Hope
Key Verse: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31)
We hope in God because we can.
We hope in God because he alone is our Hope.
We are born straining against a current we cannot possibly manage, swimming opposite a tide we could never expect to overcome in our own strength. We are born literally “having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12 NASB).
We were born dead spiritually because of sin but now we are made alive again through Jesus.
• “…through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 NASB)
• “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22)
Jesus was then and is now our only hope for Salvation.
• “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12 NASB)
• “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14 NASB)
As Christ followers we now know something beyond any immediate reality which may present itself. We know that the Lord is not only the embodiment of our Hope in Spirit and in person, but he is also the only genuine reason we have for hoping in anything. (Romans 8:24-25), (Psalms 71:5-6).
This same unshakeable, living hope is ours no matter the circumstances of life. This hope is neither transient nor does it have anything to do with coincidence. This hope, that is firm and secure, is found in our knowledge of the Truth, in the character of our God, and in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives every day to intercede for us. (1 Peter 1:3), (Romans 8:31-35), (Hebrews 7:25)
“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:17-20)
We can walk boldly and with complete confidence knowing that hope will never disappoint us, that God’s Holy Spirit has been imparted to us, and that his Grace in which we stand is absolute! (Romans 5:1-5)
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Questions to consider:
1. How is hope that comes from God different than what the world calls hope? Why?
2. What do you hope for on a daily basis? Is your hope in God for those things, or something/someone else?
Ref. Scriptures: (Numbers 23:19 NASB), (Psalms 71:14-15 NASB), (Romans 4:17-18 NASB), (Psalms 39:7-8 NASB), (Psalms 62:5-8 NASB)
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