There are three essential virtues, within Christianity, on which we have our foundation in Jesus Christ built on. Two of them are faith and love and the third one is hope. In this blog I will be, specifically, dealing with hope, but first, seeing that all three inner relate to each other, what does Scripture say about the faith and love. I Corinthians 13:13 regards love as the greatest of the three virtues--“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” [NIV] Faith, as well, is very highly important, for it is our “core” foundation, without it salvation in Jesus Christ would not be possible--Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” [NIV] Though, faith is essential for salvation, it is hope that gives us security in that salvation--Titus 3:7, “So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” [NIV] I have heard many sermons about faith and many sermons about love, but, specifically, I have rarely heard a sermon about hope. Why is that? Well, what is the cornerstone of the Christian belief? It is faith--Ephesians 3:17, “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” [NIV] To have hope in Christ one must have faith in Christ first. Well, I think it is obvious on why so much it talked about love: God is love (John 3:16) and love is the key word in the two greatest commandments--(1) love God with all your being (2) love your neighbor as yourself. Love is the cornerstone to our Christian obedience to God and fellowship to our fellow man; furthermore, love is the foundation to all God given laws--Galatians 5:14, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, " YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." [NIV] However, hope is the cornerstone of Christian perseverance--Hebrew 6:11, “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.” [NIV]
Hope and I mean real hope, which is only found in Jesus Christ, is not present until we deny our human selfish-pride and bring in our new life in Jesus Christ. Hope, as I see it, becomes the “glue” so to speak that holds all three virtues together. Colossians 1:4-5, tributes hope as the spring for our enduring faith and love in our new life--“Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saint (5) the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.” [NIV] True hope brings us true peace and true joy in our lives through our promised “Comforter,” the Holy Spirit--Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." [NIV] Hope brings us enduring strength and great rejoice through times of suffering and true hope in God will never disappoint us--Romans 5:3-5, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [NIV] Hope is the promise of eternal life through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ--Titus 3:6-7, “Whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” [NIV] Moreover, the greatest encouragement that hope gives is the “blessed hope” of the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, Titus 2:13, “While we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” [NIV]
Often, I think where Christianity would be today if it was not for hope. Hope in Christ is what keeps us going, hope in Christ is our passion to witness, hope in Christ is our power to love, hope in Christ is the glory of Heaven, and hope in Christ gives us true freedom. The world has so much to offer in the way of hope, but it is a false hope that never will please, fulfill, or satisfy. This false hope is a constant let down that will keep us always wanting more, but we never truly getting what we want. What the world’s sense of hope will bring us? Nothing, but death--Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” [NIV] To the Christian, hope is not wishful thinking, as the world suggests; hope is trust in God’s word, which leads to everlasting life--Isaiah 49:23, “…Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will not be disappointed." [NIV]
Hope and I mean real hope, which is only found in Jesus Christ, is not present until we deny our human selfish-pride and bring in our new life in Jesus Christ. Hope, as I see it, becomes the “glue” so to speak that holds all three virtues together. Colossians 1:4-5, tributes hope as the spring for our enduring faith and love in our new life--“Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saint (5) the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.” [NIV] True hope brings us true peace and true joy in our lives through our promised “Comforter,” the Holy Spirit--Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." [NIV] Hope brings us enduring strength and great rejoice through times of suffering and true hope in God will never disappoint us--Romans 5:3-5, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [NIV] Hope is the promise of eternal life through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ--Titus 3:6-7, “Whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” [NIV] Moreover, the greatest encouragement that hope gives is the “blessed hope” of the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, Titus 2:13, “While we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” [NIV]
Often, I think where Christianity would be today if it was not for hope. Hope in Christ is what keeps us going, hope in Christ is our passion to witness, hope in Christ is our power to love, hope in Christ is the glory of Heaven, and hope in Christ gives us true freedom. The world has so much to offer in the way of hope, but it is a false hope that never will please, fulfill, or satisfy. This false hope is a constant let down that will keep us always wanting more, but we never truly getting what we want. What the world’s sense of hope will bring us? Nothing, but death--Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” [NIV] To the Christian, hope is not wishful thinking, as the world suggests; hope is trust in God’s word, which leads to everlasting life--Isaiah 49:23, “…Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will not be disappointed." [NIV]
Of course, our hope in Christ will fall under attack, by the one whose enduring pursuit has always been to destroy our love, faith, and hope. Satan will attack us in a way that is quite seductive, he will have us to think that our own self-passions, self-wants, and self-desires will be given to us by God, no matter what, as long as we have enough “faith.” Oh, brother and sister, we know better. Christ told us to deny our self-passions, self-wants, and self-desires, to take up our crosses and follow Him. (Luke 9:23) Satan truly has a false sense of hope; he keeps trying and trying to destroy the very hope that we have in Jesus Christ, to prevent our way of spreading Christ’s hope in a hopeless world. Satan knows, by far, his future and we know it as well, he has a “hopeless hope” and he wants it to become ours, but we unlike him, we have a “living hope”--I Peter 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) and into an INHERITANCE that can NEVER perish, spoil or fade—kept in HEAVEN for you.” [NIV]
“The children of God are filled with peace and joy, despite all their struggles and valleys, they are confident of the salvation that waits for them. They receive peace in the knowledge that, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood and was crushed for their sins, the evil one can no longer accuse them before the Father. They have confidence that God will forgive them their sins because they trust in him, and confess their sins. They have confidence while they work and while they rest that the Son of Man will give them eternal life when he returns. They belong to God, and no one can snatch them out of his hand. They will never betray the Lord as Judas did. They love their Saviour, and he loves them. They produce much fruit. They are good and faithful servants who put what he has given them to good use. They keep themselves ready and waiting for his return.”
Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (3) Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [NIV]
“The children of God are filled with peace and joy, despite all their struggles and valleys, they are confident of the salvation that waits for them. They receive peace in the knowledge that, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood and was crushed for their sins, the evil one can no longer accuse them before the Father. They have confidence that God will forgive them their sins because they trust in him, and confess their sins. They have confidence while they work and while they rest that the Son of Man will give them eternal life when he returns. They belong to God, and no one can snatch them out of his hand. They will never betray the Lord as Judas did. They love their Saviour, and he loves them. They produce much fruit. They are good and faithful servants who put what he has given them to good use. They keep themselves ready and waiting for his return.”
Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (3) Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; (4) perseverance, character; and character, hope. (5) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [NIV]
Will it not be a great day when our hope turns to reality.
God Bless You
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