The Thread of Hope (Part 1)

The thread of hope

To be or not to be - that is the question

Of all the things in life that are absolute and certain and completely unavoidable the most sure of all is that it will one day come to an end. Whether through accident, sickness, old age or design, at some point during our span of mortal life we must all sooner or later face this conclusion. It is an unavoidable truth for which there is no hope of avoidance.

For the vast majority of mankind death is the great unknown and what is unknown often gives rise to fear. In science what is unknown can be subject to investigation, through calculation, hypothesis, study and by experimentation. But death defies scientific method other than to prove the finality of the human condition called life. At death the functions of the body and the workings of the brain which govern those functions cease. While it is true that science has the possibility to maintain some physical functions so that the body does not decay and can monitor those functions, yet it cannot prevent the ultimate loss of life.

Once rigor mortis has set in and the degenerative processes of the body begun, the work of science cannot restore life to the human body. It is at this point when we must accept the fact of death. It is at this point when we must conclude that there is no hope for the restoration of life. For those who have no belief in or assurance of life after death it is the darkest moment in the life of those who live on because it is a moment utterly devoid of hope.

For the married couple whose partner dies the civil contract mutually entered into in life has also come to an end - married only "till death us do part". All that may have been obtained through hard work and great sacrifice over the years of life remains behind. All that is left are memories. There will surely be regrets for those things unaccomplished together, words spoken or left unsaid, issues that have not been resolved and actions that have caused offences and hurts unrepaired. For those who are fortunate terminal illness allows time and sometimes opportunity to prepare for the closure of mortal relationships. But the coming of death though inevitable is always unwelcome even if not unexpected.

The sting of death can be devastating. Broken hearts, grieving families, loneliness, a sense of helplessness, emptiness, insecurity and the fearful knowledge that sooner or later it too will visit again. Death also raises the question - what was the purpose of it all, if this is the finality? Without hope of a life hereafter there remains a sense of futility.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast

At times like this it is natural to question the meaning of life and even to reach out for some thread of hope that this is not the end - that there is something beyond this life which we can neither see, nor touch, nor feel, nor understand with our human abilities. The poet Alexander Pope in his Essay on Man wrote that, "Hope springs eternal within the human breast". It is only when we face death that life takes on new meaning and we seek to believe in what we cannot prove - that life continues beyond the grave.

It has been said that sincerity of belief alone does not establish the truthfulness of a principle and that being true then hope is not of any intrinsic value unless there are grounds to support that hope. If hope in a life hereafter can be considered then what basis is there for such a belief ? And what kind of life can it be if the body has been interred in the ground or the sea or burned ?


Death has been compared to the act of removing a glove from a living hand. The empty glove represents the body which is dead and has no life without the presence of a living hand. The suggestion of a living force, soul or spirit which continues to live externally of the body, however, raises more questions than it answers. If such an entity exists, where does it go after death ? And in what form? Where does such an entity come from? Does such a life form have an independent existence and if so what attributes does it possess? What is the purpose of mortal life if such a life may exist beyond the grave? Since all must die, will we recognize or be reunited at a time after death with those whom we have associated with in this life? What kind of association can this be? What or who governs the continuity of the lives of those who have lived in mortality and died? And there are many more....

Hope of a life after death can bring some form of comfort even without real or substantive proof of its reality, since many will grasp for anything that gives them some reason to believe that one loved and now deceased continues to exist, even if not in a physical presence. But, as we all know, unsubstantiated hope is a shallow foundation based as it is not on real assurance but on a bedrock of desperation to comfort and console the loss of one so much loved and now gone. For hope to be substantiated it is necessary for there to exist solid assurances or evidences, the testimony of infallible witnesses or better still, a means whereby hope can be transformed into a personal assurance - a personal reality.

