The closer we get to the end of days, the more we need the bright hope of the early church, which radiated from the catacombs and arenas of persecution, to radiate from our lives today.
As we open Luke 21, we find Jesus explaining how to impact our lost world for Him on a daily basis. We can make a choice that makes our lives powerfully display Him to a watching world, and that choice is to live in hope. When we live in hope, we redeem our time. Daily life, when filled with hope, makes every moment count for eternity.
Is hope alive in you? Does it guide your thoughts and decisions in life? Are you marked at work, school, among lost friends in sports and recreational times by your living hope they can observe each day? If not, today is a great time to start doing so. Living in hope can redeem time and invest it for eternity. Now, look at the context of v. 25.
JESUS WAS NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT EARTH’S FUTURE
At the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus was asked, "What will be the sign of Your coming, and what will the closing chapter of human life as we know it look like at the end of days?"
Christ’s answer starts with a rundown of the now-familiar list of earthquakes, famines, wars, and pestilences, all of which, He said, would come suddenly and unstoppably upon the Earth like "birth pangs" – increasing in frequency and intensity as the end of days grew near.
But after those words, He also added one more characteristic of the end starting in v. 25:
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” – Luke 21:25-26, NKJV.
After that, Jesus said in v. 27: "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
In the meantime, He told about those who would witness the ramp-up of all those signs of His return in v.28:
"Now, when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near.”
Jesus said that when things start looking bad and global patterns line up with end-time scenarios, it is time for hope to shine. Those words are Christ’s call for each of us to make those little choices today that lead to a pathway that declares we are:
Living Hopefully in A Despairing World
The life lived in hope has always been one of the distinguishing qualities of God’s servants. From the catacombs and martyrdom of the Roman Empire to the centuries of Christians persecuted to death, all time since Christ’s church has been powerfully marked by hope.
WNS-69 – Saved to Have Hope (100321AM)
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