From 1 Corinthians 10:4, “And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the Spiritual Rock that followed them; and the Rock was Christ.” Then 1 Peter 2:6, “For it stands in Scripture; ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.'” Next, 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:20, “Built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” Psalm 18:31, “for who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock except our God.” Acts 4:11-12, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is Salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (ESV – all emphasis mine)
When we speak of Jesus as our Strength, our Shield, and our Rock of Ages, we must remember that He was, first of all, our God. John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
The amazing fact about our Savior is that He left His rightful Home in Heaven to come to this earth as a human, knowing what He would be subjected to. Hebrews 2:9, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone.” We cannot say we have a deity that doesn’t understand us. Hebrews 4:15 states, “for we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Matthew 4:1-22 and Luke 4:1-13 both tell of the direct temptation of Jesus by Satan. After being baptized in the Jordan River, Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. He totally fasted for 40 days, and Satan tried everything he could to cause Jesus to fail. Satan tempted Him by telling Him to turn stones into bread and eat; Jesus refused. Satan took Jesus to the top of the Temple in the holy city and tried to have Jesus jump off and have the angels rescue Him; Jesus refused. Finally, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and offered all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would worship him; Jesus refused, and this time, He told Satan to leave Him. After this, the angels came and ministered to Him.
Though He remained fully God, Jesus allowed Himself to be fully human. At any time, He could have said that “enough is enough” and left us to fend for ourselves. Looking at the condition of this world today, could anyone have blamed Him?
Our Heavenly Father is not bound by any time restrictions as we are, and Jesus is a part of the Father. John 3:16 tells us that God loves us so much that He allowed this absolute precious part of Himself to come to this earth so we could once and for all have a true pathway to Him. All that is taking place today is not a surprise to the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. However, God knew He would have to offer the sinless blood through His Son, or we would never be able to stop all the animal sacrifices.
Therefore, our true Hope is built on the blood of Jesus, and nothing less. Edward Mote wrote a wonderful hymn in 1834 titled “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.” Consider the words of this hymn.
1.) My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Ref.) On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.
2.) When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. (ref)
3.) His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. (ref)
4.) When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. (ref)
All of the end-of-this-era prophecies are here, and for the first time all at the same time. The next major event will be the Rapture, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. As Jesus Himself said would be, there is a steady turning away from anything pertaining to Him and the truth, and the so-called treasures of this earth are taking over. This is nothing more than Satan being given more freedom to deceive all who will not receive and accept the Savior.
Jesus told of the broad road leading to eternal destruction and the straight and narrow path leading to eternal Salvation in Matthew 7:13-14. He stated that more would be on the broad road than would be on the straight and narrow path.
For all who have received and accepted Jesus as our Savior, we were not promised an easy time. There are still those who seek Him, even though we are now being called the “haters.” The issue is, the world has fallen for all the abominations spoken of by our Heavenly Father, and because we refuse to participate in their evil ways, they want us gone.
Well, soon we will be gone, and at first, they will rejoice, thinking they’re lucky we aren’t around. However, through Satan, the ultimate antichrist and his false prophet will just about create hell on earth. The carnage will be unbelievable, and if it weren’t for Jesus actually returning to earth, all human life would be in jeopardy.
The sin nature won’t completely stop there, even with Satan bound in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. At the end of that time, he will be released for a short time, and there will be a multitude of lost souls who will follow him. It won’t be for long, and Jesus will put down the insurrection with a word.
There will be a Great White Throne Judgment right after Satan is cast into the lake of fire to join his antichrist and false prophet. All who were out of the will of God from creation to Calvary will be in that long line, as well as all from Calvary to the end of this earth’s time who refused to receive and accept Jesus as their Savior. This is found in Revelation 20:11-15. All who are in that long line will be cast into the lake of fire forever.
Two endings for the humans of this earth, and no other options are available. Also, we get to choose which path we will take: Jesus or Satan, Heaven or hell, and our choice is our own free will. God will not force anyone, but “all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
As things are heating up, it’s obvious we are nearing the end of this present age. It would not be too early to call on the Savior today. We don’t know when the Trumpet of God will sound and the shout comes from an archangel. This is the time to be prepared, and it may very well make the difference between being with the Savior during the worst 7 years this world will ever see, or being on this earth under the rule of Satan’s puppets.
Build your hope on nothing less than Our Savior. That will be a decision you will never regret. Jesus will take your call when you are truly ready to make it.
Shalom! Come, Lord Jesus!