To reach the point wherein hope of life in the hereafter can be transformed into reality there must be a genuine desire on the part of the one so seeking. The process of transforming such hope into reality begins with a determination strong enough to compel one to action - the action of faith. The exercise of faith is much more than an abstract hope for it is a motivating power. By faith we prove all things. By faith a farmer plants seed in the ground. There is no quantative assurance that his work will guarantee a harvest - anything can happen to prevent such from taking place, inferior seed, bad weather, infestation, marauding animals, extremes of temperatures, drought. All can, as it were, conspire to threaten the likelihood of a harvest, but trusting in what he cannot see and in hope of a positive outcome a farmer will nevertheless act in faith on his preceding hope. Scientists today invariably build on the work of those who have preceded them but in former times scientists were much more dependent on acts of faith built upon a hope of discovering a means to an end.

When the desire to hope is sufficiently strong it compels the human mind to believe in the possibility that the act of faith accomplishes.

Wisdom is justified of all her children

When we lose the companionship, love and friendship of someone whom we have loved and who has loved us we may feel devastated by the loss and overwhelmed with sorrow, not of finality but of uncertainty. If something is final there is no hope and no cause to hope but with uncertainty we cannot rule out that hope exists. No-one who has postulated that life continues in one form or another after death can rule out the possibility that such is the case. It may be something we cannot prove in a tangible manner but the act of faith can give assurance enough that something which is not tangible is still real.

The fact that we cannot see, touch, smell or hear an element of life does not mean that such does not exist. The air we breathe every moment of every day is proof of that truth.

Many things that we determine to be real, such as our emotions and feelings, love, anger, fear, etc. are real to us when we experience them but they are also not tangible.

We are also subject to imperceptible influences which have no physical substance. We all know that our bodies can feel cold or heat but again these feelings are not something we can actually touch or hold in the palm of our hand. Nevertheless, we acknowledge them to be real even though they have no material substance.

From time to time we get sick, the result of germs, bacteria and viruses invading our bodies, which though real are invisible to the naked eye.

Material life is comprised of elements both organic and inorganic - they differ in substance and in form but they all originate from the earth around us. We may take those elements and fashion them into whatever components we need to make our lives more comfortable and useful. We may discover new means and methods to use those elements for our benefit but at their origin those elements already existed. We may duplicate the works of nature - we may alter their molecular structures, but we cannot so much as create any entirely new and living species, not even a blade of grass, because we do not have the power to do so. As the words of a popular song so indicate "nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could".

Even if we decide to break down the elements into their most rudimentary form they still exist. We may submit them to all manner of dissolution and dissect them; we may split the atoms and subject them to all manner of physical constraints. We may reduce them to the ultimate and smallest possible unit of existence but in reality nothing is ever entirely lost because in its nature it is eternal.

The elements which have formed and belonged to the human body may at death return to the earth as dust to dust or ashes to ashes but still, nothing has actually been lost. Even so called annihalation is merely the rearrangement of particles.

What then of the life that was there, with its intelligence, intellect, wit and memory? What of the personality, vibrance of spirit, attributes of character and affections and all of the other facets that made that person unique and which endeared us to that person, that constituted the soul of that individual? These are those things that are not physically tangible - to the human mind. Yet in our heart and mind they were real and they existed and constituted the person that was then alive even when not physically present.

Only when we stop believing in someone do they cease to matter and cease to exist but even then only in our mind and heart because that part of them that is eternal continues to live.

To have faith is to take hope one step further - it is to plant a seed in the heart. It is in its infancy to allow the idea to develop, to reason, consider and even believe - to the degree that the idea of hope takes root. When a seed is planted in the ground - if it is a good seed - it will with due care and attention begin to grow and when it has sprouted we know that the seed was good. The act of faith enabled by the planting has been brought to fruition and validated. What began in the shadow of doubt or even disbelief has now by the allowance of hope and by the act of faith been transformed into a living certainty.

