Maybe it’s just me, but since I’ve been involved in our new fellowship, the word “hope” seems to stick out to me more than it used to.
Lately I’ve been reading in the book of Romans, and I came upon some “hope”s in chapter five. Let me give you a little backstory.
The first four chapters of Romans kinda go like this:
1. Paul introduces his theme (“the righteous shall live by faith”), and then describes how we all have earned God’s wrath because we don’t acknowledge our Creator.
2. More talk about God’s justified wrath, and that none of us can escape it by being a good person (following “the law”).
3. No really…none of us can be good enough on our own--we can only be made clean through faith.
4. And here’s a good example: Abraham was considered righteous because of his faith--he “believed God.”
So, by the time you get to chapter five, you’ve really gotten the point that you can’t be good enough to get to heaven and be right with God (no matter what you hear from TV or from the rest of the world’s religions). We are totally dependent on an outside Source for our goodness. And I think that’s why when I read Romans 5:1-2 in its context I feel this mixture of relief/gratitude/humility/praise. I’m reminded of my hope!
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
And sure enough, at the conclusion of verse two: And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. How’s that for a “hope” sighting? When I read that short sentence, I thought, “Yeah, that is hope! One day I will actually get to share in God’s glory!” I also thought to myself, “I need to blog this to my fellow New Hopers about this rejoice-worthy proclamation” (not in those words, but I really did think that)! That’s why when I kept reading, it sort of gave me some mental whip-lash:
...we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings…
Hmmm. I don’t really want to rejoice in my sufferings. (I mean, is that even possible? How can you really be suffering if you're rejoicing?). Frankly, I want to go back to the part about rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God! But that’s the thing about God’s Word--it’s all good and all true. So even though my enthusiasm felt a little deflated I went on:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, [ta dah!] hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
And that’s what God had for me in His Word that day. I have hope no matter what. Whether it’s in the spiritual highs of God’s glory or in the midst of suffering in this broken world, I’ve got hope that doesn’t disappoint. I have hope that all things will eventually turn out right. I have hope that God will never leave or forsake me. I have hope that God is using the crummy things in my life to make me a man of perseverance and character. I have hope because God has not been stingy with His love for me--in fact He has poured out His love into my heart.
So be hope filled! And if you’ve “persevered” in reading to the end of this long blog entry, why don’t you read one more time from this awesome scripture:
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Hallelujah.
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