INTRODUCTION:
Hope and Love are things everyone needs. Hope gives you a direction otherwise you wander about lost. Some people hope for a large bank account for their old age, some hope for fame while they are young. Others hope just to be loved, and to find the capacity to love.
Christians see beyond, this life. They have been given a hope by God that grows as they grow older. Hope for things in this world slips by when people grow older. Hope is mentioned over 50 times in the New Testament. We will cover just a few verses.
I/ CHRIST IS OUR HOPE
1. "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"(Col 1:27)
I have chosen this verse first, because Christ is our hope, without him we would not have hope for anything beyond this life. This verse reminds us that Christ is IN US, that knowledge brings us hope. When we look at our lives, and see the imperfection, we are discouraged and loose hope, but when we look at Jesus, that He loves us and dwells in us we are brought back to hope.
2. "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." (Romans 15:13)
Since our God is the source of our hope, we wonder what this hope does for us. This verse tells us that through the power of the Holy Ghost, we can be filled with all joy and peace. People everywhere are looking for happiness, they are looking to wealth, fame, good times, earthly loves ect.. But we know that lasting Joy, and Peace come from within and this verse tells us that God’s hope or hope in God brings these things to us.
3. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;"(1 Tim 1:1)
We can hope because "God our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ" is our Hope. Think of that !! Our Saviour is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the bible says All things were made by him and without him was not anything that was made. This Omnipotent, Omnipresent God is our hope.
II/ THOSE WITHOUT HOPE
1."That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:"(Eph 2:12)
Being without Christ and without God means they are without hope. Oh yes they hope in worldly things, such as money and power and fame, but 99.9 percent are disappointed in even that. The others are disappointed when they grow old and cannot enjoy the world.
2. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."
(1 Thess 4:13,14)
Those who all there lifetime have lived without eternal hope, have relatives who when they die, also have no hope. So they are hopeless and there relatives are hopeless. Then there are those who have a false hope. Hitler gave young Germans false hope that he was setting up a super race by killing those Jews who would degrade the future generations. They all died to find they hoped in the wrong thing.
III/ HOPE IS GIVEN TO US BY GOD
1."Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you."
(1 Peter 1:3,4)
With all the false hopes given to men by Satan and the world system, how did we get this living hope, the one that lives within us to empower us? It was given to us by God through His mercy when we believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
2. "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"(Heb 6:18,19)
God in his mercy set hope before us, we received it and it has become an anchor for our souls, which this verse says is steadfast and sure. I remember, when I was first saved, how I thought of one day walking the streets of Gold in heaven and talking with
Moses, David, and other Saints. A new hope was set before me.
3."And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."(1 Cor 13:13)
This verse shows us there is a difference between faith and hope, by faith men do things, but it is hope that keeps them going. For instance, (Romans 10:9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
What do we do next? After we have believed in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and have confessed him with our mouth, what do we do next? We Hope! And We Serve by faith!
4."For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" (1 Thess 2:19)
Now we shall see that our hope goes beyond ourselves, to the lives of others. We hope that not only will we be saved but that others we have witnessed to will be saved. Not only that they will be saved but that God will help them along their Christian pathway just as He has helped us.
IV/ NOW WE CONTINUE TO HOPE
1. "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (Romans 8:24,25)
In the original Greek, "We were saved in hope". We were saved by faith in hope. But hope is not over when we are saved, there is yet the hope that we will be someday free from the power of sin, and the presence of sin. We as Christians now hope for the redemption of our bodies, and receiving our spiritual inheritance. Paul wrote of the "glory that shall be revealed in us" in verse 18 of this same chapter.
And back in verse 17 "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"
There is a big difference between, our hope and the hope of the Muslim fanatic who thinks he is going to paradise because he committed suicide while killing others. This verse says we must with "patience wait" for the result of our hope. We cannot hurry along our reward until we are finished with the work God has set before us.
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works"(Matt 16:27).
You must live your whole life, that God has given you, then can He count your works and give you your reward.
"Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward."
(1 Cor 3:13,14)
2."Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
(1 John 3:2-3)
Our "living hope" arises out of a solemn assurance of our salvation, this hope is stirred up within us by the Spirit of God. This hope operates within us in a holy manner, it purifies us, as John said in
1 John 3:3;"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
It makes us better people, loving people.
We realize that is Jesus Christ we are heirs to the riches of Glory, we need not be selfish, or covetous, because we are already rich in Christ.
We need to share our riches by witnessing to others that our hope can be their hope, and our Saviour their Saviour.
