My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less . . .
The observations of an anonymous writer grabbed my attention. I read and reread the words several times. The substance, source, and seemliness of these words impacted me. A portion of the words is as follows:
“The general moral corruption of society, sin rampant in official and family life, will bring the state to ruin. The foundations are rotting, being eaten away; the canker-worm of sinful practices are growing at the heart and the whole structure will fall apart. . . . It is the truth . . . for the nations of every age. There are fundamental moral laws underlying the structure and woven into the very fabric of human society. When they are ignored and violated disintegration sets in and the structure is sure to collapse. For the confirmation . . . it is only necessary to scan the page of history. . . .
[T]he fact that Messiah is the hope of the world. . . is true to-day, it will be true of the future. There is no other hope of the world. Education, culture, legislation, politics, cannot save the world. In the shifting of foundations, the breaking up of the moral, religious and social orders, with growing disintegration, the hope . . . is the Christ. . . .”
The above observations powerfully summarize what is happening today in our nation. Furthermore, the writer of these words was spot-on in his affirmation that if there is any source of real hope, as we face these issues, then that Source ultimately is Jesus Christ. For the record, it should also be noted that the writer, in addition to being unidentified, did not make these observations recently. I happened to come across the above comments while perusing some of the 800 pages of “Helps and Features” in an old edition of The New Analytical Bible, originally published in 1931 by the former John A. Dickson Publishing Company of Chicago. Though not written later than 1931, it may be the case the words were penned even earlier.
The content of the above quotation was presented as background material concerning the Bible’s Old Testament book from the prophet Micah. The best scholars date Micah’s prophecy somewhere between 740-700 BC. The Dickson Bible’s background study information on Micah describes “from the scan of the page of history” the spiritual and moral landscape seen during Micah’s prophetic labors. However, the writer of the above cited material explains “the truth not only [applied] for Israel and Judah, but for the nations of every age.”
Micah wrote the breathed-out message from God (cf. 2 Samuel 23:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21) which reaches its apex in Micah 5:2 and also Micah 6:8. The former verse (5:2) predicts, 700 years before it happened, Messiah’s birthplace to be Bethlehem Ephrathah (cf. Matthew 2:1-6; Luke 2:1-7). The latter verse (6:8) provides the profound answer to the questions, “What is good, and what does the Lord require?” The depth of this text has been praised for centuries by civil, ethical, literary, et al. leaders. Even the Victorian intellectual, Thomas H. Huxley, who coined the term agnosticism to describe his professed inability to know whether or not God exists, called Micah 6:8 “an inspiration of genius.”
These two powerful verses imply, in conjunction with the totality of biblical revelation, the only hope for an answer to “moral corruption . . . sinful practices . . . and the breaking up the moral, religious, and social orders.” It is in the salvation of the Person of the Messiah (Christ) and the application of His principles (justice, mercy, and faithfulness to God) that we will find hope.
The power is in the everlasting Ruler, (the Christ) Who, from eternity as the Ancient of Days, became the Babe of Bethlehem—the infant of days (cf. Micah 5:2; John 1:1-3, 14). Such is but one of the infinitely precious elements manifesting the power of the gospel story; all of which reside in His Person and the propositions and properties of His manner and message, which are proofs that He is the Son of God. Borrowing from a part of the first line of an old, yet wonderful, hymn—My hope is built on nothing less . . , which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27)!