Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 23 April 2024 06:03

A Fixed Hope
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church

Even though we live in a time of tremendous stress and upheaval in the world, we must remember that we live in the greatest time, so far, in the history of humanity. How could that be, you say? Simply because we live in the period of time between the first and second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so we live in the time of God’s amazing grace – the time in which whosever will come, may come.
What a blessed privilege to enjoy this season of grace when God will receive any individual on the sole basis of faith in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Whether or not they be Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female (Galatians 3:28), our Lord says, “if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink,”(John 7:37, KJV).

A person who has turned from their sin and placed their trust in Jesus Christ has their hope fixed on His blessed return. John reminds us of this truth when he writes, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure,” (1 John 3:2-3, NASB). So that begs the question, where is your hope?

Recently, I have written and preached a considerable amount concerning hope. We are, after all, in that season of the Christian faith when we talk much about hope as we celebrate the Resurrection. Hope seems to be a forgotten attribute of the Christian life, but it was designed to be a mainstay.
When we talk about hope, we need to realize that there are many versions of hope out there. The world’s hope and the Christian’s hope is often confused, but there is a great difference between the two. And when we confuse them, we miss out on that one thing that keeps us faithfully following after Christ with a heart of joy. The world’s hope is merely a desire for a long-shot to come true. Many hope that they will one day strike it rich. But that is nothing like the Christian hope. The Christian hope is not based on a desire within, but a promise that God has given. The world’s hope is a shot in the dark. The Christian hope is a rock-solid certainty.

Another type of false hope is one that Satan promotes. Like many things, he has his counterfeit version of hope. Sin offers hope – a false hope. Sin entices every individual with the idea that the committing of a particular sin will bring satisfaction. One more time, one more drink, one more “hit”, all it will take is one more, and satisfaction will be yours. The problem is that satisfaction never really comes, but the time lost and the damage done lies hidden behind all that chasing after the fulfillment of this false hope. What is found at the end is a destroyed life that is separated from God.

For the Christian, hope is not found in a thing or the doing of something, but rather in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Since we were created in the image of God for the glory of God, we must realize that true satisfaction can only be found in close communion with God. God has created us in a way that when we are brought into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, hope is born in our hearts. And as we continue to grow in our faith, we realize that there is no true satisfaction apart from Him. We long not only to be in relationship with Him, but we want to be with Him. That is where John is taking us in these passages. John says that “when He appears” this long journey that we are on reaches its ultimate climax. We will be like Him, and we will be with Him forever. And in that day, our true hope will be realized for all eternity.