I wish to encourage you to walk in hope. Christians live with the tension of being created for eternity and reborn for Heaven, while temporarily confined within the mortal boundaries of this earthly life. It is faith, hope, and love which fuel our expectation of being promoted to our intended destination, eternity.
Job, who understood the agony life can bring, explained that you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security (Job 11:18). Spiritual hope is distinct from human well wishing; it’s different from simply longing for the best to eventuate. Hope, as God designed it, is characterised by a very different set of values, values that grow out of Biblical truth. It rises from faith in Christ’s substitutional death, from a desire to grow in purity, and it matures in its security grown from the sovereignty of God.
By faith we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2). God’s glory inspires hope at two levels; First, it values our present character transformation into greater Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Second, it looks forward to the ultimate joyful glory for God when we are presented as perfect in Christ, in His presence (Jude 1:24-25). You see, hope looks forward with great anticipation because according to his (God’s) great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you… (1 Peter 1:3-4). This hope is NOT something we generate, rather, our hope is from him [God] (Psalms 62:5).
This side of eternity, Christ is manifest in believers through faith, hope, and love… (1 Corinthians 13:13). These three components cause us to …toil and strive (persevere), because we have our hope set on the living God… (1 Timothy 4:10). Holy Spirit generated hope is so real that it makes the anticipated truths a present reality. Consequently, as our discontentment with this world increases, so does our hope in God for our eternal home. We …groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Romans 8:23-25). Our hope is NOT in earthly assets, pleasures, or achievements. Rather, our hope rises from our citizenship (which) is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself (Philippians 3:20-21).
Hope evangelistically displays the Lord’s desirability through our lives so that the ungodly will develop envious curiosity. So, in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
Today, be encouraged to identify the hope God has given you in Christ.
- Fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), stir your heart with the joy of knowing the certainty of your eternal home.
- Encourage another believer with the privilege of this God given hope. Christ is returning that you may be with Him for eternity (John 14:1-3).
- Explain the gospel of hope in Christ to some unbeliever who presently has no hope beyond the grave.