To begin the process of transforming hope into reality we need to focus on the object that the act of faith can prove. Since the eternal nature of the spirit within man cannot be determined by scientific study and since a vague and uncertain hope alone in its existence is a concept too fluid to give grounds for belief, we must turn our focus to the one person whose life has been sufficiently documented and of whom independent testimony exists who both lived and who after death was seen and witnessed to be alive again.

Jesus Christ is that person. In the Biblical New Testament four separate authors proclaim and bear witness of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They independently confirm the testimony that the first to witness the resurrection was Mary Magdalene, followed by the remaining eleven apostles of Christ, two disciples who walked along the road to Emmaus and then later five hundred men. At the calling of a twelfth apostle to be witness of the resurrection with the other eleven the names of two additional men are mentioned as being also selected and one chosen to fill the vacant office. The apostle Stephen is recorded as having seen Jesus and his Father at the time of his stoning and later another person who had not only refuted the existence of a resurrected Christ but who had actively persecuted those who believed in him, namely Saul, whose name was changed later to Paul testified of having seen Christ.

But for many the happenings and beliefs of events that took place already over two thousand years ago are far away from modern day reality. None of us who live today can substantiate the truth of events that took place so long ago and around which a plethora of confusing dogma and liturgy have been created.

Notwithstanding the material evidences surrounding the life and death of Jesus Christ no tangible means exist to provide convincing proof of his life after death. The volume of historical evidences are sufficient to convince anyone of his existence beyond a reasonable doubt, but the same problem exists of his resurrection as for the convincing proof of life after death.

To resolve the problem of determining individually the veracity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, we can resort to the same acid test as the farmer mentioned previously - that of planting the seed. In the same manner in which a scientist sets out a theory and then step by step builds up evidences and hypothesis, studies and draws conclusions that can be determined by practical steps,
so we can also in the same manner determine a practical manner in which to proceed on the basis of existing testimony and knowledge.

As hope can only be transformed into faith by action and as faith must have some evidence to support it so then we may turn to the question of who do we believe. In a court of law usually the testimony of two witnesses is sufficient to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Within the compilation of books that constitute the Bible, there are many which by way of direct testimony as well as by prophetic inference and parallels refer to Christ in both Old and New Testaments.

In order to create a foundation on which faith in Christ can be established it is appropriate to consider some of these.

The consequences of law

According to the Biblical record, after the creation, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. There it is mentioned that they received laws and commandments from God, the transgression of which brought about a fall from their immortal state to a state of mortality, thus enabling the human race to be brought into existence. That the consequence of transgression of his laws was known to God is clearly understood through the verbal warning that he gave to them prior to this event taking place.

The Apostle Paul clarifies the purpose of Christ and his redemption of the human race by stating that as in one man, namely Adam, came the fall and with it death or mortality for all mankind, so through the atonement of one man, namely Christ, are all men redeemed from mortality at the time of the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 5 v.11-12, 18-19, 1 Cor. 15:22)

The obedience of laws, even in a secular society, provides benefits to those who maintain and keep those laws. That laws exist is a measure of the care and concern of society to ensure the protection and safety of its citizens. The breaking of those laws carries with it penalties - in part as a preventative deterrent but also to ensure that justice is maintained - so that thieves may not be allowed to take over society or that murderers should be permitted to take life without fear of penalty. The maintenance of law gives us ordinary citizens a measure of peace and security that we would not have in the absence of those laws or their deterrents. That they are intended for our benefit and to enable us to enjoy our lives and the freedoms we take for granted.

Similarly, we may reason that God`s laws have a similar albeit largely unrecognized purpose. And like the laws of human society those laws also bring with them both positive as well as negative consequences. In the case of Adam`s transgression of divine law the consequences were far reaching and yet not unpredicted. By the fall the way was opened for the human race to be born, but by the fall also man became born into a state of mortality, physical death being the ultimate consequence.

If we can believe that God is a being who is all knowing and all powerful as well as being infinitely wise and just, then it can be safely assumed that he would have known the consequences of the circumstances which led up to the fall taking place and also that he would have prepared a means for the effects of those consequences to be compensated.

