True Hope

My pastor preached a great sermon yesterday on Ephesians 4:1-6. (Wait, I thought you were the pastor?  I am a pastor, actually I am “the Assistant to the Pastor until Feb 28th when I get officially ordained, then I will be the Assistant Pastor.  So since I am the second guy I only preach about once every 7 weeks or so).  Anyway, at one point during his sermon he started talking about the unified hope that believers have in Christ and in His promises.  I started thinking about hope and what makes our hope, as believers, different than other people’s hope, so for instance like hope that Obama will change our country for the better (which I am highly skeptical about, since one of his first acts as President was to repeal a funding ban on abortions, so right now, thanks to Obama, more and more babies are being killed).

So how is our hope as Christians different than other people’s hope?  Our hope is a Biblical hope.  Hope is the certainty of belief in something we cannot see and has not happened yet.  But where does the certainty come from?  The Christian’s certainty of hope comes from the Bible which displays the integrity and character of God.  Therefore, our hope is based on God’s character.  When God promises to do something He delivers.  History has shown it through the prophets.  If you are interested just read Psalm 22, written by King David about a thousand years before Christ was crucified, then go and read one of the gospel accounts of the crucifixion, like Matthew 27.  Look at how many prophesies are fulfilled just between these two passages alone.  God fulfilled His promise to redeem His people from their sins through the death of Christ.  And there are hundreds of other prophesies and promises throughout the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the New Testament.

Think about it this way…God does not live within the limits of time because He is an eternal Spirit.  We are limited by time and therefore cannot see what will happen in the future.  So our hope in human beings is extremely flawed.  It’s like saying I hope I win the lottery.  There is such a miniscule chance that it will actually happen.  But with God, our hope is secure.  Look at what Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?”  God does what He says He will do.  And this is not just because God can see into the future, He is already in the future.  Remember, He is not bound by time. But God providentially causes things to happen according to His plan.  He does not react to human situations, He already knows what will happen, God is never surprised.  God has made us certain promises in the Bible and He will providentially deliver those promises, He has a proven track record, so far He’s been 100% in fulfilling what He says He will do.  We can be certain that our hope is not in vain.