Category: Hope

Job’s Wish: Mankind’s Only Hope

Posted on by Michael Wine

It was long ago. Before Moses wrote the ten commands of God on stone, before (or perhaps while) Abraham lived, there was a man who wrestled with the core, foundational problems of existence. That man’s name was Job.

In a single day, perhaps in a single hour, Job lost everything. His wealth, his family, his reputation, all were destroyed by the ancient enemy of man – the devil; Satan.

Of course, Satan was authorized to do what he did by God Himself. And Satan was ever the con man. He destroyed Job’s life with such gusto and flare that it appeared to come directly from the hand of God Himself.

Job does not curse God, however, but worships instead. He praises the God who both “gives and takes away.” (Job 1:21)

However, as all great suffering does to each of us, the pain Job experiences launches him into a desperate quest to find answers to the ultimate questions of the universe.

Was catalyzing this questioning from Job the reason God allowed his suffering?

One thing is clear. The book of Job is not merely about suffering, or God’s sovereignty, or anything on the surface. It is about the fundamental problem of human existence. That is, how can sinful, wicked and unclean man be right with God?

Through looking at a key passage, we can catch a glimpse of Job’s dilemma of hopelessness as well as his wish that shines through the heavy fog; a beacon of hope.

Job, the first book in the timeline of Scripture shows us just how deeply in trouble we are. Yet, it also points to a slight chance, a glimmer of hope, a Hail Marry pass for humanity that rests fully on the willingness of an all-powerful enemy to be merciful.

Here is the passage I will be looking at. I am putting it all here for you to read first:

Man who is born of a woman
    is few of days and full of trouble.
He comes out like a flower and withers;
    he flees like a shadow and continues not.
And do you open your eyes on such a one
    and bring me into judgment with you?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
    There is not one.
Since his days are determined,
    and the number of his months is with you,
    and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
look away from him and leave him alone,
    that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
Though its root grow old in the earth,
    and its stump die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put out branches like a young plant.
But a man dies and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and where is he?
As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
so a man lies down and rises not again;
    till the heavens are no more he will not awake
    or be roused out of his sleep.
Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,
    that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,
    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man dies, shall he live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait,
    till my renewal should come.
You would call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for the work of your hands.
For then you would number my steps;
    you would not keep watch over my sin;
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
    and you would cover over my iniquity.

Job 14:1-17 ESV

There is, first, a reality alluded to by Job – that of hostility between God and man. Job mentions that God sees him, judges him, and how he is unclean before God who is the standard of purity and holiness. This points to a broken relationship. Man’s sin, his uncleanness, puts him forever apart from God. God looks on man and judges his wickedness from on high.

There is a war between man and God. They are not on the same side.

Job’s first question, then, is why God continues to fight a defeated opponent. Why is God still sending the bombers of judgement to crush the sinful city which is already a smouldering ruin?

Job says that man is of no account – like flowers that come to life only to die in a blink. Man, says Job, is like a shadow that fades and vanishes away. So why does God care?

Could it be some form of fatherly discipline? Is God trying to punish the sin out of us before we die? Job rejects this idea saying, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.” Mere discipline or pain cannot purify the heart of man. God is not changing sinful hearts through wrath and judgement. So why is God doing it? What hope is there in it?

He moves then, from this argument that God is waging a pointless war, to his proposal. Whether it is a genuine proposal or more of a hypothetical one given to promote his real agenda remains to be seen. It is this: God should let man live his transient life in peace and not constantly make him face the consequences of his sin.

His reasoning is that God is in total control and knows every detail of a man’s life. Man is a defeated foe, and he cannot live a single moment outside of God’s plan. These facts add to Job’s argument that God’s judgement of sin is of no use in changing our sinful hearts. And if God knows the future, as Job says, God also knows this to be true.

What comes next, I think, is where Job begins to hint at his real agenda. He starts talking about death.

He says first, that “there is hope for a tree.” The word hope is critical. Hope for what? For change. For growth even after being chopped down. For new life. Why does hope exist for the tree? Because even when it dies, it can grow back. In other words – it has time.

But time is not on man’s side. We live a fleeting number of years and are gone forever. we don’t get another chance to earn God’s favor, to live a better life, to make God happy with us enough to overlook our sin. Once we are in the ground that is it. No do overs. No second chances. Job says that, “till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.”