Herein, however, lies a dilemma.

We can easily recognize that a simple, even insignificant infraction of a traffic law in our society can under certain circumstances lead to extraordinary and quite unforeseen consequences. A small error leading to a minor accident, may lead to terrible carnage, destruction and loss of life quite out of proportion to the original offence - just as also a minor engagement between two opposing military forces can lead to a full scale war into which allies and foes are drawn to participate on both sides.

After the accident is over and after the war is over entire issues relating to the whys and wherefores can be ascertained and where necessary compensation and restitution can be determined and loss of life accepted and friendships again rekindled. Justice, mercy and forgiveness are in great part those essential elements of society that permit reconciliation.

But, if by the transgression of one man comes into the world a state of mortality leading to the death of every single human being - how can justice, mercy and forgiveness bring about a restoration to life? Adam, although responsible for his own transgression of God`s laws could not possibly bear the impact of the subsequent transgressions of every member of the human race born into existence
which initially resulted from his actions.

It stands to reason that on the assumption that God is by nature a loving and nurturing Father of the human race then he would also provide a means for their redemption from death. Now the penalties of broken laws must be accounted for in this redemption equally as much as the exercise of means to overcome death and bring about a restoration of life. If Adam could not take upon himself the burden of the transgressions of the human race, seeing as he was only responsible for his own transgression, then each and every member of the human race must bear the weight of their own transgressions, seeing that according to justice that is also correct. No man can be responsible for the failings of another unless he has materially assisted him in the exercise of his free agency to commit such.

Clearly also, penalties demanded by justice for the far reaching transgressions of another cannot be laid upon the shoulders of those who were not responsible for their deaths seeing as their mortality was not of their own cause.

Herein lays the primary need of the human race for a Savior - one who can take upon himself to pay the price for the transgressions, not only of Adam but of all those, who through no actions of their own are born into mortality and subject to death.

That no ordinary human being is capable of bringing to pass the resurrection of mankind from death must be clear to every living soul. The sheer magnitude of the sum weight of all transgressions committed by man for which a penalty would have to be made available would have to be of eternal consequence. In other words, only an eternal being, a God, capable of death and having within himself the seeds of life could accomplish such a work. Hence the necessity that the Savior of the human race be born with dual attributes of immortality and mortality.


On this assumption and hope lies all Christian belief - Jesus, born by the miraculous means of an act of divine procreation having an immortal Father and a mortal mother. There need be no need to speculate on how this act was accomplished since the New Testament provides only information that Mary, the mother of Jesus was a virgin and that she was "overshadowed" by the Holy Ghost, one of the three members of the Godhood of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Her husband to be, Joseph, being visited by an angel of God, it is reported "knew not" his wife until after her first birth.

The coming of a Savior to redeem mankind was known to the prophets of the Old Testament times and specific details of his life were proclaimed by them many thousands of years prior to his birth.

Threads of sacrifice

The principle of sacrifice has been one of the most enobling features of mankind from the very outset of the beginnings of the human race. The idea of giving up something of considered value in favor of anothers happiness and well-being sets man apart from the animals in addition to any other human characteristics. To surrender a part of ourselves, our time, abilities, our means and possessions and to do so with genuine feelings that come from the heart not only benefits the recipient but also enriches our own lives.

The first mention of Christ is by way of parallel or similitude and dates to the time of Adam and Eve, when it is told that their first born sons Cain and Abel made sacrifice. In Israel, anciently, a law of sacrifice was given only at the time of Moses, the Lawgiver but before that time frequent mention of sacrifice was made by the ancient patriarchs who preceded him. The mention of sacrifice, however, at the time of Cain and Abel had significance which is otherwise unexplained in the Biblical record but which may be deduced by reference to the events.

