Hope - Part One (3) Hope Springs Into Different Things

1 Corinthians 13:13 - "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

1) Hope Springs into Being Prepared

Hope is not a dead thing. It is not a "latch-on". We don't say we hope in something without actually hoping in it.  We don't hope in something if we know it is not real, or if it is going to fail. We have an expectation of victory. We believe in something only because we know it will be successful. 

I want to look at this verse again:

1 Peter 3:14-16 - "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor 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, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

Notice that this doesn't mean we need to get into a theological debate with everyone we meet - this is for people who ask. God makes people willing to listen to the "reason for the hope that is in you". We're not supposed to thump people over the head with our Bibles, no matter how fun it is, or how satisfying a sound it makes. (Just in case it's not evident, that right there is some dry humour. Don't kill me.)

Notice how honouring Christ as holy comes first? We need our hearts right before God before we can even begin to try to be prepared. It's...preparation for the preparation. Prepreparation. 

What does it mean to be prepared in hope? 

Psalm 42:5 - "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation"

Psalm 42:11 - "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."

The difference between being prepared in hope and having false hope is in one word: shall. 

The author of this Psalm says that he shall again praise him. The Psalmist has the view that God will save him.  How different would those verses look if it said "I might again praise him"? That would change the meaning entirely. We don't hope in things (or Beings) because they might help us. 

Being prepared in hope means having confidence. Not in yourself, but in God. 

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

What helps to prepare our hope? Something people wouldn't consider at first: Suffering. 

Romans 5:1-5 - "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love  has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

We hope for unseen, eternal things. Things that we cannot even begin to imagine: Eternal life with God. Perfect fellowship. Sinlessness. We are prepared through suffering, and we are prepared as we are purified. 

2) Hope Springs Into Being Purified

1 John 3:3 - "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."

I very often consider myself as a sinner. I know what I am, and that is a wretch so vile and putrid that I even hate myself. When I look into the deepest pits of sin in me, I want to crawl away and hide in some remote and uninhabited place. I want to be alone to suffer, not the right type of suffering but the wrong type.  

I shouldn't stop there, though. I am a wretch, but I am a treasure. This person that I both hate and adore is loved with the right love by the Right Lover. God sees me as I am and loves me anyway. God sees the worst of me and says "I died for you". God fills the deepest pits in me with His righteousness, His precious righteousness that was poured out at such a price. 

God died for me. God died for you. What should we do with this knowledge? Take it and be done? Or does it lead to something else? 

Knowing that Christ died in order that I might live is such a knowledge! It fills me with hope that is inexplicable. Through Christ I am reconciled - through Christ I am an heir of God. Through Christ I may now spend eternity with God, being able to worship Him without an indwelling of sin! 

God doesn't leave it at dying for us. He wants a relationship with His people. He wants us to turn from sin, and seek His face. We seek Him through suffering and through joy. Through peace and war. I'm reading a book by Francis Schaeffer called "The God Who is There" (which is an excellent book which everyone in the whole world should read RIGHT NOW), and from the title alone you can guess what it's about. God is there, He is not hiding from us, expecting us to find our own way. No. He is sovereignly and lovingly directing us right from day one. To me, that is quite encouraging. It gives me great hope. 

Titus 2:11-14 - "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

Hope leads to purification. The grace of God trains us to renounce "ungodliness and worldly passions..." 

Do you see? Hope is not solitary. Hope stems from faith, faith in a God Who is there and Who is purifying us! As we move forward in our lives, the Holy Spirit is at work in us. Jesus our blessed Hope (and the only Source of True Hope) is purifying us. As He purifies us, we should prepare. (This is where the "faith and good works" discussion could fit nicely. If you want to see my take on that, look at my post about "Faith Alone" by R.C. Sproul.)

We're in a process. God is "at work" in us, right now. 

1 Thessalonians 2:13 - "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers."

Hebrews 13:20-21 - "Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

Have a look at this passage:

Romans 8:31-38 - "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Here are the statements of hope I find in this short passage of Scripture:

1) God is for us.

2) God justifies.

3) Christ died for us.

4) Christ is interceding for us.

5) Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. 

We might read the above passage and say, wait a minute. It's talking about a lot of bad things. It's talking about us being killed and persecuted, going into famine, going under the sword, all kinds of nasty stuff! How can it bring hope? 

But look again, because none of that nasty stuff is bigger than God. This is what is outlined. No matter what may happen to us on this earth, God is for us. No matter who may condemn us, God is the One Who justifies. No matter what charge is brought against us, we know that Christ died for us. 

The final two are the most powerful. Right now, in Heaven, at this very moment, Christ is interceding for us. Our Lord and Saviour is praying for us! The question is, what is our response? Do I sit here and think "Oh, that's nice", or do I seek to glorify God in all I do? Do I seek to go out into the world proclaiming the name of Christ to all who will hear? What am I here on earth for if not to serve my King and my God?? 

The final point. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. That not only fills me with hope, but peace as well. Jesus loves me. It's true. He loves me so deeply that nothing can break that love. I cannot be separated from Him, not by anything. He loves me, and He is at work in me, sanctifying and purifying me. He is chipping away the cords of sin. He is replacing those cords with cords of His holiness. 

Feeling hopeful yet? ;)

(Part One over! I hope (grin) these posts were an encouragement, but I'd like to remind you that the greatest source of hope is the one given to us by God. The whole Scripture is a story of hope.)