We now begin to understand the source of Job’s confusion. He faces, on one hand, the truth that sinful man is not right with almighty God, and that a holy God must judge sinners. Yet, on the other hand, he sees the hopelessness, the vanity of the entire situation. Who wins? Surely not man, who dies in his sin. But does God win when time after time his wrath toward sin never results in reconciliation, in change, in an end to the hostility between God and man? No.

If God were satisfied with wrath against sin, would he not simply wipe mankind out once and for all? Why allow us to continue to live and die and face judgement, with no hope or time to change?

There must be another way.

So Job, in a stunning display of hope in the middle of a hopeless dilemma, makes a wish. Here it is again in his own words.

Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity Job 14:13-17

Job’s wish is for death to not be the ultimate doom of man, but to be man’s ultimate salvation. He wishes for a resurrected life after death, one where his sin had already been dealt with and is no longer between him and his creator. He begs God to mercifully kill him, and hide him away in the earth, safe until the day when God is ready to make him new.

How amazing it is, that before a word of Scripture was penned, a man knew the truth. He knew that the only way to solve the problem of mankind’s war with holy God, was for God to be willing to forgive us, to offer us mercy, to kill us, and to use his infinite power – which sinful man so foolishly rebelled against – to give us all a new life. And not just a second chance to earn God’s approval, but a new life entirely. One in which our sins from the first life were already burned in the fires of God’s holy wrath.

“And Job died, an old man, and full of days.” Job 42:17

That’s the last verse in the book of Job. And how fitting an end to Job’s story it is.

Job died, just as he requested. And the reader is left wondering, will the second half of Job’s wish also come true? Will God do it? Will he save Job? Will he save the world?

That is what prequels are for. They show us the problem, so that we read the rest of the story.

So read Job. Ponder your dilemma along with him. Let the danger you are in wash over your consciousness as you face the fact that God hates your sin. His wrath burns against your rebellious heart. There is no escape from it.

Death is coming.

And then, don’t stop at Job! Read the rest of the story. But especially read about Jesus.

One Brick Life

Posted on by Michael Wine

Maybe your life isn’t your one chance to do lots of things. Maybe your life is many chances to do one thing.

When it comes down to it, your job, family, bank account size, friends, toys, vacations and adventures, tragedies and setbacks; all of it is wrapped inside one container – you.

Who are you?

How would they describe you?

What is your character?

What one thing will your life ultimately do – for good or ill?

You see, you and I are smaller than what is going on in this universe. We aren’t the wise architect of the grand and complex cathedral that we sometimes wish our lives could be.

We are, instead, the architect of: One. Single. Brick.

My life is one brick in the cathedral wall; one board in the janitor’s closet in the back. Maybe it’s one pane in the stained glass window. Wouldn’t that be fine?

The point is that life is far less important than we wish, and far more important than we think.

What building will your one brick life be used to build?

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

The Reason For Living

Posted on by Michael Wine

Why try? What does it matter in the end?

Everyone dies.

All the hard work, the sweat, the love, and the pain you pour into life, will evaporate when your last breath leaves your lungs.

Yes, some say, but you are still alive now. You may as well try to live the best life you can. You can put in the effort, the work, and the sweat, and reap some rewards at least. You can make life better for yourself and the people you care about.

By the way, that last paragraph basically sums up the work of a popular self-help author and speaker today named Jordan Peterson.

It’s true. Why make life more miserable than it has to be by giving in to that tempting voice that whispers hopeless woes of vanity. It is the voice calling for the shirking of responsibility in light of your own ultimate doom.

Everyone dies.

So, why try? Why work? Why care about anything?

Work hard to avoid as much pain as possible before you die!

Is that really the best we can do?

Yes. That really is the best we can do. Let that sink in.

It’s no wonder many choose to end it quickly though suicide. On some level, whether consciously or not, they must feel the weight of the vanity of life.

Death is the enemy that waits around the corner. If he is cruel, and he usually is, he waits until we’ve done something that matters, that makes a difference, and then he strikes. He takes us away from our families, our loved ones, our accomplishments, and he laughs.

