God’s Good News and hope

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. Colossians 1:4-6

How do we explain the hopelessness and purposelessness that pervade our society? This is what is behind the tragic events that we see in our time. This is what Paul was addressing from the text. People in Colossae were in the same sad situation. Yet, when the gospel was proclaimed and heard, the ones who were hopeless are now experiencing confident hope not just in their present life but in the life to come. This confident hope was brought about by the proclamation of the gospel. It is the Good News that brings about change in the lives of those that receive the message from God. And as Paul alluded to, hope was awakened by the gospel then it produces faith that results to love. Without hope, people lose the desire to live. The hope that comes from God provides an assurance that we are not alone facing the difficulties in life. The Lord Jesus Christ assured His disciples when He told them about His coming suffering and death on the cross and He said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me” (John 14:1). The gospel came from God and once the message is accepted and understood, it changes lives. The gospel works because it is founded upon the “truth about God’s wonderful grace.” It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who stands before us when we feel defeated, discouraged, cast down, abandoned and betrayed. Our desire to have hope prompts us to place our faith in Christ. “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Once we are secured and strengthened by our faith in Christ we are able to go on and take whatever challenges we will be facing. Moses faced tremendous challenge in life, yet “he kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

Blessings,

Noel De Guzman

www.my-wbc.com