Hope, living hope, is not located in any given circumstance; it is located in a Person, Jesus Christ. Many times, what people call hope is simply wishful thinking, wanting things to turn out in some specific way that is thought to bring happiness or fulfillment.

Living Hope is grounded in the eternal faithfulness of God, Himself. Back in Genesis chapter three, God made a promise that there would be born on the earth, one day, a specific child, a miraculous child in that He would be called “the Seed of woman”. Since a woman does not possess the seed that would fertilize the ova in her body, it was believed that a miraculous conception and birth would one day take place. That “Seed” would crush the serpent’s head. That was a picture of the defeat of satanic power and dominion on the earth that has been unleashed by Adam’s and Eve’s believing and acting on the devil’s lie.

Churches that are historically liturgical celebrate this coming Sunday as “Christ the King” Sunday, the last Sunday in the season of Pentecost just before the beginning of the season of Advent. The Sovereignty of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is absolute and eternal. He has made a way for humanity to be reconciled to God. He has come in the Incarnation to rescue us.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21 reads, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So, we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

It was by Jesus bearing the sin of the whole world on the cross that God settled accounts with rebellious and sinful humanity. A way has been opened for all who will believe God, to receive forgiveness, a new heart and a new spirit and to find God working in them to undo the damage that sin and spiritual death have done.

The Hope God gives us is Himself. His commitment to you is that He will never abandon you; never forsake you. Having begun the good work of salvaging and saving you, He promises to bring that work to glorious competition. God is eternally true to what He promises. Nothing can separate us from the source and substance of our hope.

Romans 8:35-39 reads “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When God declared that nothing in ALL creation could ever separate us from His love, His faithfulness, His provision, His work of salvation…that includes you and me, who are in the process, as His sons and daughters, of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. God factored in our stupidity when He called us to respond to His love. Never fear.

Having fulfilled His promise to come the first time, as a child conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a Hebrew virgin named Mary, He will fulfill His promise to come again, ending time, righting all wrongs, bringing true justice to bear, and receiving to Himself all who have put their trust in what He has already done to rescue and restore them to real living.

Even when it looks like things are coming “undone”, what is being “undone” are the very things that would hold us hostage. We have been given a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. I remember as a young man of 19 being told by a humble, wise Bible teacher, “Mark, you need to know this fact and to let it take hold of you. You will never lose anything God has done in your life. But, by His mercy and compassion, you will lose everything He hasn’t done.” I take comfort in a living hope, knowing that Jesus Christ will set me free from any and all vestiges of idolatry so that I can follow Him in freedom. He is coming again!