March 3: “Hope of Victory” by Dr. Brent Gentzel

Romans 8:37-39, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Today, we come to the end of our journey together. We may be sad about the lies and foolishness of the world in which we live. Our hearts may break over the damage done by all the “isms” we have consid- ered across these days together, but we should not be discouraged.

God is at work in this world. The universe bends toward truth, and falsehoods eventually fall in on them- selves. At the end of our best efforts and striving, thinking and philosophizing, human wisdom collapses and cynicism takes hold of our hearts. As Solomon told us in the book of Ecclesiastes, life without God’s Truth becomes meaningless, and life itself a vain pursuit. If that’s where many are today, it’s not the first time in history that this has been so.

However, if fatalism is the spirit of our age, the end of all our intellectual gymnastics across the de- cades, then “Victory in Jesus” has never been a more important anthem for followers of Christ. We are a people of hope. Paul says that we are more than conquerors through Christ. In the end, we don’t just win over the forces of darkness and despair in the world. In the final evaluation, we win big. God’s family, God’s Love, God’s Truth, and God’s Heaven...are the end of all things. This is God’s promise. This is the clear arc of history and the universe. This is our sure and certain hope.

And this isn’t just our hope. It is the hope of the world and the hope with which we have been entrusted. When we find a neighbor or a friend, a child or relative who is struggling with the false teachings of our age, we have a kind response to their struggle. When they feel their worldview failing them, collapsing in its practice...when we see the Holy Spirit calling them...convicting them toward God’s grace, it’s then that you most need to “be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have.” I Peter 3:15

If you have made it this far, I’m so grateful for what we have shared. If you have been in dialogue with God across these weeks, I have no doubt that you are better prepared now to kindly and joyfully speak God’s hope to those you love than you were at the beginning of our time together.

May God now give you the courage and opportunity to speak that hope often.

Father, thank You for this season of growth in my life. Use me now. Give me the courage and compas- sion I need to be light and love in a hurting and confused world. Bless my every effort to carry the hope I know to my generation. Amen.