If there was ever a time for people to lose hope this may well be the time. There is so much going on in the world abroad it doesn't take long to become very discouraged. It seems like there just isn't any way out of the mess that the world is in. It's bad enough when our own personal lives are in a mess and we are faced with daily discouragements, but when you add the serious problems going on around us and throughout the rest of the world, hope seems a long way off. The constant news of wars, rumors of wars, the extreme unseasonable weather hitting us continually on all sides, the lawlessness that seems to be growing, the acceptance of a world view on things that used to be considered immoral just add to the overwhelming situation that we find ourselves and the world in today. The list goes on, hope seems to be lost, nobody can give the right answer to the problem, the governments are failing and terrorists groups appear to be gaining a foothold in many countries. Before you totally give up let me give you some hope and let me show you what God says about these times we are facing. I believe you might be surprised that all is not lost and there is hope waiting for you.
Let's take a step back in time and see what God said about these times that we face today. You see, God did not leave mankind without hope, in fact, He gave mankind the greatest hope of all through His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. To see what God said we need to turn to the Scriptures, His Word to us that we do have hope in Him. When you look into the Genesis account from the scriptures, you discover some interesting things, for instance, when God created man, He put him into a perfect garden and called it the Garden of Eden. It was here that God communed with man or simply had a one on one relationship with His creation, God's highest form of creation. Man had total access to God. God wanted man to give his love freely so He also gave man the freedom to choose. In order for man to choose He had to be presented with a choice so God placed a tree of knowledge of good and evil in the center of the garden and told man not to eat from this tree or even touch the tree and if he did man would die. This was man's choice, to eat from the tree or not to eat from it, which meant, obey My instructions or rebel against Me. Man was created to live forever and was to spread God's love and His kingdom to the rest of the earth and world outside the garden. To make a long story short man made the decision to take fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God approached man in the garden during the cool of the evening and found man hiding and covered with fig leaves. God knew what they had done and had to pronounce a sentence of death on them. Mankind would be spiritually separated from God from that moment on and would know longer have the freedom to communicate with his Heavenly Father. Mankind would also begin to experience a physical death and would over a period of time physically die. You can read the whole story in the book of Genesis starting with chapter 1. Read specifically Gen. 1:1-2:4 which gives the story of creation. The story of Adam begins with Gen. 2:4-5:32.
You might be asking about now, "what does this have to do with what's going on today?" The story of Adam and Eve set the stage for the hope of mankind. You see when God approached man after they had sinned and pronounced their sentence, He also left them with the hope of be reunited with Him. Before we move on though I have to make something very clear, man (mankind) did not just decide to rebel against God their Father, Satan was already on the earth and Satan was the one who approached the woman and deceived her and in turn offered the fruit to her husband. So when Adam and Eve took of the fruit that they were not supposed to partake of they made the decision to rebel and say to not only themselves but to God that they were going to do things on their own and didn't need God to guide them. They like Satan lifted themselves above God, and that rebellion got them the death sentence. Here's the thing, God knew before hand that man was going to sin or rebel against Him, but because He loved His creation God had already made a way for their relationship to be restored. Look at the section of Genesis where God is speaking to the serpent (Satan) and what He tells the serpent will happen. Gen. 3:14-15 is the scripture that gives hope to all mankind. This is where God tells us that He will send his only begotten Son to make a way for mankind to be redeemed back to rightful relationship with Him (God). It says "I will cause hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He (Christ) will strike your head, and you will strike His (Christ) heel." This is in direct reference to Jesus Christ or who would later be referred to as the Messiah by the Israelites. We remember Jesus Christ every year by celebrating not only His birth (Christmas) but also His death (Easter) on the cross. We also celebrate His resurrection and return back to heaven where He sits at the right hand of the the Father. This is the hope that is referred to in Genesis 3:15.
Now that mankind was living in rebellion against God everything began to fall apart. You see, before man sinned he lived in a perfect place and communed with his Heavenly Father on a regular basis. Now mankind no longer lived in a perfect place because God removed him from it and placed mankind outside the garden, Gen. 3:22-24. Here mankind would have to work hard and woman would give birth in pain. The world around them was hostile and harsh. God provided a way for mankind to keep in touch with Him by providing a sacrificial system that would cover their sins and allow mankind to come into His presence. That system of sacrifice required blood to be shed for the forgiveness of their sins. This was a temporary system and would only cover their sins for a certain season of time and it would have to be done all over again, time after time. Genesis 3:21 leads us to believe that God started the sacrificial system of the shedding of blood here when He, God, had slain animals to cover Adam and Eve with their skins. The hope that mankind had in the old testament times was the looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, their redeemer. In the meantime mankind fell further and further from their relationship with their God, Genesis 6:5-6. Even after the flood Mankind continued to make decisions that did not involve God. Just like Adam and Eve had done, mankind once again rebelled against God by building a tower that was supposed to reach the heavens, Genesis 11:1-9. This was the result of man going it alone without God. We are still trying to go it alone in the world and that is why we have such a messed up world today. The Messiah did come some 2,000 years ago, Matthew 2:1, and He did what the scriptures spoke of. He went to the cross, gave His life and shed His blood. In doing this He once and for all made a way for mankind to come back into a relationship with their Heavenly Father. Christ said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me." The old sacrificial system and the law were fulfilled through the death, burial and resurrection of God's only Son, Jesus Christ. No further blood sacrifices would be necessary, the law had been fulfilled. Now, we live under grace and no matter what people may do, their sins can be forgiven once and for all through God's son Jesus Christ. It would require faith and faith is the only thing that truly pleases God, Hebrews 11:6. Faith is what God requires, faith is putting your trust in God's Son as the savior of the world, not in religion, not in man, not in some man made idol, not in mother earth, not in anything except God and His Son Jesus Christ.
