A “Living Hope” Or “Living In Hope”

HOPE
A “Living Hope” Or “Living In Hope”?

When defining Christian hope we must abandon the standard dictionary. The Bible’s definition restricts hope to a convinced belief, an unquestioned trust, in a future event predetermined by God. This trust is not based upon visible or provable evidence. It is not seeing and believing, but believing and seeing, for as Paul wrote, “Hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” (Rom. 8:24 KJV ). Nor is it the vain hope of the pious optimist, who while hoping for the best still expects the worst. Rather it is a humble acceptance of what God has promised – and this sometimes against all evidence to the contrary. It also implies a way of life shaped by faith in the divine promise.

Resurrection Hope
A simple example is the hope of resurrection. Of the twelve tribes, Paul wrote that they “have hope toward God ... that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust” (Acts 24:15). Adding his testimony, Peter stated that God “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). These two verses describe people who were convinced that their hope would be realized. Not many Jews had ever seen a resurrection, and there were only a few examples in the Old Testament. Those at Jerusalem had seen Lazarus raised by Jesus. Paul had seen Jesus in resurrection glory, and Peter spent 40 days with Jesus alive from the dead.

But two thousand years after these events there are millions of Christians who have not the slightest doubt that He is risen and will yet return to raise “the dead in Christ” (1 Th. 4:16). They have never seen Him alive from the dead, nor have they witnessed as much as a single resurrection. Nevertheless, they believe His promise: “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (Jn. 11:25). This fact of faith shapes their lives and causes them to live as those who wait for their Lord (Lk. 12:36).

According to the natural man, resurrection is preposterous. In the course of nature, bodies that die and decay cannot be re-processed and purified. Those dissolved in fire cannot be re-assembled and re-vitalized. Like the sophisticated Athenians, the world laughs at the very suggestion (Acts 17:32). But then again, the world cannot prove that the dead never rise, and so it hopes against hope that the Day of Judgment will never be. For after all, the world’s hope rests on the supposition that there is no God of miracles, and hence no miracles of God. Therefore Paul asks, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8). Where is the flaw in this argument? If God exists, and made man of the dust of the ground, why may He not re-assemble the same dust and re-unite body and soul? If creation is indisputably a miracle, then why stumble at the truth of resurrection which is well within the ability of the One who designed, built and breathed life into His creature, man?

Believer’s Hope
From where comes the sightless but open-eyed trust of the believer? Is it mere cradle-to-grave indoctrination? Why do so many who are born again say there was a time when God spoke to them? It was not a Damascus road intervention or a voice from heaven, but rather the Holy Spirit telling them in His own silent way that they were not right with their Creator. Sometimes God uses the Bible or a gospel tract. Other times He speaks through a preacher. Or maybe He uses circumstances to reverse resentful resistance. There are even times when a sinner is amazed at being overtaken by irresistible faith!

From a purely practical viewpoint, what moves believers to sacrifice pleasure and personal ambition in the pursuit of their faith? Why do they count it a privilege to deny themselves when others are running wild in riot and excess? For example, the apostles who saw Jesus were treated like filth – beaten, stoned and thrown into prison. Were they simply fanatics who needed treatment for a persecution mania? By no means! They were totally infatuated with the Son of God for saving them. So why should they expect to be treated any differently from Jesus, of whom many said, “He hath a devil and is mad; why hear ye Him?” (Jn. 10:20). But then others said, “These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” (Jn. 10:21).

The teaching of the Son of God stands as a persistent and persuasive witness to the truth of His ministry. And what of the God-breathed epistles of His apostle to the Gentiles? Under the direction of his Lord, Paul simplified the complexities associated with super-abounding grace, justification, and the Church which is the body of Christ. His arguments are not the words of a madman, but the inspired words of a great mind and a good heart. They remain an infallible testimony to what a man can achieve under the power of Christ. From murderer to missionary, he is a leading example of Christ’s ability to transform the chief of sinners into one “not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5).

Miracles And Hope
Biblical hope rests upon a belief in miracles; we cannot have a rationalist’s Bible. There can be no salvation apart from belief in miracles, seeing that salvation rests upon faith in the miracles of the virgin birth, atoning death and resurrection of God’s Son. Hence Paul speaks of unbelievers as “having no hope” (Eph. 2:12). He also says that unbelievers suffering the death of a loved one are equally unblessed as they have no anticipation of resurrection and re-union (1 Th. 4:13). However, as before, “hope” in these verses has a specific meaning, for the Bible does not teach that those in their sins are beyond salvation. As “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15), so Christ, the hope of the otherwise hopeless, will receive and forgive those who repent and believe in Him. However, those who trust that all will be well after death without Him are under the curse of Proverbs 11:7: “When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish; and the hope of unjust men perisheth.”

Those who die in their sins, “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12), will languish without hope and be without God forever in the world to come. However, in perfect contrast, the Bible speaks of the “hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Ti. 1:2). But as before, Paul is not speaking of hoping for something that might not come true. Thus Paul confirms that already God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9).

Anchor Of Hope
The vivid comments in Hebrews 6 reveal that the Christian’s hope is not a mere ideal, but an immutable covenant of keeping power. The inspired writer compares our conversion to those ready to perish in a storm who had fled to a safe anchorage. Having escaped the storm (the wrath of God) they have found peace and security (reconciliation and eternal salvation). They have dropped anchor to ensure that they will never drift away from the fair haven of heavenly tranquillity. The Hebrews’ writer describes the latter as “an anchor of the soul” (Heb. 6:19). Also, because it is both “sure and steadfast” it cannot be dragged nor can the cable break to separate us from the source of our immovable security.

Now no wise mariner drops anchor in a storm, until he flees to a place of refuge. There he drops anchor to ensure safety and security. But having done so, he trusts in what he cannot see, for the anchor is concealed in the depths of the water. But though he cannot see that which secures his vessel, he is in constant contact with the anchor through his faith in the strength of the cable.

Those with faith in Christ, whom they cannot see, are in constant fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit. They cannot see their Anchor, but they trust Him for salvation and eternal security. Better than the depths of the sea are the heights of heaven “within the veil” (Heb. 6:19). Though veiled now from the believer’s eyes, there is an Anchor which can never drag and a bond which can’t be broken for “neither height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).

Forerunner Of Hope
At this point the writer of Hebrews changes the analogy to that of a forerunner, for our eternal home is not in the depths of the sea, but far above the visible heavens. Therefore, we are told that Jesus “the forerunner” (Heb. 6:20) has entered through the veil for us. This means that He has gone ahead that in due time we may follow Him. We also believe His promise that He will return for those whom He has saved, for in “a little while, He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). In the meantime, if we taste death, then having died in faith we shall go to be with Him “who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). But whether we live or die we must live or die in the service of Christ our “hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

By Tom Summerhill