One man’s facts is the other man’s folly.

That is a major sticking point for many people, because they want to see proof of God. Likewise, we cannot prove that there is no God. The Bible addresses that issue in Psalm 14:1:

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”

God wants man to come to Him, like children come to their parents. A child approaches mom and dad with trust and love. God wants us to approach Him with hope and faith.

We All Want To Believe

The human condition is hard-wired for belief in God. Somewhere in all of us is the desire to know where we came from and why we are here. That desire gets confused at times. We worship celebrities, like movie stars and athletes. We worship money and power. We can either follow God, or try to lead our lives by ourselves, we make the choice.

People who struggle with their belief in God ask: Were we some kind of cosmic accident, or was there “intelligent design,” by a creator? If there was a creator, why are we still asking these questions? Shouldn’t all of us have the same understanding of God or no God?

The simple explanation of this is God gives us our free will to CHOOSE whether or not we believe and have hope in Him. We all have our own opinions and we determine our own direction in life in so many instances.

We cannot chose when we are born, where we are born, who we are related to, whether we are born male or female. We may get cancer and die at an early age, or live to be over 100 years old, we have little control.

Our HOPE is in the LORD

We can, however, make choices along the way of what we put our hope in. Man can hope and have hope in the LORD. We have the ability to think “outside the box” or imagine things that have not happened.

Man is the only creature on earth that knows he/she is ultimately going to die. We make plans. Hope is that yearning for something more.

Biblical Hope Is the Desire For God

The Biblical version of hope is the desire for God. Jesus said: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to as well.” Matthew 7:33

God created man as an object of love. God said “Let us create man in our own image.” The Apostle Peter wrote:“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” 1 Peter 3:15

Peter was referring to the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. It is the anticipation of HOPE, based on trust and faith.

Throughout the Bible narrative, God makes promises and comes through on those promises. God lays down a perfect track record of hope, in all times and in all places:

Abram left his home hoping that God would lead him to a better life.

Moses trusted God to deliver the Israelite from bondage in Egypt. While they wandered the desert, Moses had hope that God would lead them to a land of milk and honey.

David had hope that he would defeat Goliath, despite overwhelming odds that he would surely die in the fight.

Isaiah wrote of the coming of the Messiah, with hope that God would come through.

Jesus, the Messiah, offered His own life willingly, with hope that He would be raised on the third day.

The Apostles spread out to the entire known world to share the Gospel, with hope that God would honor their efforts and people would respond.

Hope Is Founded In Fact

Hope in the truth and promises of God in the Bible is a matter of faith, founded on fact. Other than the Apostle John, all of the Apostles of Christ were martyred. They all died with hope. Were they fools, or did they see something that gave them confidence and hope?

Biblical hope is founded on evidence, based on consistency and logic. The Bible issues challenges to seek the deeper things of God. We are encouraged to ask questions and seek the truth. Accepting the Bible is not blind faith, but the kind of hope that everything is going to be fine as long as our hope is in God.

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The Fall of Man

The Fall

What Happened

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They fell from God’s grace.

Why it matters

The fall caused God to cast the human race out from the garden because of our sin and disobedience.

Bible Verse

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

    through painful toil you will eat food from it

    all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

    and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow

    you will eat your food until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

    and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19

Why it matters to you

God gave Adam and Eve the choice to love God or to disobey Him, they choose to disobey Him. Their terrible choice caused God to send them away and to allow them to feel the consequences of their disastrous decision. We are all still living with the negative consequences of that terrible choice.

Description

The Fall of Man

God created man in his own image, to love and cherish in a close, personal relationship. The first man was Adam. God determined that he should not be alone, so he caused him to fall asleep and created a woman, Eve, by taking one of Adam’s ribs. He created a utopia, a place for the first couple to live and raise a family. Every possible thing they would ever need was there for them. The beasts roamed free, but they were no threat and would not cause harm. Imagine being able to pet a tiger without fear of being eaten. It was the perfect place.

God gave Adam and Eve free will to choose they actions.

However, God also gave His first couple free will, to determine their own ideas and actions. This is essential, because God wants a free relationship with us, not one that is forced upon us. One of the creatures was a serpent. Even before God created the universe, as we know it today, he created the Heavenly Host, a large throng of angels to attend to his throne.

One of those angels, Lucifer, wanted to be like God and led a rebellion against Him. He took a third of the hosts with him, but failed in his takeover plot. He and his followers were cast down to the earth, out of the glory of heaven. Lucifer (Satan, the devil, Beelzebub) entered into the serpent and went to work on God’s first couple.

God gave them everything.

Even though everything was created for man, there was one tree that God said was not to be eaten from. It was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God said they could have EVERYTHING else, but not that one because it would cause their death.

The serpent, which Satan had entered, appeared and appealed to Eve’s pride and questioned whether God really said they should not eat of that tree. “You will NOT surely die,” he said to her. She took the bait. She ate of the fruit, then gave some to Adam.

Their disobedience lead to a separation from God. The perfect relationship, the perfect utopia, was soiled. They were suddenly embarrassed by their nakedness, so God killed an animal to give them covering. It was the first death, one of an innocent creature, to pay for man’s wrongdoing. That theme would continue.

