Hope

Many are presently trumpeting a message of hope. Whether it be of a social, political,  or spiritual nature; men long for something to hope in. We are sorley in need of true hope.  I have been reflecting on what it means to have a Biblical view of hope. Romans chapter eight says that we were saved in the hope of the redemption of our body, speaking of the resurrection. It is Christ in us that is, “the hope of glory.”  (Col 1:27) He is the Spirit of promise within us that gives us hope. Every example of hope seems to point to the return of Jesus to the planet. It’s interesting that something as beautiful as hope can be defiled when we put our hope in something or someone other than God. The Bible exhorts us to put our hope in His coming and in Him alone, not in human contrivance.

God subjected creation to futility in hope (Romans 8:20) The reason that we cannot put our hope in this age is because everything is given over to corruption. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness there of (Psalm 24:1) but it is still in need of redemption. The only hope that we have is the eternal, that is why Paul admonishes us to, “rejoice in hope.” (Rom 12:12) Jesus said that in the world (this present age) you will have trouble or tribulation, but to rejoice because He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) “In the last days perilous times will come…evil men…will grow worse and worse.” (2 Tim 3:1,13) Our hope is not that man can resolve the problem of humanity but in the promise of a future hope.

The Father has given the nations to Jesus as His inheritance. (Psalm 2:8) The Father has exalted Him to the highest place that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Phil 2:8-10) We do not yet see the fullness of this reality in the world we live in. It has yet to be fulfilled. We are to rejoice in hope because our joy is in His coming. Blessed are those who are found watching at His appearing. (Lk 12:37) “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus…” Hebrews 6:20 He has entered into heaven, which is the hope that is the anchor of the soul.

Everything we hope for must have eternal value, if it is not of eternal value it is a dangerous hope. We must be cautious, lest what we build our lives with, and put our hope in, be burned up and found to be wood, hay, & stubble (1 Cor 3:12). There is no middle ground, “rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13). Wars won’t cease and injustice won’t end until He returns and establishes His Kingdom on the earth. We now see the whole world under the sway of the evil one (1 John 5:19). When He comes He will judge the world in righteousness and in that day creation will rejoice. (Psalm 96:12-13) We are Christ’s house if we hold fast, “…the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” He is the only hope. And that is the anchor of my soul.

 

Truly living is living truly

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the wrong perspective that we often have on life. I am currently helping to facilitate my five year reunion with the eighty other people that I graduated Bible school with in 2005. I remember in my ambitious, young, twenty-two year old mind imagining where I would be in five years. I’m turning 27 this year and I must admit I did not live up to my own expectations. I found myself having to check my perspective towards my own life. In all honesty most of what I desired was a Christian version of the American Dream. The tension we often live in as students, young adults and perhaps human beings as a whole, is the question, “When is my life really going to start?” “When will I see the fullness of my hopes revealed?” I believe part of this comes from an incorrect view of what it means to live. Life begins when you are born again (Eph 2, John 3:3). We are reconciled to God through Christ and receive the Holy Spirit as a promise of our inheritance in heaven. This is the first step towards the restoration of what we were created for. The truth, is that when you start living, is entirely up to you.

We were made for heaven, which by definition is the everlasting home of God and the saints. In the beginning of creation God would walk with Adam in the cool of the day. There is no record of God “coming down” because God could visibly be on the earth before sin entered human existence. We were made for heaven on earth. When the story ends, which only marks the beginning of eternity, the two will become one again. He has given us the Holy Spirit as a guarentee of what is to come. We can live in some of the eternal pleasures of the age to come now. But it is only by grace and to the measure that we are willing to let go of the temporal satisfaction of the present one. Because of sin, part of the judgment upon man is the temptation to find fulfillment in what we do. But we can never be fulfilled on this side of time. We’re never truly satisfied. It’s because we were made for heaven. We were designed to be fulfilled in His presence and in worship of Him and Him alone. One may fool himself into thinking that he has found satisfaction in the comforts of the American Dream: a spouse, a house, a family, a steady income, and enough temporal pleasure to dull and sedate spiritual hunger. Some of these things are legitimate, even godly, but they will always leave you wanting.

You start living when you are living for eternity. Everything else is chasing after the wind. “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:35-36) We are truly living when we realize it’s not about what we can do, it’s about who we are as sons & daughters of God. When we love Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and follow His leadership, then we are successful and truly living. We can also find a level of fulfillment when we truly love our neighbor as ourself, without any hidden motives. Jesus said that when,“you know the truth, the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) Truly living is living truly. It is coming into agreement with the truth of who He is and who He says we are. Then and only then are we truly living.