The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Genesis 15 tells us that Abraham “believed the Lord and He counted it to him as righteousness” (ESV) when God made the promise of innumerable offspring in the face of Sarah’s barrenness. Hebrews 11 lists numerous other times Abraham and other Old Testament believers exercised faith. Then it says, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
When these Old Testament believers died, they went to a place called paradise, also called “Abraham’s bosom”. Even the thief on the cross next to Jesus was told, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43) in response to his request to be remembered in Jesus’s kingdom. These people appear to have been accepted into God’s presence based on their faith demonstrated by their works.
But a second set of Old Testament believers lived and believed during Christ’s ministry on earth. They also lived under the works-based sacrificial system that was instituted in Exodus, and were still alive when Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed Himself on the cross as the final and eternal sacrifice necessary for salvation. Hebrews 9:28 states, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
When Jesus died, His followers were devastated and doubted, even though He had told them He would return. They either forgot or were skeptical of His declarations while He walked with them. Once He made Himself known, they reasserted their belief and rejoiced, having now the deeper understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and salvation that comes with seeing the fulfillment of all that had gone before. I have often wondered, did the Old Testament Believers who had died also have to reassert their faith based on the New Covenant?
Everyone alive today has lived their entire lives under the New Covenant (New Testament), the offer of sins forgiven once and for all time through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. While available to every one of us, it is a gift that has to be accepted in order to produce the promised salvation and eternal life in each of our lives Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) tells us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Recent losses have shown me that we never know when our time is up on earth. Have you accepted God’s plan of salvation, not based on your works but on the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross? If you have not, I urge you to come to Christ, and pray to accept His forgiveness and righteousness, freely given to those who believe. As Acts 16:31 (ESV) says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
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