Topic: The Hope of a Christian
By Ptr Arsenio “Jack” Segismundo
Text: Hebrews 11:1
“ Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence of things not seen.”
Introduction:
Salvation, in religion, is the deliverance of humankind from such fundamentally negative or disabling conditions as suffering, evil, limitations, and death. In some religious beliefs it also entails the restoration or raising up of the natural world to a higher realm or state. Salvation referred to an altered or improved state of being to this life or a new of existence of some kind after death.
Every religion has an idea of salvation. Every one of them has a different name for salvation:
Taoist – balance ( China ) -Taoists do not worship any one god. Taoism contains beliefs about what happens after death, but the religion itself is focused almost exclusively on life and how to lead a good one
Buddist – Nirvana ( China )- Buddhism requires meditation and knowledge and self-denial in order to reach salvation. The Buddha taught that to reach enlightenment, one must develop two qualities, wisdom and compassion. Being kind, loving and compassionate to humans and animals are important values in Buddhism. Buddhists aim to live kindly and wisely and follow the teachings of the great spiritual leader Siddhartha Gautama, Buddha.
Hindu – Moksha - Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to) Dharma (ethics/duties), Samsara (the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action, intent and consequences), Moksha (liberation from samsara or liberation in this life), and the various Yogas (paths or practices).
Islam – paradise - Islam demands its adherence practice and maintain the five spiritual exercises or pillars to arrive in paradise .The word “Islam” means “submission to the will of God.” Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are monotheistic and worship one, all-knowing God, who in Arabic is known as Allah. Followers of Islam aim to live a life of complete submission to Allah.
The basic doctrines of Islam are collectively known as the Five Doctrines of Islamic Faith. They include a belief in the absolute unity of God, belief in angels, belief in prophets, belief in scriptures, and belief in the Final Judgment.
All of these religions demand some form of moral or religious law keeping in order to become worthy or acceptable to a higher power and thus be saved
All other religion follows similar pattern of salvation, except for Christianity.
The basic concept of man’s salvation
1. Man is sinful - Man is imperfect subject to moral failure and physical suffering and ultimately death
2. There is God - God or higher power provides the knowledge and method to improve this flawed condition and ultimately escape death
3. There is a mediator - That knowledge and method is mediated a religious leader to teach and maintain that spiritual discipline and eventually be saved
4. The way to be saved - If the individual works hard enough, trains well enough and zealous enough his practice of religious rules he or she will win the prize of salvation. Salvation requires human effort.
These has been the pattern of salvation on all religion except for Christianity. In Christianity the Mediator is not an ordinary man, He is the Son of God demonstrated in wonders and miracles. The Way of Salvation is only thru faith in Jesus .
As Christian, these are the things that we hope for:
1. The Hope of the return of Christ (Titus 2:11-14), - The Word of God proves it.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
2. The Hope to experience the saving power of God – the transformation from corruptible to incorruptible. The Proof – The glorified body of Christ
1 Corinthians 15:53
“53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
3. The Hope for the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6), - The Proof – The resurrected Christ
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
“20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have [a]fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruit, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”
4. The Hope for eternal life and the inheritance of the saints – never ending life– The Proof – The Christ Lives forever and ever
John 10:27-29
“27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
5. The Hope of the redemption of the body and of the whole creation (Romans 8:23-25) – The Proof – The Blood of Christ
Ephesians 1:7
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
6. The Hope of transformation into the likeness of Christ (1 John 3:2-3),
Ephesians 4:13
“…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”
7. The Hope for the eternal glory in heaven (Colossians 1:27),
Philippians 3:20
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”
Conclusion:
All that we hoped for rested on Christ. Our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ is not only a living hope, but it is also sure and steadfast. It does not rest upon some fading substance on earth, but its foundation is in heaven itself, where the Lord Jesus has entered for us, and so we have this hope as an anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:17-20). Heaven is eternal. The Lord Jesus went to the cross to bear our sins and God’s judgment due to us. He is now crowned with glory and honor and seated at the Hand of the Father. He is our security. He is our hope.
