There is no competition as to which is better in the above title. Both are given to us by God and I am thankful. Hope in Jesus is shown in Hebrews 11: 1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. We can expect God to come through for us and take care of His children, and we are His children if we have been born again. Our faith IN JESUS comes from how much we believe in Him. We see Him from the perspective of an ongoing relationship with our Heavenly Father. As we believe more and more IN Him our faith is developed and strengthened and we learn to depend ON Him and not the world. The Holy Spirit guides us into this deeper relationship and we find strength and purpose as that faith strengthens. The ultimate faith is the one that is just the size of a mustard seed, and it is a very pure faith, not blemished by worldly desires and motivation. PURE FAITH!
On the other hand, the hope of Jesus speaks to what already is and we adhere to the teachings of this faith and it undergirds our walk with Jesus by KNOWING Him more and realizing just how much we can trust Him. He gives us PURE HOPE in all circumstances and there is no doubt in what the Word of God says because it is a given. In 1 Peter 1, Peter says the following 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
Once again the words born again are used as the tipping point for the hope we now have and that is because our life in the Spirit is different than our life in the flesh. Life in the Spirit is a life that is relying on God alone for all we need and not relying on ourselves at all. That drives us to a deeper prayer life and a deeper search into God's Word to ignite that hope as never before. Every day we live in this hope of God and all He has done and all He will do because of what His Word says. This is the tipping point for many believers because we learn to RELY on God in everything and we see it is going to happen. Jesus said if we are born-again we will live in heaven forever and so it is. Jesus said trust in the Father and also trust in Me and that's what we do. Jesus said He was sending the Holy Spirit to help us and that is EXACTLY what happened. HOPE, HOPE, HOPE, and you will realize the hope of what is to come and it is awesome!! Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth in
1 Corinthians 15: 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
If you have been born again, you don't just have a pie-in-the-sky hope. You have great hope in what is and what is to come. All your hope bases are covered. Now get excited about Jesus and go tell the world why you believe it!! Peter wrote this in 1 Peter 3: 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. This hope in you is REAL!! Hope you accomplish something in us and that something is sharing the gospel. Time to go.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
Comments