July 18 - Christ: Hope for the Nations

July 18 – Christ – Hope for the Nations

Here is my servant who I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. In his name the nations will put their hope. (Matthew 12:18, 21)

We really have it all messed up.  We think that our country should be a Christian nation, but generally when we speak of this, we have a set of rules we believe everyone in the country should adhere to.  We want the entire nation to believe as we do.  The problem is – all of us have different beliefs on what Christianity should look like and how it should rule our lives. 

It is never a good thing when a country or ruling party aligns themselves with religion because religion is very different than Jesus Christ.  Religion tells us what we can not do, Jesus tells us what we can do.

If Jesus had wanted all of the countries in the world to become a government ruled by Him, He could have done it – with little to no effort.  He could have come into the world as a ruler on a white horse and established a reign over all the peoples of the earth – but He didn’t.  He came as a servant.

As a servant, He is able to traverse the classes of society, meeting the needs of everyone – poor or rich, powerful or powerless.  He offers hope to everyone and He brings hope to nations that call on Him.

It isn’t about the ruling government of the nation calling out to Jesus – it is about the people of that nation believing that He can bring hope.

One of the greatest things we can do as Christians in a country like the USA is to continually offer His hope to people around us.  This is what makes us a Christian nation – not that our leaders proclaim our Christianity as a whole, but that we proclaim Christ.

Religion on a national scale will never offer hope.  Christ on a personal level will always offer hope.