Peter wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). "He has caused us," he said, "to be born again to a living hope." By God's special working, we have hope. Through Christ's resurrection, we have a living hope. Born again. Now, I know lots of Christians who feel hopeless. I know lots of believers who suffer with despair. It must be from an error because Scripture says ours is a living hope caused by God, so if we lack hope, I would suggest it is on our end. I would, in fact, suggest it's a lie we tell ourselves -- a suppression of truth.
I was talking to an honest atheist. He told me, "You Christians tell me the only way they can imagine coping in this world is by this relationship with God. Well, I don't have that relationship with their imaginary being. And I'm happy to have no relationship with an imaginary being. I am free from that nonsense. Oh, I'm not better off; I have no reason to hope. But I'm free." Better off.
Which are you? You might be born again to a living hope while you live without hope. You might be at odds with any sort of divine being and living with hope. Both of those are irrational positions. You might be an enemy of God and be without hope, and that makes sense, or you might be alive in Christ with living hope and that makes sense. The former, however, cannot be "better off" -- without hope. Which are you?
2 comments:
I have found that I have to hope in Him, for without Him, there is no hope anywhere else to be found. Even your atheist saw that.
I was at a funeral a while back for someone who had no faith at all. It was the most depressing funeral I have ever been too. I can't imagine how anyone goes through life like that.
Not only on a personal level, but how does one live knowing that there is absolutely no accountability for wrong or evil actions. That there is no possibility that the perpetrators of great evil will ever be held to account for their actions.
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