He is our hope
Key Bible Passages : Hebrews 10:23
Author : Liam Everett
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful”. What is that hope? It is the hope of the gospel of Christ. As we focus on verse 23 today, I want to just touch back on the previous verse- “... having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful”
Our hope is that Christ came as a man, to live a perfect life because we as mankind had failed pretty badly (and still do). Then as a perfect man he died as a sacrifice for our sin. This was the only and final sacrifice needed to completely “cleanse us from a guilty conscience”, take away our shame and the eternal consequences of our sin. He conquered death when he resurrected from the grave- so that all who call on His name will be saved. Now our hope is Christ. He is our perfect righteousness. We are saved because of him, through him and for him. There’s nothing you can do to earn His love or gift of eternal life, it is done. All you have to do is believe it. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Now holding onto that hope, as this verse says, is an amazing key to continuing to walk with Jesus after salvation. Salvation is free, it is a gift. But walking with Jesus will cost you everything.
Our theme this week is drawing close to God. One of the best ways to do this is remembering the why. Why am I a Christian? Why do I follow Jesus? You can’t physically draw closer to God, because when you call on Jesus and believe in him- His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, lives inside of you! You can’t get closer than inside! But drawing close, I believe, is more an act for our sake, of bringing to remembrance Christ, as we often forget, and looking to Him above the noise of life.
Now more than ever in our world we see hopelessness and fear. Whether that is to do with politics, or a pandemic, or the cost of living. The news and mainstream media like to dwell on how bad everything is. And it can be very overwhelming. But there is a hope beyond this world. Even when life is hard, when you can’t see a way out of a situation, Christ loves you and died for your sake. Jesus didn’t need to come and save us. He could have given up on us, but He loved us so much that he came. That is our hope. Jesus is never changing, He is always faithful. He isn’t like this world that will let you down, distract you and take advantage. He loves you and gives you the choice to follow him. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He won’t change, our world and your circumstances might, but He will never change.
Jesus died for you, is now risen from the grave and is coming back again to sort out this world once and for all. Remember why you believe. Remember that Jesus loves you more than you could ever love him back. So, “let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Questions
To help with further reflection, thought or application.
1: Why did you decide to follow Jesus?
2: What does being faithful mean?
Prayer
Jesus, We remember you now. Thank you for all you have done for us through your life, death and resurrection. Help us to hold onto the hope we have found in You. And that we know that you will never leave us. You are faithful forever. Amen.
We’ve created an audio version of this devotional that can be listened to as a Podcast.