Adam and Eve willing went against God resulting in their being driven out of the perfect garden God had created for them. Sin entered the world.

They willfully disobeyed God.

Adam and Eve willingly went against God. They doubted the goodness of God. They doubted His love. The doubted His provision, even though every evidence was to the contrary. They exercised their free will and defied God. It establishes the rest of the story.

How can God reconcile man to Himself? God created all things. He made the rules. Everything was perfect, then the bond was broken. His perfection, His holiness, His word was challenged, just as Lucifer challenged it. Adam and Eve had their own, personal relationship with God and now it was shattered. They were no different from us.

Human nature has not changed from the dawn of time.

Think of this– the only thing that has not changed since the dawn of time is human nature. Technology changes. Culture changes. Climate changes. People are people, no matter where or when they live.

We are all responsible for our own actions and we all have the free will to either accept or reject God. God said that he would put enmity (hatred, hostility, ill will) between man and the serpent. (Satan) That is a clue of the great plan that would follow, to make man perfect again and restore our close, perfect, personal relationship with the creator of the universe.

What you may not know

The Fall of Man continues to affect each of us daily. Adam and Eve’s disobedience are the origins of all evil in our world today.

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In the beginning was the Word…

The Bible

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The Most Important Book

The Bible is an amazing book. It’s the most important book in human history. It defines existence. It is our story, regardless of race, gender or national origin. It’s God’s revelation of Himself to His creation.

No other book in human history has had the kind of scrutiny, has been debated more, or has been the cause of as much social upheaval.

The Bible represents ABSOLUTE TRUTH about how we were created, why we exist and how we should live. Although parts of it were written more than 3400 years ago, it is completely relevant for today.

The Bible represents COMPLETE LOVE, because God is willing to communicate to us through His word. He shows us how to live through His Law, and because of His mercy, He sends His only Son to us so that we can live forever with Him.

The Bible represents UNAVOIDABLE JUSTICE for all. He rights the wrongs that have been committed by the world, delivering the perfect penalty to those who deserve it.

The Bible represents an INFINITE RESOURCE that we can study our entire lives and still find new and exciting revelations in, every day.

Bible Verse

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1

Description

The Bible is the manual for human life. It gives insight and clarity into human behavior by examining man’s psychological makeup, and like no other book ever written, explains why we are the way we are. It is the story of how we came into being, but more importantly, WHY we came into being.

The Bible is not a history book, yet its history is accurate and at times strikingly detailed. It is not a science book, yet its scientific information is solid. It is the story of the relationship between God and man, written over a 1400 year period by over 40 different authors.

“The Good Book“

By some, the Bible is considered “the good book,” while others consider it to be the inspired word of God. Some consider every word to be the literal truth, while others view it as truths contained in stories of people. Its wisdom is undeniable, and its commandments are the basis of all Western Law.

For some, the Bible may seem too difficult to understand and therefore not useful for practical, every day matters. Still others consider it vital to those mundane aspects of human life and rely on its guidance and directives to avoid calamity.

For some it’s all about religion, rules and regulations, and how to act. Some others view it as the gentle teachings of a loving parent. It was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, but translated into nearly every written language on the globe.

To set one important fact in place before you go any further, we not trying to prove the existence of God. For the followers of the Bible, namely Jews and Christians, it is a matter of faith more than fact, despite the overwhelming evidence it presents.

The Bible Chronicles Israel and the Life of Christ

The Hebrew texts of the Old Testament chronicle the amazing development of Israel, and the land that God promised to His people. For Christians, the story in the New Testament continues with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, written about by the Prophets.

The books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, are one continuous story. Old Testament writings are considered by many Christians to be the very foundation of Christianity, essential to the faith and of equal importance to the New Testament writings. More specifically, Christians see the entire Bible as being the story of Jesus and God’s plan for mankind. It is God’s unfolding plan that can be seen beginning in the opening chapters of Genesis. As the history unfolds, so does insight into the nature and character of God, as he uses human events to shape the future of the world.

God Does Not Change

Human nature never changes. Science and technology certainly do, as does culture, but human nature is the constant. This is important to know because what was true of men and women 6000 years ago, is true today. The emotions are the same, the aspirations the same and the motivations are the same. It’s like the old saying, “the more things change the more they stay the same.”

The accounts of the Israelites in the desert can be easily applied to the motivations of people today, no matter what country they live in. That’s what makes the Bible amazing. It’s amazing because God was the inspiration and God does not change. He is the same—yesterday, today and tomorrow. The people he created are likewise the same and will be tomorrow.

We will try to give you reliable information and at times direct you to authoritative places to gain more knowledge and insight. We do not claim to be apologists (defenders of the faith), nor do we want you to consider our point of view as non-negotiable.

Read The Bible

We invite you to read the Bible for yourself and make up your own mind about what it means. God gave us free will and invited us to use reason to understand the relevance of His word. We just want to meet you where you are at and help your along your spiritual journey.

This site is a brief summary of an enormous topic, and will give you an introduction into the Bible. It is very likely to become the most important and enduring book of your life.

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