My name is Casey Cole, and I pastor Fairview Memorial Missionary Baptist Church, located at 1150 Fairview Avenue, Bowling Green, Kentucky. I currently live in Allen County with my wife and our three boys. Our faith and our service to Jesus my Saviour and His kingdom are the most important parts of our life. I am thankful to have this opportunity to discuss my experience of faith with you today.
The Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The culture we live in today and the world around us seem to base their hopes for a brighter future upon ideas of the American Dream. Instead, I would like to tell you of a hope that I have in Jesus, the only hope for mankind. Jesus was born of a virgin overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, and He came to do the will of his Father who sent Him. As John the Baptist declared, “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus Himself declares that “[He] and [His] father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus would eventually go to the cross in order to pay the price for our sins that we could not pay: “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 2 Corinthians 5:21 goes on to say, “For [God] hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
As God in human form, Jesus gave His life freely, saying in John 10: 17-18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” Jesus was placed in a sealed tomb, but death could not hold Him, and He rose again on the third day victorious, having made an atonement for our sins by overcoming death. You see, my hope is not wishful thinking based on my own accomplishments but is instead based on the finished work of Christ.
Indeed, we are all sinners in need of a savior. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” You must be saved by God’s grace if you expect to go to heaven after death. Paul further explains in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Paul describes this faith as the “substance of things hoped for.” The “substance” of faith is fully trusting in the Lord Jesus with all of your heart. You cannot be saved by yourself or by anyone else: You must be born again, as Jesus describes to Nicodemus in John 3. To be born again means to be born from above, a spiritual birth in which you are saved by grace through faith, truly becoming a new creature in Christ: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
When we realize that Jesus – without sin, perfect, holy, and righteous – is the savior of the world, we see ourselves as lost and undone without God. We see our guilt and feel conviction; we are broken-hearted over our sin. However, “the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18). When we feel this conviction, we must repent and place our faith and trust in Jesus, for “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
When the Lord saves you, He places a peace in your heart. As Paul says in Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This peace lets you know you have been born again; you feel the Holy Spirit in your heart, and you want everyone to know about this joy, this salvation, this wonderful blessed peace you have. This peace is the peace of God “which passeth all understanding” and “shall keep [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). This peace is truly the only thing that matters at the end of your life. You can gain the wealth of this world, but if you never have peace with God, you’ve never really had anything.
Once we are saved, we should continue to come to the Lord in faith every time we pray, earnestly seeking His will and direction in this life, for “without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). And He will truly reward us one day, for Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. This is, according to the Apostle Peter, our “lively hope… an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away… reserved in heaven for [us], who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” This hope is bestowed on us “according to [God’s] abundant mercy” and “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
This faith article could cover many topics, but the greatest thing that could ever happen to anyone is truly being saved by God’s amazing grace. I want everyone to experience this hope in Jesus Christ. You will face many trials in this life, but through faith in Jesus Christ, you can have the peace of God and true hope for the future. People are looking for all kinds of answers and a hope for a brighter tomorrow, but I am thankful I know who holds tomorrow and that I have access to the promises of His Word. Though I am not worthy of His love or His mercy, I am thankful for the grace that God has extended me. I am thankful for the hope that we have in Jesus, and that, when my time comes to an end on this earth and I draw my last breath, I will be going home to be with the one who gave His life for me forever more. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving a wretch like me. My prayer for you, reader, is that you might experience this same hope. Call out to the Lord and seek him while there is still time.
In Christian love,
Casey Cole
