Hope Is Alive

I hope you aren’t getting tired of hearing me talk about our chronological reading of the Bible. Honestly, it is one of the best things we’ve ever done. We’re almost finished with our second time through. We learn something new every day.

God’s Word is alive. It touches hearts and changes lives.

Here’s the Good News—Jesus is alive. He touches hearts and changes lives.

JESUS IN ALL SIXTY-SIX BOOKS

Our sermon Sunday was one of the best I’ve ever heard. It was so good I was moved to tears. Of course, if you know me well, you know it doesn’t take much to do that, but this one underscored a truth J and I discovered as we read through our Bibles, Genesis to Revelation, last year, and again this year.

Jesus is in every single chapter. All sixty-six. From the first few verses of Genesis all the way to the end, the book of the Revelation to John.

Would you recognize Jesus in the pages of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible?

If you said you aren’t sure, you wouldn’t be alone. Even though the disciples had spent three years with Him, they didn’t even recognize Him on the road to Emmaus.

Why?

THEIR HOPE HAD DIED

Their world had just fallen apart. They’d watched Him arrested, they watched Him die that cruel death of crucifixion. It’s three days later and they still believe He’s dead. He was their hope for redeeming Israel, their Messiah.  And He had just died. They thought He’d be a king in fine raiment with a crown on His head. How had they missed that this wasn’t the case in the three years they’d spent with him?

They couldn’t accept that Jesus, indeed, had been the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. Jesus spoke to them, walked with them, and talked with them, And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24: 25-26 NASB).

EYES WIDE OPEN

They invited Him to join them where they were staying for the night. There they all shared in food. When he took the bread and broke it and gave it to them, reminiscent of the Last Supper,  finally, their eyes were opened and they knew it was He. And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. (Luke 24: 30-31 NASB).

Jesus gave them hope. And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24: 27 NASB).

It used to puzzle me, especially that first time through our Bibles, that we failed to see all the times Jesus was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Of course, He wasn’t always called Jesus, but He was there. Genesis 1: 3 says Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (NASB). That light was Jesus—The Light of the World. Need more convincing? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1: 1-5 NASB, emphasis, mine).

HOPE IS ALIVE

How many times did I hear this on Christmas Eve and not understand? I was hearing with my physical ears. But Jesus stepped into my life and wrought such a change in me that I now see, hear, and comprehend with spirit eyes. I’m no Bible scholar, but God placed within me an understanding that I didn’t have before, just as the disciples that evening after walking down the Road to Emmaus with Jesus, The Risen Christ. I now await His second coming. Jesus tells us in the Book of the Revelation And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book (Rev. 22: 7 NASB).

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As Pastor Jason said on Sunday, Christ’s resurrection is the lens through which to see that we now have hope.

The tomb is empty.

Christ is alive.

I LOVE Sandi Patty. I’ve sung many of her arrangements in my lifetime. I’ve never sung this one, other than while singing along here. This is soooo good. Larnelle Harris is so gifted, too. They make such a great duo. Blessings, y’all!!  (Keep Scrolling past this to see the sermon mentioned above.)

This post is based on the sermon our multi-campus pastor preached last Sunday. Here is a link if you’d like to watch. Believe me, you will be blessed. Fast forward to the sermon or watch our praise team lead you in worship. Start at 40:30 for just the sermon without the praise music.