Hope

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
—Romans 5:12 (NASB)

The theme threaded from Genesis to Revelation is the plague of death, and all humanity has the disease. Being fallen creatures, we don’t want to face it. We try to anesthetize ourselves against it with denial and isolation.

Satan lied to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, telling them, “You shall surely not die” (Genesis 3:4)! And his great lie is perpetuated today.

Humanity + iniquity = depravity. That’s the formula for the plague of death. It’s not polluted air; it’s polluted souls. It’s not the atmosphere around us; it’s the nature within us. But God doesn’t abandon us in our need. He comes to our rescue.

What a marvelous message! Sinful through Adam. Righteous in Christ. Condemned without Christ. Justified by Christ. That’s the hope.

We don’t have to face death unprepared, because the cross of Christ prepares us to die. Put another way, we are not really ready to live until we’re ready to die. And in the hope of God’s great plan is the Lord Jesus Christ, available, ready, willing to accept those who will call upon Him.

Humankind is divided into two camps: lost and saved. We are either in Christ or out of Christ. Those who are in Christ need not fear death and the grave. The sting has been taken from it. There is now only hope and victory. In Christ, through His death and resurrection, there is life with God throughout eternity.

Rather than groping our way through the maze of humanmade ideas and opinions, through Christ we find ourselves empowered by the tragedy and triumph of the cross.

—PHILIP P. BLISS, 1838–1876