Jesus Our Righteousness, Peace & Hope.

1st Timothy 1:1, 1st Corinthians 1:30, Ephesians 2:13-14

 

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  1st Cor. 1:30

Jesus is our Righteousness, helping us appreciate why we can exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, Matthew 5:20 and be acceptable in heaven. Jesus is indeed our holiness from God, Eph. 4:21-24, a divine gift we cannot purchase or earn. Of course Jesus is our redemption because the price he paid to buy us back from the grasp of Satan was his blood on the cross.  Paul actually points to Jesus as the Redeemer when he quotes from Isaiah 11:11 in Rom 11:26-27. Hugo McCord translates deliverer as redeemer, “In this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Redeemer will come from Zion, and will turn godlessness away from Jacob This is my covenant with them, when I remove their sins.”

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But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace , who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, Eph. 2:13-14

Jesus is our Peace. This word means an intimate active friendship, not just an absence of war. Friendships are enjoyed when we are together in the same place. Christ is that place. Christ is not just a person, the word Christ mean’s “anointed”, it is a condition, and in God’s eyes, it is an environment of forgiveness and communication, which enables Him to share his strength, love and wisdom with those IN JESUS CHRIST. That is the epitome of peace.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah as the “Prince of Peace”, (Isa 9:6). Jesus fulfilled that expectation by enabling humanity to become friends with God. Who? Whoever takes faith in Christ’s blood as the price paid for our sin, and obeys Him in His victorious death by being baptized for the remission of sins.

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…Our Savior…Christ Jesus our hope , 1stTim. 1:1

We can have more hope than the richest atheist or believer in any other religion. Paul proves that our faith and knowledge of Jesus will help us ‘abound’ in hope, Romans 15:13 …you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".  Jesus uses the word “hope” in teaching, Luke 6:3435. He condemns the selfish hope of not losing what is given away.  Hoping for things not to happen is a negative hope, not commended in the Bible, hoping for things to happen is positive and godly.   What kind of hope is this?

 A good and better Hope, 2nd  Ths.  2:16, Heb 7:19.  The Helmet is our hope of salvation, 1st Ths 5:8.

Blessed Hope, Tit 2:13, one of the pillars of Christianity 1st Cor 13:13, should help us rejoice in our hope laid up in heaven Col. 1:5, think of the rewards! Our happy day will be the day of Judgment which reminds us of our hope’s joy, Heb. 3:6 & Php. 4:4.

Living Hope, 1st Pet 1:3.  Our source of eternal happiness is fully realized in the resurrection. Our resurrected body is a hope in God, Ac. 24:15

 

This week’s pointer in prayer: Do we truly pray to our Father, with confidence in the friendship Jesus gives us? Has He not made us righteous? Is our hope solid? Are we positve and confident in our prayer? Hebrews 4:16.