Our only hope

​The first installment of the Star Wars saga (1976) hit the big screen when my wife Jo Ann and I were living as a young married couple in San Diego, California.
 
Along with what seemed like everyone else on the planet, we purchased tickets to our local theater to view what would become an epic, blockbuster movie. Endlessly long, winding lines of hyped-up, crazed science fiction fans encircled the cinema, excitedly anticipating an intergalactic journey into a galaxy far, far, away.
 
Munching on buttered popcorn…..glued to our seats…intently following the story line…. Princess Leia popped up in a hologram. Young Luke Skywalker stumbled upon the hologram embedded in the affable, loveable robotic R2D2. Cruelly detained by Darth Vader and the evil Empire, the imprisoned princess pleaded for help for herself and her people.
 
The princess’s impassioned plea was this: “Obi Wan Kenobi…you are our only hope.” Skywalker hadn’t heard of Obi Wan Kenobi. But the princess had.
 
Desperate for deliverance from those serving the dark side of the Force, Princess Leia looked to a legendary, battle tested, wise Jedi Knight who knew the good side of the Force. Obi Wan, she hoped, would help deliver her people from the oppressive tyranny of their enemies.
 
Obi Wan indeed helped save the day. Stars Wars junkies and groupies celebrated wildly with Luke, Princess Leia, Han Solo, R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca and the rest of the Rebellion forces.    
 
Light speed back to the future.  
 
Today in 2021 many people feel hopeless, helpless and powerless.
 
Evil seems to be triumphing over good. Americans and people around the world are desperately searching to find hope in someone or something. I am sorry to say Obi Wan Kenobi is not available as our only hope in 2021!  Obi Wan Kenobi is a fictional hero in a futuristic, fantasy story of good triumphing over evil.
 
So where should you and I look for hope?
 
You and I are being bombarded with scripted, orchestrated hype about the word hope. Hope peddlers have popped up on every corner of our lives. 
 
Carefully crafted, intentionally slanted, biased messages of pleas for hope and help inundate the media outlets. Almost everywhere you turn, someone is saying something about hope. Hope lobbyists lie in wait to capture unsuspecting, vulnerable victims. Hope in this charismatic personality, this or that politician or political party, this business plan, this philosophy, this religion, this bailout, this handout…whoever or whatever someone thinks you should hope in is passionately pandered and peddled to the public.  
 
Truth is, hope in any of the above is false hope. The false hope of the world can leave you feeling discouraged, depressed and despairing.
 
Another truth: People can cope when they have hope. True hope. Hope that is indeed hope.
 
Good news! You and I are not hopeless, helpless or powerless. Hopelessness does not have the last word. Through faith in Jesus Christ, you and I have hope, help and power. Evil does not have to carry the day. Good triumphs over evil.
 
So, who should you and I look for to save the day? Where should we be putting our hope, turning to for help and receiving power to overcome life? During these desperate, difficult days, who or what is our only hope? 
 
Wading through the wasteland of false hope, I submit to you OUR ONLY HOPE is the person of Jesus Christ. Paul declares in Colossians 1:27 “To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
 
Looking for hope? Paul nails hope for us. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Glory, spending eternity in heaven with God is the goal of life. Jesus living in us with the promise of heaven is the only true hope in life.
 
 Glory has nothing to do whatsoever with financial prosperity, national security, political correctness, balanced budgets, ethnic equality, diversity, tolerance or anything else that depends on man to pull off meeting his needs.
 
In our verse, the mystery Paul speaks of is no longer a mystery. The curtain has been pulled back. Jesus has been revealed, to both Jews and Gentiles, as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. He, and He alone, is our hope of salvation. (John 14:6, Acts 4:8-12, romans 6:23, John 1:12, Revelation 3:20).
 
The Word of God declares that hope in Christ is a living hope (read I Peter 1:3-9), an eternal hope, and abiding hope, a hope that doesn’t fade away, and a hope that will never disappoint. I don’t know about you, but that is the hope I want in my life.
 
Jesus is our only hope because hope is only found in Him. There is no hope in anyone else. 
 
The Force be with you, or God be with you? Are you hoping in some Obi Wan Kenobi, or in the risen Son of the Living God, the Lord Jesus Christ?
 
Feeling hopeless? Please don’t. Instead, take heart. Be encouraged. Focus your faith on the hope you have in Jesus Christ.
 
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” I Peter 1:3  
 
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”                                      Romans 5:5
 
“Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24
 
A Word For Your Week: Place your hope in the One who is our only hope.