It is told that "Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" to make sacrifice and his offerings were accepted by God but that Cain` s offering was not respected. This comment leaves the scholar to ask the question "why"? What distinguished the offering of Cain from that of Abel? In later times in ancient Israel sacrificial rites were determined by the giving of specific laws governing them. Their purposes were many but they all had one thing in common. They were to be clean and unblemished, signifying that they were to be of the finest quality and appearance, the best of their kind. The primary purpose of sacrifice was to be an atonement for sins.

This is in clear similitude to the sacrificial "lamb of God" whose propitiation for the sins of the world was to be made in generations far ahead of this time. That sacrifice existed as a law between man and God even at the time of Cain and Abel - one being acceptable to God and therefore defined by and in accordance with his instructions and the other rejected because it did not meet the proper form or serve as a similitude of its true nature, is understood by this passage of scripture. Sacrifice can have no appreciated value or worth if it is given with reluctance or given disparagingly, void of any real intent. For this reason Cain was told that "if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door." Gen 4 v 7.

His rebuke is clear indication that he had foreknowledge of the correct purpose of the sacrifice but had no respect for it. Consequently his sacrifice could have no value since it did not meet the purpose thereof.

The next great similitude or parallel with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and even more clearly understood is that told in the story of Abraham and Isaac, where Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. At the very moment when his compliance with this extraordinary deed by a faithful patriarch was to be done, it is recorded that an angel of God appeared to Abraham and stopped him - this had been the ultimate test by God of this man to prove his faithfulness and he had not been found wanting. In this similitude Isaac was already a young man. It is clear from the story that his sacrifice was a willing one and that he permitted his father Abraham to place him on the altar for this purpose in the absence of the usual sacrificial animal. But the place of this sacrifice is even more clearly a reference to the sacrifice of Christ - the mount of Moriah where this event took place was also known to be situated near to the place where the first and subsequent Temples were built in Jerusalem, the place later known as Golgotha, the place at which Christ was crucified.

Even the name Moriah signifies in the hebrew language "ordained by YHWH," which is the name attributed to God by the Jews. The inferences here are clearly and unmistakably a reference to this being a preordained place at which the ultimate sacrifice of God would be made in generations to come and that the sacrifice of the son of Abraham was in similitude to the sacrifice of Christ by his Father.

The writings of the Apostle Paul make known to the people of his day the importance and significance of the covenant between Abraham and God, a covenant and promise that through Abraham would all "the nations of the world be blessed." That this covenant would be fulfilled through the lineage of Isaac, the child promised to Abraham and his wife Sarah and not his first born son Ishmael born to his concubine Hagar, is revealed by Paul. He explains that the children of promise are therefore those who inherit the promises of Abraham and that these promises are continued not through the physical lineage of his son but through adoption according to the promise of faith in God because Abraham believed God and was obedient to him. He concludes that "if ye be Christ`s, then are ye Abraham`s seed and heirs according to the promise. "Galations 3

This same conclusion is made and preached by John the Baptist who is recorded as telling the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day: "And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Matthew 3 v 9. The Apostle John records that Jesus himself testified to the Jews also that "Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it, and was glad" and when questioned by the Jews who mockingly said that he was not fifty years old and "hast thou seen Abraham?" he replied "Before Abraham was I am", the latter name "I am", being understood by them as a reference to the name of God for which they wanted to stone him for blasphemy.

The continuation of the Abrahamic covenant with God was initiated with the rite of circumcision which was a token of the covenant between the people of Abraham and God After the crucifixion of Christ the Apostle Paul referred to this as no longer being necessary because the law had been fulfilled in Christ. He told that circumcision was an outward token or sign of what needed to happen to the inner man and that without the change of heart that accompanied faith in God and his Son, Jesus Christ, the act of circumcision in itself was meaningless.

The threads of Moses

The life of the prophet Moses takes pre-eminence in the lives of the Jewish people, even to this day. Moses was the great lawgiver and at the time of his life the descendants of Abraham as had been foretold to Abraham, had been in captivity for 400 years in Egypt under the oppression of the ruling Pharoahs.

