Many people have experienced moments in life, when in the midst turmoil, they have slowed down their hearts and minds in order to find hope.
But hope is not just for moments of pain and struggle, but can also be an ever-present source of strength in our lives through a relationship with Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Romans Chapter 5 says:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In this passage, the apostle Paul reminds us that our source of hope is not found in anything that we have done. It is not in our good works, not in our intellect or our understanding but rather solely can be found in the work of Jesus.
I love how Paul says this, “While were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
This is a pretty radical thought when you think about it. In every other relationship we work to become worthy of attention or affection. Think about the time that you started dating your wife or special someone. It is during this time that I have seen men do the funniest things to win the heart of the woman they love.
The same thing is true in a job interview. It is in these situations that we do everything we can to impress the people that are interviewing us.
We clean-up, we put on our best clothes and create lists of all our professional accomplishments and trainings. We then give it to the person we want to impress and try to convince them that we are worthy of being part of their team.
Scripture says that our relationship with Christ is much different than this. Paul says while we were still sinners, while we were powerless to impress the creator of the universe, He loved us so much that he gave up everything for us, even His life. Paul says because of this, we have hope. Hope not in ourselves, but rather hope in God and what He will do in and through our lives today.
Maybe take a couple of minutes and share of a time when you tried to earn the affections or attention of someone else. Many of us have done some pretty funny things to earn the attention of others.
Then take some time to ponder the following questions:
Read Romans 5:1-8
How does this understanding of Christ’s love for us give us hope?
When has someone done something for you when you did not deserve it? How did you react?
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in this passage?
Where is our hope placed in this passage?