January ushers in a season of new
beginnings. With revived motivation and
gusto, we embark on our diets, exercise routines, purges, yearly Bible reading
plans, and commitments to give up our vices.
These efforts emerge from a hope that next year will be better or
different than the last. It is a wishful
hope that, more often than not, fades as the delusional tediousness or harsh
unexpectedness of life tempts us back into our familiar habits. A hope that is placed in our own meager
ability, resolution, and discipline is little more than a “maybe.” Maybe I can stick with choosing more books
over Netflix this year. Just maybe, this
might be the year that I finish that Bible reading plan in one year. I don’t want to
sound too pessimistic; I know people, including myself, are capable of
accomplishing goals and following through on resolutions. My intent is not to discourage anyone in the
first month of 2019, but instead to draw your attention to a word that has been
popping up all around me with the start of this year: hope.
The hope that is associated with the
new year is the only kind of hope that many people know. It is an uncertain, desirable possibility that
offers no promise of fulfillment. For
example, my husband hopes that the Duke Blue Devils play well. The odds are pretty good that they will, but
he still has no guarantee. I hope that
the next time I need blood drawn, the phlebotomist will only need to stick me
once. However, my tiny, stubborn,
scarred veins make my odds significantly worse than those of Duke playing
well. This kind of hope offers little
comfort, stability, or confidence.
Thankfully, the hope that is
described in the Bible is an entirely different hope altogether. It is a confident expectation, rooted in the
resurrection of Christ, that God will fulfill his unchangeable promises to
us. Check out these passages:
1. Hebrews
6:17-20
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
How awesome is it that God wants us
to have security in His promises? In a
court of law, we swear on a Bible to tell the truth; we swear by Someone higher
than ourselves. God swore by Himself,
since there is no one higher. These
verses also tell us that God cannot lie.
When God makes a promise, He keeps it.
Such truths are given to spur us on to hope. Look at the words that are associated with
hope in this passage: “take hold,” “anchor,” “sure,” and “steadfast.” We can take hold of our hope in Christ,
unlike our phantom hope for the new year that slips through our grasp like
sand. Jesus is our anchor who holds us
safe, sure, and steadfast through the powerful currents and storms of our
lives. We hope in Him not because of
wishful thinking but because we know our Savior. Further, our hope is not only for the future,
but also for the present. He is alive
today, standing before God as our sinless priest who sacrificed Himself as the
perfect and infinite sacrifice once and for all (which, by the way, is why we
no longer need earthly temples, priests, and sacrifices). He provided the way for us to be able to come
near to God. What a great hope we
have!
2. 1
Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Peter wrote another incredible
passage about our hope. Again, just look
at those words: living, imperishable, undefiled, will not fade, reserved,
protected! Jesus Christ is alive, and
because of that, we have new spiritual life and a living hope. For those of us who have put our faith
(another word that our culture waters down severely) in Jesus, our future is
certain. The same power that brought
Jesus back to life – conquering sin, Satan, and death – is working to ensure that fact for those who
have trusted in Him. We don’t deserve
even a minute fraction of such a hope; on the contrary, we deserve death in
every sense of the word. Yet, He has
given us life and hope abundantly according to His mercy.
3. Ephesians
1:18-23
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
In Ephesians, Paul reiterates the
greatness of our hope in Christ and the immeasurable riches He gives to us who
believe. He points again to the
resurrection (look at the continuity of Scripture!) as the underlying basis of
our hope and as the evidence of the power that will bring that hope to
fruition. Jesus is raised up and is far
above all rulers and authorities in all ages.
No man exists who will not have to answer to Him. There is no one greater who might overcome Him
and nullify the promises. His Word is
and will be.
I have entered this year with the
wishful, hesitant hope that this might be the year we are able to conceive a
child. Now that we finally have some
more insight as to the problems that are going on in my body, I look forward to
the possibility of experiencing healing, relief, and new life. However, I know the reality is that this hope
is still just a possibility. The only
hope that is sure and that will never disappoint is the hope I have in Jesus,
and He is more than enough. I get blinded
to that truth some days, but God’s Word brings me back to the solid foundation of
my Living Hope. If you have been blinded
and distracted by the circumstances of life, or if all you have known are
flimsy, elusive hopes, I echo Paul’s prayer that the eyes of your heart may be
opened to the beautiful, lavish, rock-solid hope that we have in Jesus.
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