The Hope of God in Christ Jesus!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13 NIV

All of us need to produce the hope of God with the power of the Holy Spirit as we trust in the Lord. Otherwise, it would be extremely hard to rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 4:4) and endure our lives as Christians and as the children of God (John 1:12-13). Basically, the hope of God is having confidence that we would be able to enter the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age because of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection (1 Peter 1:3-9). This is probably reason why God sometimes puts moments of inspiration within us so that the power of the Holy Spirit would overflow within us, in order to make us to rejoice in the Lord (Romans 14:17)  and to be godliness until the end of the age (2 Peter 1:3-11). “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) To be more specific, when the hope of God is within us completely, we get convictions with the power of the Holy Spirit to glorify the Lord until the end of the age (1 Corinthians 10:31) and to do His will (Matthew 7:21), even if it means to sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) and deny ourselves (Matthew 16:24-27).kkl

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:11)

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Therefore, we ought to have the living hope of God by meditating on the Spirit rather than the world to make our lives really count for God (Matthew 6:19-24). “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) This is because we only live our lives on the earth once, and the main reason why God has created us on the earth is to—worship and glorify God in His image (Genesis 1:27). “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17) Thus, we have to ask ourselves this question—what I am living for? Am I living for the kingdom of God, or for the world?—especially when we lose the hope of God.

Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. (Psalm 111:10)

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. (Galatians 6:7-10)