The Gospel of Hope

When I think about ancient people who lived in the archaic times my mind keeps falling into a state of limbo. More particularly I speak of the great men of valor, of faith. Faith in God. And for justice’s sake I have to start with the man who was considered the Father of Faith. During those periods there were no written records about who or what God is therefore holding faith to an unknown entity might be considered preposterous.

Quite frankly it was not that utterly absurd as I have put it. This is for the reason that God Himself spoke to these men in various forms. Abraham for instance is not only referred to as the Father of Faith but also a friend of God. He spoke to Abraham a number of times while He was giving him instructions on what to do and where to go. What takes me aback about him is the absolute confidence he had in God that he chose to agree with sacrificing his only son. I pondered this for a while and realized that God did so himself later on by sacrificing Jesus Christ, His one and only Son. What he asked of Abraham was merely a test of his faith as we later found out; thus those who believe in Jesus are counted as heirs of Abraham’s promise.

Inasmuch as God spoke with our forefathers, He didn’t do it often. He only did when it was very much necessary so what He wanted done could get done, and bet it was done because He’s Sovereign. I can count with my fingers the number of times God ever spoke to Abraham. With that in mind I acknowledge that he had astounding faith in God. During those downtimes when he did not get any communication or affirmations from God he could have doubted or made his own decisions contrary to God’s will, but he did not. He kept the faith till the end.

There are a number of other people who had extraordinary faith in God and were used mightily for that reason. Converse to how we often judge according to appearance, God judges according to our hearts which only we know what lies there (as well as God, of course). God always does the unexpected. An example is when choosing the next king for Israel after Saul He instructed Samuel to anoint whom He would tell him. In Samuel’s mind it had to either be the strongest, or the tallest, or the most handsome, in short he had to please his human senses. Much to Samuel’s surprise, the future king was not even brought to the line-up by his father. David was chosen by God because God knew his heart. God says Himself that He found a man after His own heart, therefore fit to be a king.

David went on to vanquish Goliath with a piece of sling and a rock. How comical. It’s almost like child’s play. With all that armor in the giant’s body, the scared Israelites could not perceive any weakness in him. But David saw the weakest point which was his forehead and hit right there. It was not even about the event itself but the display of his faith in God is what won the day.

God did not only use people of unshakeable faith but also those who were lacking. Gideon is a prime example. An angel of the Lord declared to him one day as he was working in his father’s winepress that God would deliver the Israelites out of the hands of the Midianites through him. Gideon asked for proof from God that he could do it, since he referenced himself as the weakest in his family. God made no protest in going along with his scanty faith, nor did he acquiesce to give him a sign. Gideon went on to be a great man delivering the Israelites with the help of God.

The epitome of Faith in God is demonstrated by His Son Jesus Christ who came and lived in our midst. Jesus is God Himself manifest in the flesh to fulfill the purpose of saving us from our sins. Many times I consider this act as one which only He could accomplish. If He could have asked me, for instance, to sacrifice myself in such a manner, I would not have done it even in a million years. Nope. Never. Just give me an alternative or damn me into oblivion. Even Peter couldn’t do it. That was the price only our loving Lord could pay to save us from our abhorrent sins. This noble act would in turn lead us to having faith in Him thus obtaining eternal life with our Father in Heaven.

Taking into account the Gospel which Jesus brought, which is the Gospel of Hope, His Martyrs also sacrificed their lives to spread it. The excruciating pain they went through of being ostracized, beat up, scourged and being put to death was almost insurmountable for any of us in this day and age. Now we live, breathe and preach the Gospel of Hope thanks to the acts of not only our Forefathers’ faith but also of Jesus Christ who brought it to us. We now don’t have to go through all that the Martyrs went through as they strived to spread the Gospel. We are now the beneficiaries of our forefathers who went to great lengths so that we can hold fast the Faith that the Gospel of Hope brings.

We are having it quite easy compared to them who came before us, and that’s why we ought to spread the Gospel of Hope and Truth all the more. Not that we do not have our own challenges along the way but as we read through the Scriptures we are encouraged by the life stories of our forefathers. It is a beautiful reality which I hope every Christian will uncover. We ought to win those we can to the Gospel of Hope.