After many plagues had been poured out on the Egyptians because the Pharaoh would not agree to let the children of Israel go to worship their God, a final plague was sent upon all their households, after which Pharaoh did let them go - the death of the firstborn in every household of the Egyptians. This again is a symbolic reference to the future death of Jesus Christ - the firstborn son of God and the children of Israel were again given a new covenant - the passover, signifying that the angel of death would pass over the children of Israel and that they would be spared death by marking the doors of their homes with the blood of a lamb - sacrificed in accordance with the laws given by God through his prophet, Moses. How clearly this gives significance to that spiritual death which comes upon the wicked part of all mankind and how it may be passed over by all those who through compliance with laws given by God demonstrate their faith in the firstborn son of God through acceptance of his sacrificial atonement for their sins.

Prior to the institution of the passover God spoke to Moses and gave him specific instructions concerning the nature and manner of the sacrifice. The lamb was to be without blemish, a male of the first year - both signifying the nature of the later atonement - the lamb of God, Jesus Christ being without fault or sin and the firstborn son of God. Not a bone of the animal was to be broken signifying of Jesus Christ who at the time of his crucifixion was left without his legs being broken, even though this was the traditional manner of "finishing off" the victims so put to death.

The eating of unleavened bread is here instructed. Leaven or yeast was symbolic of corruption since its use causes the deterioration of the bread more rapidly. The use of unleavened bread was again a reference to the bread of life, namely Jesus Christ, who was perfect and without corruption.

Following the departure of the Israelites and their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, they complained to Moses that they had no food and Moses turning to God for assistance was told that they would have food provided for them as long as they remained in the wilderness. The following morning they found on the ground a thin wafer like bread that fell from the skies each day - and this was called "Manna". When asked by the people what sign he would show them that they might believe on him they cited to Jesus the example of Moses and the bread that he gave them from heaven. Jesus replied to them and said: "Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger: and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6 v 32-3

The act of eating and drinking is fundamental to life itself. Bread and water are representative of the essential elements without which human life cannot be sustained. The allegory by which bread is portrayed in these scriptures is in this vein representative of the essential nature of the teachings, example and atonement of Jesus Christ as the only means whereby eternal life may be obtained and sustained. Manna as given to the Israelites as they sojourned for 40 years in the wilderness was a literal food sufficient for their needs which came from heaven each day excepting the Sabbath day, whereas Jesus portrayed himself as the bread of life come down from heaven, signifying that by partaking of the spiritual food which he offered man could obtain eternal life.

The symbolism of bread and its relation to Jesus Christ is repeated many times in the scriptures and takes the place of circumcision as a covenant between man and God in the institution of the sacrament, being a token of remembrance of Christ and his sacrifice for man with the promise that he who partakes worthily of the sacrament will have his spirit to be with him and that God will dwell in him.

Notwithstanding the miracles that the Israelites saw performed at the hand of the prophet Moses, the parting of the Red Sea and their escape from the armies of Pharaoh, walking across the sea on dry ground, the water brought forth from a rock, the manna from heaven that would be sufficient for each day and enough for two days on the day preceding the Sabbath but at other times it would breed worms, the sight of the cloud and the light that shone as they were led by God and even hearing the words of God speaking to Moses from the cloud, it took only an absence of 40 days for them to call upon Aaron to make then an idol to worship in direct contravention of the commandments they had been given.

Consequently, the biblical record records that God was angered by their idolatry and Moses took the role of Mediator, pleading their cause, offering his own life and seeking the merciful attributes of God on behalf of the people that he also loved. These attributes reflect those of the Savior Jesus Christ whose atonement on behalf of the people of the world were the actions of a Mediator between man and God. Here, Moses actions reflect a similitude of Christ.

All of these earlier and subsequent Biblical teachings leave little room for doubt that these recorded events of history were intended to parallel the life and mission of Jesus Christ as Savior of the world and as the Son of God.