___________________________________
While sitting down to write this blog, I had a difficult time coming up with a way to introduce the idea of hope. The idea of hope has often, by our culture, been twisted and misconstrued. We have often exchanged eternal confidence for the fleeting securities of romance, money, and fame. While those things are good, they are in and of themselves, empty. However, for us as Christians, our confidence is quite different from that of the world's, while the world holds fast to a confidence that is fleeting and shallow, we, having received Christ, have been born again into a living hope.
But why exactly do we need a living hope? To answer this question, let's go back to the book of Genesis. First, let's take a look at Genesis 2:17,
"but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Here God directly gives a command to Adam to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet as early as the next chapter we see Adam and Eve rebel and do the very thing that God commanded them not to do. Take a look at Genesis 3:6,
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."
Through this act of human sinfulness, death spread to all men. Look at what the apostle Paul says in Romans 5:12,
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned"
Through Adam's sin, all have sinned and subsequent to our sin death spread to us. However, scripture does not cease to build on this case. Not only did we all sin, but we were conceived in sin. Take a look at what the psalmist says in Psalm 51:5,
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Therefore, not only are we under the curse of sin due to our sinful actions, but we were under the curse of sin since our very birth. We were born in sin, and consequently, we were born under the dominion of death. However, the Bible still does not cease to build this case. Not only were we born in sin and under the dominion of death from our birth, but our very nature is sinful. The very core of our being is sin. Take a look at what it says in Genesis 6:5,
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
Or take a look at Jeremiah 17:9,
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
This is the state of man, our hearts are evil continually, desiring only sin. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners, and as a result of being born sinners we are born spiritually dead, under the curse of sin and the law. Look at what Ephesians 2:1-3 says,
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."
And Galatians 3:10,
"For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.'"
And this is why we need hope. We were dead, motionless, living under the domain of the prince of the power of the air, unable to keep the law of God thus being made subject to the wrath of God due to our sin. However, scripture doesn't end there, the centerpiece of scripture is not that you are held against God's law and fail, but that Christ Jesus came to fulfill the law so you could be counted righteous. This is why the apostle Paul goes on to say in Ephesians 2:4-6,
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
And Galatians 3:13;
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'"
This is our hope, our confidence, that Jesus Christ saves sinners. That God the Son bore the anathema, the wrath, the judgment of God in our place. That by His great mercy He did not leave us to be dead in our sin, but that He gave Himself up for our sin.
The centerpiece of scripture is not that you are held against God's law and fail, but that Christ Jesus came to fulfill the law so you could be counted righteous.
It is this hope that the writer of Hebrews writes about in Hebrews 6:19-20,
"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
And in Hebrews 7:26-27,
"For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself."
And in Hebrews 8:12,
"He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."
But what is it that makes this hope a "living" hope? Let's see what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
What makes this hope a living, eternal, everlasting confidence, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, if He would have been defeated by sin and defeated by death, and we would have remained dead in our sins and dead in our trespasses. Look at what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17,
"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
But remember what it says in Ephesians 2:4-5,
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."
We have been made alive together with Christ. This is what the apostle Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57,
"'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?'
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
This is our living hope. That while we were dead in our trespasses and sins, Christ Jesus went before us into the heavenly places pleading His righteousness for sinners like us. He shed his blood and purchased our salvation through the sacrifice of Himself. And this Jesus whom we crucified God raised up, and through his rich mercy has raised us up with Him into the heavenly places. That through His resurrection we might be born again into a living hope, a victory over sin and over death, eternal confidence, and an everlasting anchor of assurance that is Jesus Christ.
But how does this drive us to worship? The only thing that can cause the sinner to sing the praises of a holy God is the mercy of God.
Look at what the apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1,
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
We must realize that the only reason we have received this living hope is because of the mercy of God. Once again let's look at Ephesians 2:4-5,
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."
The reason we have been born again into a living hope is not that we strived for it or desired it, but because our God was rich in mercy.
The only thing that can cause the sinner to sing the praises of a holy God is the mercy of God.
Therefore let us set our gaze upon the cross of Jesus Christ knowing that He has counted us righteous through the sacrifice of Himself, and let us never lose sight of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, where God by His power has abolished sin and death once and for all. This is the mercy of God, that we have been born again into such a hope, a living, everlasting, eternal confidence in the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
The Honest Worship Podcast
___________________________________
Here are some songs that correlate with the theme of hope:
"Living Hope" by Phil Wickham -
"Anchor" by Hillsong Worship -
"My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less" by Norton Hall Band -
Comments