“See if anyone remembers all you’ve done in five years’ time.” He mocks. Because most won’t.

The above paragraphs put into words some of the wordless thoughts and emotions that ran through my body this evening as I sat in a chair in the dark, looking at a spinning ceiling fan.

I don’t know why I was in such a gloomy frame of mind, but I am ashamed to admit that I was.

I spoke a silent prayer, then, to God in my mind, “If I could hear your voice.” That’s all I thought. I’m not exactly sure why. But I think it was for the same reason a boy runs to his father when he is afraid.

Immediately upon thinking that prayer, I became suddenly aware of the Bible laying on the stool beside my chair. I asked for God’s voice? Well there it was, written and waiting.

Why try? That same refrain echoed in my mind. Why hope for anything but vanity.

Everyone dies.

It was more difficult than I expected to simply reach out and grab my Bible. It was like all my motivation was gone. But I did. I picked it up, put it in my lap and turned it open, not aiming for any particular book or chapter.

It fell open to John chapter twenty – the chapter about the resurrection of Jesus.

It is hard to put into words what the sight of that chapter did for my soul. I hadn’t even read it yet. The mere fact of Jesus’ resurrection stood out from the pages like a blazing spotlight of pure hope.

But I did read it. I read about Mary finding an empty tomb. She told Peter and John who ran to investigate but found only folded linens. No body.

And then there came the scene where Mary finds Jesus in the garden. She thinks he’s just the gardener, until He calls her name.

He rose from the dead. He defeated death in a garden, just as death first defeated humanity in a garden thousands of years before.

If it is really true, that Jesus rose from the dead, that fact changes everything.

Breaking news from about two thousand years ago: In an Unprecedented Turn of Events, Jesus of Nazareth Conquers Death.

One fact changes everything in the universe, like a single flick of light switch transforms a dark room.

All the questions have answers now.

Why try? What does it matter in the end? It always mattered. You only thought it didn’t because of death. And death was defeated. Nobody stays dead forever. Everything you do today matters forever, because you will live forever. Either with Jesus, or not.

Everyone dies.

And then we live again.

You might wonder what I did after such an astounding revelation. The answer is that I did the dishes. Why? Because Jesus rose from the dead, of course!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

-Bill & Gloria Gaither

Jesus Is The Safety Net

Posted on by Michael Wine

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. John 11:25

Living this life is like walking a tightrope. There is a greater margin of error in living life than walking a tightrope, but the result of crossing over that margin is the same: death.

One misplaced step can land you in front of a bus on the road. One wrong placement of the foot can put you off balance on the high wire. A tightrope walker is really just living a life with very narrow walls for as long as he is on the rope. He is only allowed one thing, to walk across the rope or he dies.

But the man on the hire wire has a safety net (usually). If he falls, he will not actually die if he is safely caught by the net. He is thereby freed to live on the wire with confidence and boldness, not in fear. He has the mental strength he needs to walk across the wire. To live his life.

I would like to suggest that the one who believes in Jesus is free to live life similar to the tightrope walker. Even if they die, they will live again with Jesus. They will rise again as He did. Jesus is, in a way, the Christian’s safety net. He allows us to be bold, to really live our lives and take risks to make a difference for His glory.

I feel sorry for those who are trying to live this life without the safety net of Christ beneath them. What are they trusting in? Some trust in other gods who are not real. These wind blown nets are nothing but spider webs and clothes lines. They will not hold the weight of human sin.

Some have no net at all. They only have the rope under their feet. They trust only in the rope, this physical world, the life that we have to live. They are sure of themselves too. They trust in their ability to walk the narrow path alone.

But what happens when this world itself begins to unravel? When the weight of humanity begins to slowly break the strands holding the rope together? I would rather be the one trusting in a spider web. At least I would not be filled with panic as I watch the snap, snap, snap of the rope under my feet; the only thing between me and a long fall to my death.

But better still it is to trust in the real God, in Jesus Christ who came to this earth, lived righteously in God’s eyes, and died for sinners, bearing the wrath of God. He was buried in the ground for three days, and then He rose again in glorious victory over sin and death. And He lives in heaven now, watching all who trust in Him. He will surely catch us in our last moments, and bring us to Himself to live eternally.