Yes, we still live in a messed up world, but that is because mankind to this day has failed to not only acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, but does not accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of their souls. Mankind continues to rebel against God by convincing themselves that they don't need God, they don't need a savior. Mankind still rebels against God, they still partake of the forbidden fruit by reaching out and tasting that which the world offers and God forbids. The world as we know it today is headed for a collision course. The world as we know it refuses to accept God's way and still believes that mankind can solve its own problems. We see the result of that ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and chose to go it their own way. The world has been falling apart ever since. Wars, disease, pestilence, famine, earthquakes, and every other sort of disaster mankind has had to face. The scriptures tell us that all these things are going to become more severe before Christ returns to this earth to set up His Kingdom, Matthew 24:1-51. We all know that birth pains begin to increase before the actual delivery takes place and so will the misery only get worse as we approach the time of the end of this age. Jesus Christ left His disciples with this message so they can keep themselves focused on what is important and that my friend is their relationship with Him. This world as we know it is on a collision course with Armageddon for sure, but our focus should not be so much on that as on our relationship with the one who will bring you through the worst of times. Yes, the day is quickly approaching for the return of Christ for His bride the church or His true followers. Before He returns He will rapture His bride from this earth to meet Him in the air and forever be with Him in heaven.
Yes, this earth or world as we know it is destined for destruction, but it is not going to happen until God the Father says it's going to happen. You see, God wants as many of His children to return to Him as possible and that means He wants everyone back with Him. But, the only ones that can return to Him are those who truly believe that He is God and there is no other God and believe that His only begotten Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for our salvation, was buried, then resurrected on the third day and now sits on the right hand His Father. There is going to be a day when the Father tells His Son Jesus Christ to go and fetch all the believer's and bring them back home. I believe that day is quickly approaching and time is running out for this world. I would like to encourage each and every one who does not know Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son as their personal Lord and Savior to seriously consider letting Jesus Christ come into your life and set you free from your life of slavery to sin. He will set you free as you turn your life over to Him to be the Lord and Savior of your soul.
Jesus said in Rev. 3:20 "I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me." When Christ was speaking to religious people and religious leaders as well as to everyone else, He made this very clear that "He is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except by Me." In other words He was telling people no matter what status you may have, no matter what religion you claim to belong to, no matter what the Budda's claim or the Dali Lama's proclaim, no matter what the religious rules one may live under, no matter what the Muslims say, and no matter what you do for good deeds, there is only one way to be back in true relationship with the Heavenly Father and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ. You can choose just like Adam and Eve did, you can choose to deny Christ as the only way back to the Father or you can choose to become a follower of Christ by turning your life over to Him by repenting of your sins and accepting Christ as the Son of God and the Lord of your life. It's your choice, but again, God explained what will happen to those who choose to go it alone. For those who accept Jesus Christ will be back in relationship with God, and will have a place in heaven. Those who deny or reject Christ will suffer an eternal death by being forever separated from God. My friends, this is your choice, the outcome of your life and relationship depends on the decision you make, don't wait to long because you don't know when your life will end. There is hope in Jesus Christ for those who place their faith in Him.
You can make the decision to have Christ as your savior by praying to Him and asking Him to become your Lord and savior. You must repent or turn from your sins and let Him be Lord of your life. There are many, many scriptures that tell us what to look for before Christ returns to this earth and sets up His Kingdom. I have read many of these scriptures and read a lot of different author's books on the last days, etc. There are warnings all around us and many of the troubles that we are experiencing during this time are just that, warnings. Warnings do not come if something important is not going to take place. God's hand of blessings is being lifted from many parts if not all of the nations and that includes the USA. We do not know the day or hour of Christ's return to this earth, but God did give us some things to watch for. Christ said we can know the season before He returns and I believe that season is on this generation. Look at Matthew 24:32-41 where it says; "Now learn the lesson of the fig tree..." and also "Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until..." A believer's hope is in Jesus Christ and no one else. He will return one of these days, a day when the world will least expect it. The warnings are all around us and the situation in the world is only getting worse. The further one distances themselves from God, the harder this life will be. If you want a "peace that passes all understanding" then you need to put your trust in the only one that can give it to you and that is Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son.
If you want to put your trust in Him, then you need to be willing to repent of your sins, confess them to God and ask Jesus to come into your life and make it new. You do this by praying to the Heavenly Father. If you do not know how, then just pray by talking to God. You can pray this prayer if you like, but it must come from your heart, in other words, you must be sincere; Heavenly Father, I come to you in your Son's name, Jesus Christ. I am a sinner and am lost without Him. Please forgive me of my sins, (confess with your words to God your sins) and make me a new person. I receive and accept your Son Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Jesus, come into my heart and life and restore my relationship with the Father. I believe that you died and shed your blood for my sins and you were resurrected on the third day so that I could also could be resurrected one day and be with you in heaven. Thank you Father for forgiving me of my sins and for your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to obey your commands and live according to your will and word. Amen! Now that you prayed that prayer you need to get a Bible and start reading His word and keep talking to God daily. Find a believer in Christ and tell them what you did. Find a church that teaches God's Word and attend as often as you can. May God bless you richly in your new life and your walk with Jesus Christ.
