Peace and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ may be multiplied to you on this wonderful day!Until now we have been talking about the hope of salvation and about how it affects our lives at present. When we have the hope of salvation, we can look forward to the future with joy and peace. While many people in this world look forward to the future with horror, we can have peace and anticipation because we have the hope of salvation. Why is it so? Because Christ in us is the hope of glory!
«I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory» (Colossians, 1: 21-27).
When a person has obtained a revelation of the fact that since Jesus lives in his heart he should expect glory and not sorrows, then joy replaces sorrow and grief; and peace replaces anxiety and fear.Speaking of the last days, Jesus said:«And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near» (Luke, 21:25-28).
In this passage of Scripture Jesus talks about obvious advantage of the hope of salvation. Describing the difficulties of the last days, Jesus said that there would be serious shakings and even the powers of heaven would be shaken. He said that there would be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; He predicted fear and perplexity among men, and roaring and storms in the sea. At that time some people will be extremely fearful; there will be fear of calamities, lots of depression; but others will raise their heads, praise God and joyfully expect their redemption, because they will have the hope of salvation. The hope of salvation is the most real protection in the last days.Also the hope of salvation keeps us on the track and helps us to focus on the Kingdom values.«But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as as snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man» (Luke, 21: 34-36).
If we expect the appearance of Christ our Saviour, then we will stay sober. We mustn’t allow the cares of this life to overwhelm us so much that we do not have time for prayer, Christian fellowship, and ministry and so on.At the time of Christ’s first coming, the whole earth was extremely religious, but not many people realized that Jesus had already come. There was a man named Simeon who was expecting the Consolation of Israel. He knew about the birth of Jesus; he also knew the moment when Jesus was brought to the Temple. He went there so that he could hold the salvation of God in his hands.«And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”» (Luke, 2: 25-32).
The hope of salvation helped Simeon to live just and devout life. He prayed and expected God’s consolation, when others, probably, complained and grumbled about anything and everything. Simeon stayed alert in prayer, because the Spirit of God had given him a promise that before his departure from this world he would see the Lord Christ.Are you expecting the coming of the Lord? Are you expecting the appearance of His glory? How does that affect your daily life? If you are afraid to thing about tomorrow because of different news and predictions, if you are still not free from unhealthy cares and anxiety, then you need to arm yourself with the helmet of the hope of salvation. Without this helmet many people will lose their sanity due to shakings and calamities of the last days. May the Lord keep every one of you from it!God bless you!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
