Monday, March 14, 2011

Hope is now!

Psalm 53 (New International Version, ©2011)

 1 The fool says in his heart,
   “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
   there is no one who does good.
 2 God looks down from heaven
   on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
   any who seek God.
3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
   there is no one who does good,
   not even one.

 ........


 6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
   When God restores his people,
   let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

When you start reading chapter 53, you quickly find sadness. This is such a classic view of God. We always talk about Heaven being in the clouds. We see God looking down on us just hoping to find one person who does good. It's like looking through a crowded building hoping to find someone. You really strain, just to get a glimpse. God is straining just to find someone who wants to be with him.  It's so sad that good people are so hard to find. It seems so hopeless. Even now, the world seems so hopeless. We look and look for goodness. We can't find it anywhere. We can't even find it in ourselves. Hopeless!

Finally, just before all hope is gone, God sends his Son to save us all. He becomes the righteous one God was looking for. He is the salvation out of Zion! What starts out as sadness in the world ends up being the Joy of Salvation. God will never give up on us. When hope is nowhere to be found God sends us hope. Jesus is that hope. We can't find anything more hopeful than Gods love for us. He could have given up on us 2000 years ago. He didn't. He sent us hope then and he provides hope now. Praise God!

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