Jesus: Real Hope for a Hopeless World

Jesus is the only real hope for the world. Image courtesy of Andreas Wahra, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).




Joel Kontinen


During a very tumultuous time in Israel’s history, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah:

“For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB.)

At the time Israel was a divided kingdom, and the Babylonians were about to take the rest of the Jews into captivity. Yet God, who knows everything about everything, promised hope for His people.

It was not an empty promise. Roughly 70 years later, the Jews were able to return to their own land, to rebuild the temple that Christ was to visit during His earthly ministry.

God never changes. He still offers hope for a hopeless world. True peace and real hope can only be found in Jesus Christ, who is the only real Saviour.

Searching for the Lost: Another Unique Trait of Christianity

Jesus as the Good Shepherd by Alfred Handel. Photo courtesy of Toby Hudson, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).





Joel Kontinen

Many non-Christian religions are stories of man’s search for God. Christianity (and Judaism, to some extent), differs from them, because it is the account of God’s search for man.

When Adam and Eve lost their way due to their own choice, God came to the garden to seek them and bring them back.

Since then, God has time and again stepped into history to point us the way back to Him.

At the appointed time, the Jesus left His heavenly dwelling and lived among His creations for a short while:

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

He came, because without Him, mankind was lost, without any hope whatsoever.

The New Testament shows us what Jesus is like. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10). He was even ready to leave 99 sheep and go to search for the one that was lost.

He is the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep.

And that means us: “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:25).

If you are still lost, now is the time to let the Good Shepherd find you.

Scripture verses from the Berean Study Bible

Can Our Faith Be Shipwrecked?

Image courtesy of Hans Olav Lien, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).



Joel Kontinen

Charles Templeton (1915 –2001) was once a very famous evangelist who preached to tens of thousands. But he lost his faith while studying at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he learnt about evolution and millions of years.

Before his death he wrote a book entitled Farewell to God: my reasons for rejecting the Christian faith (1995).

Some Christians believe that a genuine believer can never lose his faith. A few Scripture passages seem to support this view, for instance these:

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10: 27–28).

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38 – 39)

While it is true that no one can snatch us from God’s hand, He has given us free will. We can walk away from Him, as the following verses show:

“Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1).

We cannot abandon something we don’t have.

“Holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” (1 Timothy 1:19 – 20).

Time and again the New Testament exhorts us to cling on to the Lord, to fight the good fight so that we might overcome and inherit God’s eternal Kingdom.

Even to the faithful Philadelphian church He said:

“I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11).

Scripture verses from the Berean Study Bible

Jesus: The Name Above Every Name

The name above every other name is Jesus (Greek: Ἰησοῦς, Iesous). Image courtesy of Andreas Wahra, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).




Joel Kontinen

How could God best show us what He is really like?

He has done that in two ways: 1) By giving us His Word, the Bible, and 2) by coming to live among us for a short while. The apostle Paul called Jesus “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus “went about doing good and healing all those being oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38).

To identify with humanity, Jesus used the title Son of Man (Greek: ὁ υἱὸς τοὺ ἀνθρώπου), a sign of humility.

Writing to the Philippians, Paul exhorts us to imitate Christ:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Who subsisting in the form of God, did not consider to be equal with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, having taken the form of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men. And having been found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (2:5–8).

Whereas His disciples wanted to be great, Jesus was willing to wash their feet.

This humility eventually led to exaltation:

“Therefore God also highly exalted Him, and granted to Him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in the heavens and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (2:9–11).

Even today, there is power in the name that is above every other name. In Jesus' name, sinners receive salvation and the sick are healed.

Scripture quotations from the Berean Literal Bible

Whatever Happened to Repentance?

Rembrandt van Rijn: The Return of the Prodigal Son, public domain.




Joel Kontinen

How long has it been since you heard a sermon on repentance?

Repentance is not a very popular concept nowadays. It is probably one of the tree words many preachers tend to avoid. The other two are sin and hell, which obviously are not politically correct terms either.

When Jesus began His earthly ministry He preached on the necessity of repentance: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel,” Mark 1:15 records Him preaching.

And when He was about to leave this world, He instructed the disciples: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24: 46–47).

This is exactly what the early disciples did. Peter and John proclaimed: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19), and Paul had a similar message. On trial before King Agrippa, he said: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance" (Acts 26:19–20).

What, actually, is repentance? The Greek word metanoia refers to a change of mind and sorrow for one’s sin. It is not primarily an emotional reaction, although emotions may be involved, but a decision of the will. One makes a decision to discard that which one knows is wrong and then discards it. Or if one finds one is going in the wrong direction, one turns round and chooses the right way.

I would suggest that there are two reasons why preaching on the necessity of repentance is not popular in our day. The first one is Darwinian evolution that basically rejects a literal Fall and the second is humanistic psychology that draws on Darwinism and rejects original sin. These two ideologies permeate every level in society and their impact is also felt in the church, even though Christians might not always realise it.

However, the Bible tells us that God has not changed, and history tells us that man has not changed, so there should be no valid reasons for avoiding one of the most essential concepts of Christian preaching.

The gospel has to do with changing lives. As Paul put it in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”

Even today, preachers should proclaim “the whole counsel of God” since it is the only formula for changing lives.


Scripture verses from the New King James Version (NkJV)

Is Jesus Really with Us?

James Tisso: Jesus Found in the Temple. Image: public domain.





Joel Kontinen

Luke’s Gospel records the account of an event that occurred when Jesus was twelve and He went to Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary. Returning from the Festival of the Passover, they noticed that Jesus was not with them.

Everything that is written in Scripture serves a purpose. This account is no exception. We ought to search ourselves and our ways every now and then to see whether Jesus is really with us, or whether we have gone on without Him.

The Old Testament judge Samson provides a warning example for us. He assumed that God was still with him even though he had disclosed the secret of his strength to Delilah.

But he was wrong; his strength was gone.

We might face trouble if we do not watch and pray but instead merely assume that the Lord is with us.

Let Us Focus on Jesus and His Word

This Book will keep us from sin. Luther’s Bible (1534). Image courtesy of Torsten Schleese.



Joel Kontinen

The New Testament exhorts us to be followers and true disciples of Jesus. To do so, we need to focus on Him. The Letter to the Hebrews (12: 2–3) says:

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

How can we do this, as He is no longer physically present in our world?

The Apostle Paul explains:

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3: 16 –17).

We can keep our eyes on Jesus when we read His Word, the Bible, and let it dwell in us and change us into His likeness.

He promises a great reward for those who do so consistently:

“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.” (John 15: 7–8).

Jesus described His Word as food. According to a much-used quotation attributed to the evangelist Dwight L. Moody, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

The choice is ours.


Scripture verses from the Berean Study Bible