Hope Part 3 (7) - God is a God of Hope

If all the previous things about hope are true, then this new truth is kind of a given. 

Christ is our hope, and Christ is from God, with God; He is God. 

Our faith and hope are in God, because He can fulfill our hopes. 

Hope springs into being prepared and purified by God, for God, through God. 

Hope is a mindset; we focus our minds where? On God, right? 

Hope is concrete through the Spirit, Who is God. 

Our hope is for eternal things, where God abides. 

So here we are. God is a God of hope. Is it so? 

Romans 15:13 - "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

We've seen already that Christ is our hope, and that the Holy Spirit makes our hope concrete. What does the Father do to give us hope? Is it not He Who gives us "all joy and peace in believing"? 

Isn't it an aweing thought to think that the whole Godhead, the whole Trinity, is at work bringing you hope? I can't fathom it, because it's too rich and wonderful for me to understand.

Our tireless, ever faithful, ever gracious, ever loving God has us in His hands. Not only that, but He has us in His hands with a mind for us to know we are in His hands. He gave us His Word so that we might draw encouragement from it. He doesn't want us to blindly "believe" in Him and then continue in our worry and strife and every day madness. He is our hope; He is our rest; He is our peace. He calls us to peace. 

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..."

Am I saying we should never be cast down? No, not one bit. I don't want to add to a legalistic list of things to do in order to be godly. I can't check off a list - "Wear proper clothes, check; speak properly, check; rest in God without worrying, check..." 

It doesn't work like that. We go through pain. We go through torment, heartache, deception and distress. We feel it. Our souls can be in turmoil. Our souls can be cast down. 

But God is a God of hope. He doesn't leave us there. 

We break, we hurt, and then we say "God, help me!" and He does. We're never ignored when we call out to God. He's never busy. Remember the story of Elijah? God was right there. 

He's right there with us, too. After all, He paid a pretty high price for us. He's our Shepherd. Our Saviour. Our Lord. He means to keep us, and that's His promise. 

Psalm 65:5 - "By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas..."

You know what's a beautiful thing? I'm not responsible for my salvation. God knows if I were, I would lose it. There wouldn't be any hope. Since God is the God of my salvation, there is hope. Because He will never lose what He means to keep. 

Jeremiah 14:22 - "Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things."

So what is the response to knowing that God is a God of hope, and that we can put our trust in Him? 

1 Timothy 4:6-10 - "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe."

Train yourself for godliness. Respond to the hope God gives. Don't just take it as head knowledge, but take it as heart application. God doesn't want us just to know; He doesn't just want "hearers of the word" (though we must necessarily hear it), He wants "doers of the word".  We're created for the glory and praise of God. We're meant to bring Him glory. We're meant to praise Him. 

Know the Word, know the hope of God; know God. There is no thing more important. 

He is your hope, and He is endless, unchanging, and always good. What an amazing God.