The Cross Brings Hope

As we get nearer to Good Friday, it can be easy to get lost in the darkness and pain that surrounds Christ’s death on the cross. However, while Good Friday is bleak, the Easter story is actually one of hope in the midst of death. Salvation for a world drowning in sin.

Christ’s death and later resurrection, gives us hope that we can be made right before God. It gives us hope that we serve a God who was not content to let His people die in their sin. The Cross gives us hope, and this hope also connects us to other Christians.

We Can have Hope

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not meant to be too comfort­able in the present world. Our hope is not here. Our hope is not visible. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV). If we share the same faith in Jesus Christ as the saints throughout history, then we share the same hope. Jesus has been raised from the dead, and we will be raised as well. Someday we will see Him face to face. Someday we will experience and enjoy “God’s glory” perfectly (Romans 5:2 NLT). Someday we will be clothed with immortal, glorified bodies. We will receive “the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8) and reign with Jesus Christ forever. These truths provide the basis for our hope.

And such hope provides the basis for our unity. Hope is a foundation stone for unity. This is why Scripture calls the message of the gospel “our hope” (Hebrews 10:23 NKJV). It is not mine or yours merely but ours. Paul calls Jesus Christ “our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1 NKJV). It is not one of many valid hopes but the singular hope around which we gather. We compose one body of Christ because there is only “one Spirit” and “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4). Without this one hope there could never be unity, and with a multitude of hopes there can only be division.

Question to Reflect On:

Do I recognize that I have hope through Christ?