6. The Word of Hope to the Repentant
Luke 23:43,
“And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be
with Me in Paradise.”
Hope. Without it we are undone. It
is said that a man can live 40 days without food; 3 days without water; 8
minutes without air, but not once second without hope.
Two men hung on crosses next to
Jesus, one on either side. Three men, three crosses, and only one way down..... death.
What hope remains? Where were they
to go next? Death is so final, so fixed, so unconquerable.
But do you believe as the anti-God, anti-supernatural culture of
today would have us believe, that death is simply ashes to ashes and dust to dust?
The grave is the final stop for a life of dashed hopes and unrealized dreams.
Where
is real hope in that? Where is the joy of life lived when you know that no matter what you
obtain, no matter what you accomplish, it is merely food for the worms or
forgotten words in the annals of history?
One man looked to Jesus and spat
on him. He forsook all hope and resigned himself to the inevitable fate of the
next few moments of his fleeting life.
One man looked to Jesus and worshiped him. He reached out to the Son of God for hope and resigned himself
to receive what this man in the middle had to offer.
One man steeled himself for hell.
One man yielded himself to heaven.
One man died eternally.
One man lives
eternally.
A promise was made from the lips
of God Himself and today one man walks the streets of glory with the Lord, and
one man forever suffers separation from the One Man who would have freely given
him paradise.
Which man am I?
Which are you?
Well said Keith, we do indeed need hope and that cannot be found except through Christ! Happy Easter!
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