Faith, at its minimum, says “we believe.” In our culture, that can mean something as nebulous as “I believe in a greater power,” but for me, it means “I believe in the God who created the world and everything in it” – at least, that is what Paul called on the pagans in Athens to consider (Acts 17:24). Hope, on the other hand, takes a step beyond simple faith and declares, “I believe in a God who makes and keeps His promise.” Perhaps that is Paul’s point when, with his life nearing its end on earth, he declares to a young preacher named Timothy, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12b) You and I can take Paul’s statement and make it our own only because of Easter – the declaration of the angel on that glorious first day of the week of new creation: “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.” (Matthew 28:6)
I don’t know about you, but sometimes my hope is disrupted by my questions. The writers of many of the psalms felt comfortable saying similar things to God. So can we. Easter is the answer to that lament – and lots of others like it.
Think about this: God declared to Abram, a very old man married to a very old woman who had never been able to have children, “Now look to heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them . . . So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:5) Abram believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. In Romans 4, in commenting on this very promise from Genesis 15, Paul declares, “It was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” If that isn’t convincing enough, in Galatians 3:8 Paul writes, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” You and I are “all the nations.”
Still need some hopeful assurance? Try this. “In Him (Christ), you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Galatians 1:13, 14)
Don’t let the moments when life doesn’t go quite as you expected and thought that it should distract you. Easter declares that God made a promise to Abram. The death and resurrection of Jesus confirmed that promise and opened the door of the kingdom to all the nations, and when we believe, the Holy Spirit becomes the guarantee that God has kept His promise. It is that promise that allows us to join with Paul and declare, “I know whom I have believed in, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day!”
That “day” is coming. My faith in Jesus tells me I’m ready. My hope tells me I’m confident God keeps His promise.
Happy Easter!
This devotion was written to be shared with the Point University community for Easter 2025.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Wye Huxford 