I realized these words, although mostly true, weren’t completely true. Many had faith and hope. They had hope in God’s promise to send the Messiah. Throughout the generations, prophets declared his coming again and again in prophecies such as this one:
“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and
justice from that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7, NKJV
This helps to explain why so many of the Jews, who were in Jerusalem right after Jesus ascended into heaven, were so excited about Jesus and 3,000 people became believers after Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2. Jesus was the one they had been waiting for! He had been promised again and again going all the way back in Genesis chapter 3. The people of Israel had been hearing of the messiah time and time again, all through their history.
How cool is it that we get to live with the promise of Jesus fulfilled? And that we get to have faith and hope, because of the fulfilled of that promise?
God has revealed himself to us, to me, through his son Jesus! He is the one that generations were waiting for and he wants us to know him!
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10, NIV
“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
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God
— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will,
but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Luke 19:10, NIV
“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
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God
— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will,
but born of God.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1-5, 9-14, NIV
How do you live with the hope of Christ in the day-to-day? Share in the comments below.
*originally posted on 7/24/14 and updated on 1/3/19
