The great hope drama of the Bible is summarized by a few very important words that are buried in the middle of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Rom. 5:1–5)
Notice what Paul does here:
He connects our hope to our justification. We have hope because, by grace, we have been forgiven and accepted by the One who holds everything we need.
He connects our hope to the glory of God. Our hope is that God will complete his work, getting the glory that is his due. His glory is our good.
He connects our hope to our sufferings. There is even hope in suffering because in that suffering the God who is our hope is doing good things in us and for us.
He says that our vertical hope (hope in God) will never put us to shame. This means that all other forms of hope fail us in some way. Hope in created things never delivers what hope in the Creator can.
He connects our hope to the Holy Spirit who lives inside us. Here is the ultimate reason that you and I have hope—God has made us the address where he lives. This means that the One who can do more than we are able to conceive of is constantly with us and constantly working on our behalf.
Paul Tripp
New Morning Mercies
Abba,
You want us to have hope in You! You have done everything necessary to give us the full assurance of hope.
Hebrews 6:9–20 (ESV): 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
When doubts arise, You are not to blame for those doubts. You are not to blame for not doing enough to show us Your glory. You are not to blame for not providing the evidence to bolster our fledgling faith. You are not to blame for our uncertainty. You, Abba, DESIRE FOR US TO HAVE AN UNMOVABLE HOPE. You have taken every necessary step to build up our faith and hope in You so that we can live with a peace and strength, an assurance and steadfastness until the very end. When we struggle….it is not You to blame.
Grant our souls rest and peace in this truth. Grant our minds comprehension of this assurance of hope. Grant joy to our hearts when tempted to doubt. Grant strength to our weakling flesh.
May we walk in full assurance of hope today!
We love you Abba!
Amen.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Rom. 5:1–5)
Notice what Paul does here:
He connects our hope to our justification. We have hope because, by grace, we have been forgiven and accepted by the One who holds everything we need.
He connects our hope to the glory of God. Our hope is that God will complete his work, getting the glory that is his due. His glory is our good.
He connects our hope to our sufferings. There is even hope in suffering because in that suffering the God who is our hope is doing good things in us and for us.
He says that our vertical hope (hope in God) will never put us to shame. This means that all other forms of hope fail us in some way. Hope in created things never delivers what hope in the Creator can.
He connects our hope to the Holy Spirit who lives inside us. Here is the ultimate reason that you and I have hope—God has made us the address where he lives. This means that the One who can do more than we are able to conceive of is constantly with us and constantly working on our behalf.
Paul Tripp
New Morning Mercies
Abba,
You want us to have hope in You! You have done everything necessary to give us the full assurance of hope.
Hebrews 6:9–20 (ESV): 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
When doubts arise, You are not to blame for those doubts. You are not to blame for not doing enough to show us Your glory. You are not to blame for not providing the evidence to bolster our fledgling faith. You are not to blame for our uncertainty. You, Abba, DESIRE FOR US TO HAVE AN UNMOVABLE HOPE. You have taken every necessary step to build up our faith and hope in You so that we can live with a peace and strength, an assurance and steadfastness until the very end. When we struggle….it is not You to blame.
Grant our souls rest and peace in this truth. Grant our minds comprehension of this assurance of hope. Grant joy to our hearts when tempted to doubt. Grant strength to our weakling flesh.
May we walk in full assurance of hope today!
We love you Abba!
Amen.
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