We all have hopes and dreams. We hope that our kids turn out ok, our investments yield a good return, or hope the Dallas Cowboys can win a few games. This is hoping something will happen that we cannot guarantee will take place. This hope leaves us wondering, and ultimately shrugging our shoulders, raising our hands and saying, “We’ll see.” There’s another kind of hope. The Christian’s hope. The hope of the Christian is their life’s virtue. The Christian’s hope is based on the assurance that the Bible’s true, Jesus is real, and what God has planned will happen. This hope opens the door to Jesus who can eliminates doubt, bring faith to life, and render sin powerless. This hope gave Paul the strength to say this to the Church of Philippi.
Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV)
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Christian character is created through hope.
Let’s look at it through the the eyes of an artist. If you had a lump of clay, what would you sculpt that represents hope? Maybe something like this:
If you had nothing, what would you create that represents hope? Only God creates something from nothing. From the beginning He’s longed to give us Jesus, our hope. All of creation has a singular purpose- to reveal God’s hope of a better tomorrow’s through Jesus Christ…
Psalm 31:24
24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord
Psalm 39:7
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.
Galatians 5:5
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
Colossians 1:27
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Hebrews 6:19
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
1 Peter 1:13
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
WHAT HOPE CREATES IN US:
H – Healthy relationship with God.
O – Opportunity to respond with God given character.
P – Privilege of being called the family of God.
E – Engagement hopelessness with hopefulness.
Christ is our Hope. Our only rational expectation is from Him. Christ in us is our Hope of glory. Without Christ in us, we have no good or well-grounded hope of glory. Christ in the Gospel, Christ on the cross, Christ risen, Christ in Heaven, all is hope, of an external type, to the believer; but Christ in us, Christ actually present, living, and reigning in us, as really as He lives and reigns in glory, is the only bedrock and only well-grounded Hope a real Christian has. (Charles Finney)
COACHING QUESTIONS:
How can your daily life better express hope found in Christ?
How can you create hope for those that are hopeless?
