The Promised Savior: Hope Before the Cross

The Hope That Came Before the Cross

We live in uncertain times. Every week seems to bring fresh challenges, new anxieties, and reasons to feel unsettled. Yet in the midst of this turbulence, there's a question we must answer: Where is our hope found?

For followers of Jesus, the answer should be clear, our hope is found in nothing less than His blood and righteousness. But does this hope affect only our Sunday mornings, or does it transform every moment of every day?

The Puzzle of Our Lives

Think about a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle scattered across a table. Each piece represents a moment in our lives, struggles we don't understand, circumstances that don't make sense, situations where we can't see the bigger picture. We work through one difficult section, thinking we've got it figured out, only to realize later that we had pieces in the wrong place.

Our lives are like this puzzle. We see only the piece in front of us, struggling to understand how it fits into God's greater plan. But here's the beautiful truth: God sees the complete picture. He's not surprised by any piece, no matter how confusing or painful it seems to us.

The Israelites in the Old Testament lived with this same reality. We often judge them harshly, "Why didn't they recognize the Messiah when He came? How could they miss all those prophecies?" But they were working with their piece of the puzzle, living in their moment of history, unable to flip to the back of the book and see how the story ends.

We have an advantage they didn't have: the complete Scripture at our fingertips. We can look back and see how the entire Old Testament pointed to Jesus, the promised Messiah. Over 300 prophecies spoke of His coming, and every single one was fulfilled.

Promises Written in Stone

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "For unto you a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

Think about that for a moment. Can you predict with certainty what will happen 700 years from now? We can barely predict next week's weather with accuracy. Yet God, through His prophets, declared exactly what would happen, where it would happen, and why it would happen.

The prophet Micah pinpointed the location: "But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrata, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be a ruler in Israel" (Micah 5:2). A small, insignificant town would become the birthplace of the King of Kings.

Isaiah 53 paints perhaps the most vivid picture of the coming Messiah, a suffering servant who would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. "He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

These weren't vague predictions that could be interpreted multiple ways. They were specific, detailed prophecies that pointed unmistakably to Jesus Christ.

The Woman Who Knew the Scriptures

Consider the woman in the Gospels who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors who couldn't help her. But she fought through the crowd, desperate just to touch the hem of Jesus' garment.

Why the hem specifically? Because she knew the prophecies in Malachi that spoke of healing coming from the edge of the Messiah's robe. Her knowledge of Scripture gave her faith to press through the impossible to reach the possible. She understood that in that hem, there was healing.

This is the power of knowing Scripture, not just knowing about Jesus, but truly knowing Him through His Word. It transforms how we see our circumstances and where we place our hope.

The Simple Yet Difficult Puzzle

Jesus made following Him remarkably simple, though not easy. He gave us what could be called a "child's puzzle" compared to the complexity we often create:

1. Repent and follow Him
2. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
3. Love your neighbor as yourself
4. Make disciples

Simple instructions. But living them out? That's where the battle begins.

Every single day, we wake up fighting against our flesh, the part of us that wants what it wants when it wants it. Our flesh screams for recognition, comfort, and control. It wants to be upset when things don't go our way and to judge others who don't agree with us.

But surrender to Jesus isn't a one-time event. It's a daily choice. Every morning presents a new opportunity to say, "Lord, today, be the ruler of my life. Today, help me respond to situations the way Jesus would respond. Today, let the Holy Spirit work through me rather than my flesh."

Living Hope in an Anxious World

The promise of the Messiah wasn't God's reaction to our sin, as if He looked down from heaven and said, "Oh no, they've really messed up. Jesus, you're going to have to fix this." No, Jesus was always the plan. From the very beginning, God knew that humanity would need a Savior, and He promised one would come.

After His resurrection, Jesus reminded His disciples: "Remember how I told you while I was still with you in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise" (Luke 24:6-7).

We serve a living Savior. Not a dead king. Not a good teacher who lived long ago. A resurrected Lord who conquered death and offers that same resurrection power to anyone who believes.

This is why we can have peace in uncertain times. This is why joy is possible even when circumstances are difficult. This is why hope isn't just wishful thinking but a confident expectation based on God's proven track record of keeping His promises.

The Contagious Life

If you know Jesus, truly know Him, not just know about Him, your life should be a screaming testimony of God's love. The joy you carry should be contagious. The peace you possess in the midst of chaos should make people wonder what's different about you.

This doesn't mean plastering on a fake smile when you're struggling. It means that even in the struggle, there's an underlying current of hope that comes from knowing God is sovereign, He's not surprised, and He's working all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Your neighbor, and remember, your neighbor is anyone you encounter, should be able to see Jesus in how you live, not just in what you say. The grocery store clerk, the difficult coworker, the family member who pushes your buttons, the stranger whose car broke down on the side of the road, they're all opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ.

Where Is Your Hope Today?

The hope that existed before the cross was a promise waiting to be fulfilled. The hope that exists after the cross is a promise kept and a Savior who lives.

So where is your hope today? Is it in your circumstances improving? In your bank account growing? In finally achieving that goal you've been working toward? Those things will never be enough.

But if your hope is in Jesus Christ, in His blood and righteousness, then no matter what piece of the puzzle you're working on right now, no matter how confusing or difficult it seems, you can trust that God sees the complete picture. And it's beautiful.

The question isn't whether God is in control. He is. The question is whether we'll surrender to Him daily, love Him fully, love others genuinely, and live in such a way that our lives proclaim the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

That's the hope that came before the cross. That's the hope that was proven at the cross. And that's the hope that sustains us today.

Devotional

A 5-day Bible reading plan and devotional guide based on the message The Promised Savior: Hope Before the Cross.