The Christian’s Choice

Posted on by Michael Wine

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Philippians 2:22-26

The Christian, as exemplified in the Apostle Paul, lives here on the earth in a state of want. We are not with Jesus. Though we know Him through his Spirit and his word, we are not with him. Though he is with us always, we do not see him. We are still plagued by the burdens and temptations of sin that seek to draw our hearts away from loving Christ.

We can give into those temptations. We can make riches our aim; fame our goal. We can seek to fill the void inside with stuff, and games, and seeing the world – living our best life now. But when we do that, it always fails to satisfy.

Then we can turn back to Christ in repentance. He will forgive our wayward heart because of his magnificent grace and mercy. Then, we get a taste of him again. We return to his word and let our souls rest in the knowledge of him that comes through faith. But… we still don’t see him. There is a partial end to our search for meaning, but not a full end.

That is why we want to go there, to heaven where he is. We want to see him who we were made for, our God. We know that nothing else will do.

So why not just go there now? Why not jump off a bridge? We could be there instantly!

May it not be simply that we are afraid to die, to lose our stuff, and miss at achieving our goals. May it rather be that we choose to linger on, to bear the burden of life, so that we can love others.

This was Paul’s choice, as he states above. He longs to be with Jesus, because that is the only place where he will truly be himself, truly whole. But he chooses to stay, for a time, on the earth – bearing the weight of clinging sin, the emptiness of a heart that is not with his Lord – because he loves others.

We need to get this right. We need to recover this mindset. We cower before death as we cling to our dreams, instead of turning our back (for now) on the door of death, where the glory of God shines through all the cracks, to roll up our sleeves, strap on our boots, and get to work out of love for others.

We know that we will walk through that door when the day’s work is done. And not before.

Hoping in Death

Posted on by Michael Wine

Inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes.

We cling to these lives of pain, dust, trivialities, and passing pleasures. We put all of our hope into a container filled with gaping holes.

If someone manages to make a difference, to make life better for his children and grandchildren, he will still die. They will still die.

The good life and the evil life will both end. And everyone who comes next will not remember anyone who came before.

Knowledge learned by one generation will have to be relearned by another. Advancements and progress made in a lifetime will be undone as the next generation repeats the mistakes of generations gone by.

If only we could focus on what we cannot see, if we could look at what is invisible instead of what is right in front of us, we could have hope.

Humanity has hoped long enough in itself, in this world. We have hoped too long for the stars we see in the distance, though we know them to be barren rocks in the cold dark expanse.

We must begin to hope in God. We must begin to fear Him, so that we may cry to Him for mercy, so that He will forgive us for choosing anything and everything instead of Him, so that our fear can be turned into love, and so our love for Him and His love for us can give us hope.

Not the kind of hope that dies with us, but the kind of hope that lives forever, because it is in Him, who is forever.

A Life Beyond Existence

Posted on by Michael Wine

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

What is death? What is life?

Defining each by the other is accurate, but in a way meaningless. Death is not life. Life is not death. We have gotten nowhere yet.

We know what life looks like. We see eyes that can see. Limbs that move. Air is breathed in and out. The voice speaks. This person is alive.

We also know what death looks like. Eyes are glassy and unseeing. Arms and legs lie stiff and still. The lungs deflate. The mouth is shut.

We know we fear death. We don’t like to think about it.

But do we love life? Do we love existing?

Those souls sitting in dark rooms alone, despairing, contemplating ending their own lives certainly do not.

Existence is not life. For a man exists dead as surely as he did when alive. Non-existence is not death. Only an altered existence. An existence of motion and producing and change and growth becomes an existence of stillness and vacancy, rotting and shrinking.

Life is more than existing. More than breathing. And yet life depends on a certain state of existing. Death is the state of existence where life is no longer possible.

We know that death comes from life, like the husk of a caterpillar comes from a butterfly. But life also comes from life. The baby is born from two lives sharing their own with one another – like a magic spell turning dust into gold.

Does life ever come from death?

A man can sacrifice his life to protect life. He can protect the state of existence where true life is possible for others to attain. If that man or woman is truly alive themselves, that sacrifice is beautiful. But that is protection, not creation of life.

