The Tragedy of Hopelessness
 In
the early 1970s I read a story about a Korean merchant
marine who fell overboard in the Pacific Ocean. He was
alone on deck when he went over the railing and no one
was around to hear his screams as the huge cargo ship
disappeared into the blackness of the most horrible
night of his life. He knew when he would be discovered
as missing it would be too late for any kind of search
much less a rescue. What made matters worse was the
fact that he was in a part of the ocean that was not
well traveled, since his vessel had gone off course
in order to avoid a storm. He knew his predicament;
he understood he would either drown or be torn to shreds
by sharks, a thought that chilled his blood to the bone
as he began to feel small sea creatures brushing against
his legs.
However, God intervened in the natural
course of events and he was rescued some time later
by a vessel that just happened to be in the area. It
was one of those “one-in-a-million shots”,
so to speak. Though the anticipation and associated
anxiety of dying a terrible death at any moment was
gut-wrenching enough in itself, yet it was the sense
of utter hopelessness that tormented his soul the most.
No hope — nothing rips apart
the human psyche and displays the depths of human emotion
like being without hope. Hell does that, too, but only
in a much greater way than merely being lost at sea.
You see, in hell there is no deliverance; no “one-in-a-million”
shots; not even death itself offers relief for one in
that place of horror because that person knows, “This
is it”; he is there for all eternity. Being conscious,
feeling pain, having memory and knowing there will never,
ever be an escape are all part of hell as Jesus described
the place of the lost dead in Luke 16:19ff.
Such is the case with this world. It
is on a collision course with destruction and most people
do not understand it. Some do not want to understand
it. Others understand, but ignore or simply reject the
facts. They qualify as being deceived.
It is intriguing to listen to the human
elite talk about the course of this world. Humanity
understands the hopelessness of the present course of
events, and at the same time insists mankind itself
has all the answers to a secure future. They issue warnings
about war, global warming and population increases that
will bring famine and disease. They say we must come
together as a race and work toward peace and goodwill.
They develop plans and cry for multilateral cooperation.
They search the solar system, going as far as the planet
Pluto, trying to discover and understand the world’s
past hoping to find help in securing the world’s
future. Education, global economic equality, environmental
conservation, health-care research and other noble efforts
make up the key to the world’s longevity and preservation
according to their wisdom.
What can easily be understood, but
is rejected, is the fact that we can indeed know the
past and even the future. And the reason this knowledge
is rejected is it comes from God. He has told us all
about the past and the consequences of humanity’s
rebellion against our Creator. Additionally, He has
given us a broad outline of what is in the future, both
for the saved and the lost. All this information, however,
is openly despised and hated because the truth about
man’s history, his present situation and his certain
future quite simply pulls back the cover and reveals
the naked depravity and utter foolishness of humanity.
And since this does not fit with man’s opinion
of himself it is flatly dismissed out of hand. A seduced
and secularized world demands to know who does God think
He is anyway, and resents His telling humanity how to
handle things. Humanity, in their thinking, is not helpless
nor hopeless.
Who among us, if they really looked
at this world system objectively, would genuinely want
to live life resting with confidence in human discernment
and ability? At least the sailor understood the hopelessness
of his situation. Secularists, however, do not have
a clue as to the consequences of a world that has squirmed
away from the grasp of God. What a hellish state of
affairs is the end of that kind of life!
Thankfully there is something better;
something that gives peace and comfort to the frightened
and anxious human soul. And that something is called
Christian hope. It’s source is found in God Himself
as demonstrated in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Hope beats secularism hands down every time.
So, what about this thing called Christian
hope? Is it just pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by? Does it simply
point us to a fantasy world in the hereafter, but has
no real impact in this present life? A true story is
told of an early 20th century evangelist who was being
ridiculed by a humanist professor while speaking to
a large crowd of street people in a major Midwestern
city. The doctor questioned then ridiculed the evangelist’s
premise that Jesus gives what can’t be found anywhere
else — genuine hope. He praised human intellect
and told the preacher that Christian hope is groundless;
the phantom of a simple mind’s imagination. The
preacher then asked the learned professor to meet him
the following day at high noon with 10 people whose
lives have been changed for the better by human philosophy.
He went on to say he could produce from that very crowd
at least 100 people who have been changed from drunks,
abusers, criminals and every sort of human debris into
godly, responsible people with jobs and cared-for families;
people with peace in their souls and joy in their hearts.
The professor didn’t show up.
Jack Hollingsworth of Acts 29 Ministries
sings a song about a man named Hopeless. The refrain
is: “My old name doesn’t fit anymore. I
lost some friends when I left that town, but now you
ought to see who is hanging around. Peace comes over
and he doesn’t leave. Joy is just like family
and I’m not Hopeless anymore...And that is why
they call me Hope for short.” Jack speaks from
experience. He is from a very dysfunctional family.
He was an alcoholic living on the street for 20 years.
He tried to kill himself six times. He even jumped from
the Mississippi River Bridge in Memphis on one attempt
and missed the river! Jack, like multitudes of others,
can testify to the power of Jesus’ blood and the
rock-solid peace and hope that comes with it.
You see, Christian hope is not only
for the age to come. It encapsulates the troubled soul
in real optimism right here and now. Christians see
around them a sin-sick and rotting world headed for
disaster, but we place our heads on our pillows at night
in peace knowing that God even has plans for this very
world; plans that most people, and even many Christians,
do not understand. Bible prophecy clearly tells of a
time when Jesus is going to wrest this world from the
destructive hand of the enemy and renew it in the form
and fashion He originally intended.
The ancient Hebrew prophets wrote of
a time when Jesus will smash all rebellion against His
sovereignty, will rule with benevolence and righteousness
and will bless humanity with a peace that has heretofore
been unknown (Isaiah 2; 11; etc.). This will be the
time of restoration Peter refers to in his sermon recorded
in Acts 3:19-21. Paul also mentions it in Romans 8:18-25.
In fact, the song Joy To The World is actually not a
Christmas song, but refers to this same time. Jesus
Christ will accomplish on the face of this very earth
what the world can only dream of doing.
The seed of hopelessness was sown when
the race was still very young. A division arose between
the descendants of Cain and those of Seth. The Cainite
society founded a city, invented and developed the arts
and business and laid the foundation of a kingdom based
upon secularism. Seth’s descendants, on the other
hand, came together under the hand of God and laid the
foundation for God’s work on earth. The problem
was not the arts and business. The problem was the Cainites
chose to perpetuate the motives and methods of their
wicked forefather.
Hopelessness. It is a spiritual pathogen
that has infected this planet almost since the very
beginning. Satan obscures the antidote for this problem
by encouraging people to focus upon their own abilities
instead of allowing God to be sovereign in their lives.
As was the case with Ahithophel, Judas and many of our
own day, suicide is often seen as the only way out for
those whose hope is in this world’s system. With
AIDS, bird flu, Islamic terror, lawlessness, the threat
of global war and every other kind of hellish scenario
clearly visible on the near horizon there is no wonder
people are fearful and without hope. Humanism has failed
them and they don’t know which way to go. The
only way to go is up, but most are so blinded by the
fog of despair and deafened by the chorus of self-appointed
saviors spouting some form of humanistic psycho-babble
they are like a deer in the headlights — frozen
in place while facing imminent doom.
Ours is a religion of genuine hope.
We do not concentrate on the horrible spectacle of this
terrestrial life, but rather we remember the words of
Jesus, "But when these things begin to take place,
straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption
is drawing near." (Luke 21:28 NASBu). DLM
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