The great benefits of HOPE

 

The theme on which we dwell at the beginning of this year, is HOPE. It is one of the greatest and most important themes in the Bible.

Have you ever thought about the wonderful benefits of hope?

Tonight we take Eph 1:18 as our text verse. Paul writes to the congregation (the church) of new believers in Ephesus:

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his (Christ’s) light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people,

Let us start with a definition of hope.

John Calvin said:

The word hope I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.

John Calvin derived this wonderful definition from Eph 1:15, 18 and 19. 

 

“For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people…   I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe.

 

 

In the same pericope, in Eph 1:16-17, Paul also gives a beautiful definition of Christian faith. He does so because Christian hope and Biblical faith are overlapping realities. 

Hope is a portion or part of faith.

Biblical faith is a gift from God and it becomes yours when the Holy Spirit reveals God to you, exactly as it is stated in  Eph 1:16-17:

 

” I remember you in my prayers and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him.”

 

The Holy Spirit reveals God to us by

·       testifying about Christ,

·       by making us understand the teachings, the love and the work of Jesus Christ.

 

In Rom 10:16-17 Paul writes:   But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, "Lord, who believed our message?" So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.

 

Biblical faith is accepting Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the only Hope we have. “Salvation is to be found through him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us." — Acts 4: 11-12.

 

But let us return to what HOPE is. 

And to what HOPE does in us,  for us, for our families and in the world. 

 

 

John Piper says:“Hope comes from the promises of God rooted in the work of Christ. Hope is faith in the future tense. So most of faith is hope.”

 

Does John Calvin’s remark make sense to you now?

The word hope I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.

 

THE BENEFITS OF HOPE

 

 And now we move on to an aspect of HOPE that some of us have actually never paid attention to.  Did you know that the Bible spells out the most amazing benefits and blessings of Biblical hope to us? 

  

 

1.       An anticipation that the world does not know, is one of the benefits of hope that is rooted in the living Christ.

 

1Pe 1:3-4  Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.

 

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, looks forward. Yes, we grow old and frail. Yes, life is difficult and dangerous. But a believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, lives in quiet anticipation.

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, absolutely believes what Jesus said in John 11:25-26:  "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and those who live and believe in me will never die.

Such a believer looks forward and sees the New World with the eternal City of God, the New Jerusalem as its capitol.  Such a believer sees his or her real home, the place of many mansions, the place where rich blessings are already kept for us.  And the greatest blessing is seeing and knowing and being with  God as HE IS.

 

For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day.

And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble.

For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever. — 2 Cor 4:17-18

 

 

 

2.       The return of joy and peace is one of the wonderful benefits of hope that is rooted in the living Christ.

 Psa_31:24  Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, can overcome and will overcome fear, depression, feelings of despair and the urge to withdraw from life. Such a believer will have peace and joy again, and that joy and peace will come from the Lord, in Whom the believer has chosen to put all his trust.

·       Can you just imagine what a difference this makes in family life?

·       Can you even begin tot hink what a difference this will make to the atmosphere in our home, the atmosphere in church and in the congregation?

·       Can you imagine what difference it will make to the vibes you send out at work, on the farm, in the supermarket?

·       Can you imagine what a difference it will make in dangerous, unpredictable and depressing times in our country and in the whole world?    

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, says what Paul said:

 

2Co_1:10  From such terrible dangers of death he saved us, and will save us; and we have placed our hope in him that he will save us again,

2Co_3:12  Because we have this hope, we are very bold.

 

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, becomes a courageous person. People are inspired by the unfaltering faith and hope in such a believer.  And Christ, the One from whom all hope comes, is glorified.

Can you just begin to imagine what influence this will have on your children and grandchildren, the young ones who have to go and live in a world of yet unknown ideological forces, weapons of mass destruction, new world powers, new wars, new teachings and unforeseen distasters in nature?

 

 

3.       SANCTIFICATION is a benefit of hope that is rooted in the living Christ.  

Those who are filled with the living hope that is rooted in Christ, live a life that becomes less and less contaminated by the the reactions of the flesh and the world.

1Jn_3:3  Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.

 

This is just logical. It makes complete sense. A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, has his eyes upon Jesus. Such a believer is listening to Jesus, not to the predictions and rage of the world. Such a believer is not preoccupied with bitterness, anger and feelings of being disadvantaged and treated unfairly that rise from his own flesh, his old nature. 

 

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, walks with God. Such a believer will never remain in the darkness.  He will not dwell in the hopeless, destructive, exhausting, contaminated and foul places of darkness, those place to which his old nature will always want to take him. Such a believer lives and walks in the Light. 

 

Can you just begin to imagine what difference this will make in the world?

People in darkness will begin to wonder and ask what is different with us.

And we will be able to tell them about Jesus Christ and the living hope rooted in Him alone.

 

4.       Different funerals is a benefit of hope that is rooted in the living Christ.

Funerals are different to those who are filled with the hope that is rooted in Christ. So is life after the death of a loved one.

 

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, experiences sorrow and loss, berievement and pain when loved ones are buried; when the finale farewell on earth is taking place.  To bury a father, mother, child, grandchild or spouse, is the most heartbreaking and traumatic experience one can ever have.

 

But the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ is powerful with the power of God.  It lifts us up. It enables us to stagger to our feet again.  It enables us to cope, to pick up the threads, to live and be victorious in our new normal.

Paul writes: 

1Th_4:13  Our friends, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope.

 

 

5.       A completely different set of priorities is a benefit of that that is rooted in the living Christ.

 

A believer who is filled with the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ, still has to pay for groceries. He still has to budget vor medical aid schemes, taxes, short and long term insurance, instalments on his house.  He /she still has to ask the Holy Spirit to guide him, to give him insight, peace of mind and wisdom in all important matters.

BUT:  there is an enormous difference between those who ARE filled with the living hope that is rooted in Christ, and those who are not. The difference is found in 1 Tim 6:17:   

 

Command those who are rich in the things of this life not to be proud, but to place their hope, not in such an uncertain thing as riches, but in God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment.

 

Can you imagine what a difference this will make in your heart?  What a difference the living hope that is rooted in the living Christ will make to your physical and mental health?  What peace and contentment you will have in your disciplined, prayer-filled, frugal (spaarsamige) life?

 

 

And so we can continue for hours.

 

At some stage in your life  time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God. —Ep 2:12

 

But now the true message, the Good News, has come to you, you heard about the hope it offers.

 

And now, says the Word of the Living God, you must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. Col_1:23 

 

·       Have you ever considered the spiritual and emotional losses we suffer when we choose despair instead of hope as part of faith?  Have you ever thought about the real meaning of just saying: “My situation is hopeless?”

·       Have you ever considered to abandon fear, to leave anxiety behind? To live in HOPE, to stick to faith in Jesus Christ? To live exactly as Jesus so often told his disciples to live: Do not fear?  Fear not!

 

Have you ever said to yourself:  “There is no need to try to feel hopeful.  There is Christ, Who is One with the Father.  My hope comes from the promises of God rooted in the work of Christ.”

 

May the Lord help us to live in Biblical hope. To experience the blessings, the benefits, the joy, the peace and the difference that hope makes.  To glorify God by walking with Him in this deeply dependent, deeply spiritual, deeply trusting way.