A small death of the soul can produce new life therein where there was little before. But this is only a growth of existing life, like a plant grows when it is pruned. It is not truly life coming from death.

In fact each of these cases is more accurately described as death coming from life. For without life there would be no honorable men and women to give their lives. Their would be no pruning of souls leading to better lives.

The best we can do is recover life back from death if we are quick enough. We can restart a heart, and snatch a life back. But we cannot produce new life from death.

The message of Christianity is wonderful, because it is the story of the time life came from death. The one and only time it ever happened.

It is the story of Jesus, who is called The Life, giving his life for the whole world. He died and then rose again. In His Life, we can really become alive. The death (and following resurrection) of Jesus did not merely preserve and protect the state of existence where life is possible, like the sacrificial heroes of today. Instead, it produces and creates real life of the soul. Real life that is more than just existing.

This is the message of hope that only Christianity offers to the world. Life did come from death once. The Christ entered the realm of death and came back again with new life. New life which he gives away freely to all who will receive it. It is the only time life ever came from death. And the life that came from that death and resurrection is so powerful, that it will overflow into eternity. A fountain of eternal life for all who will drink.

Receive Redemption

Posted on by Michael Wine

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

Don’t try to redeem yourself. You will just end up failing again, possibly in a worse way. Simply receive the redemption offered though Jesus. God’s grace is enough to redeem you, to buy you back from the bondage your sin has held you in. The Christian life is about living as someone who is already redeemed, not about redeeming oneself from past failures.

Joy in the Lord

Posted on by Michael Wine

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. Not in the world around us that is full of pain, sin, and strife. Not in ourselves, our own achievements or triumphs. Not is our things, the comforts of this life, our food, our friends, our clothes.

Rejoice in the Lord. He is the one who has saved us from our sin and clothed us in robes of righteousness. In him we can stand before God the Father as children, unafraid of judgement or wrath. Jesus is the Lord who will finally save this world from all its evils, establishing peace for eternity. It is in Jesus that there is hope.

Do we really understand the mercy of God?

Posted on by Michael Wine

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

This is the prophet’s conclusion when considering all of the works of God. Immediately before this often quoted verse, the prophet Jeremiah lists some of God’s deeds:

  1. God has afflicted him with a rod of wrath (vs 1).
  2. Driven him into darkness with no light (vs 2).
  3. Been against him all day long (vs 3).
  4. God has wasted away Jeremiah’s skin and broken his bones (vs 4).
  5. Besieged him with bitterness and tribulation (vs 5).
  6. Has made him live like a dead man in the dark (vs 6).
  7. God has trapped Jeremiah in walls without escape (vs 7).
  8. Has ignored all Jeremiah’s prayers for help (vs 8).
  9. Made all his plans crooked (vs 9).
  10. God acts like a vicious wild animal toward the prophet (vs 10).
  11. God has torn Jeremiah into pieces (vs 11).
  12. God uses Jeremiah for target practice (vs 12-13).
  13. God has made the prophet forget what happiness means (vs 16-17).

The result of all of this is that Jeremiah despairs saying, “…so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord” (vs 18).

If anyone could question God’s love, his goodness, his faithfulness, it would be Jeremiah. And yet he does not. Instead he says:

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

Lamentations 3:21-40

God’s mercy and faithfulness, wrath and justice, towards us, must never be divorced in our minds from our sin and rebellion against him. Notice how Jeremiah mentions man’s sin, and how it leaves him no excuse or defense.

“Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?“

When we forget the magnitude of the offense we have given to God with our wicked ways, we cheapen his mercy, and run the risk of not accepting it from his hand. When that happens we must take his wrath. God will give one thing or another. He will give either his great wrath because of our sin, or he will give his great mercy and grace to cover our sin and accept us when we return to him.

The mercy of God is not a free pass. It is not sparkly fairy dust sprinkled on your life to make your dreams come true. It is the only thing that will keep you safe from the mighty wave of God’s wrath. Let us not complain when that wrath is manifested in our world.

Earthquakes, plagues, buildings falling, fires eating away homes and lives, panic and riots and hate – these are all results of our sin, and God’s wrath towards that sin. They are signs that we must return to God, and receive the mercy He freely offers to us in the cross of his Son Jesus.