+DEV+ Message of Hope

Date: April 23, 2012 11:04 PM
Topic: +DEV+  Message of Hope

Message of Hope

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  (Isaiah 9:2)
Scripture Focus: 1 John 1:5-7

Darkness can be frightening. In Isaiah 9:2 the word translated as darkness is the picture of blindness. The "land of the shadow of death" is from the Hebrew word meaning very thick darkness or terror. Those do not sound like pleasant places to be, but they picture our world of sin and hopeless blackness.

Many years ago I traveled in Germany and stood on the cold, gray pavement of Dachau, one of the Nazi concentration camps. Over the gates were written the words used to describe hell in Dante's Inferno: "All hope abandon ye who enter in." Utter despair must have filled the atmosphere, for the residue of it still remained.

In the very beginning, darkness covered the face of the earth, but God pushed it away when He created light. Sin and death are dark because they are separated from God, but He has pushed them away, giving us light and hope. Isaiah points us to the only hope we can have of breaking the suffocating darkness of sin - Jesus. Praise God that the Light of the World had come!

Insight: God saw the darkness of our spiritual state and promised us a great light. it's Jesus!