By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post # 337 ~
Hope is a major doctrine, a most important subject in God’s word. When a believer studies the New Testament, he will find several long and instructive passages about the end times and his hope, Christ’s coming and his glorious future. He will discover that Matt. 24, Luke 21, 1 Th. 4-5, 2 Th. 1-2, Rev. 6-7, 20-21, and other passages go into great detail about these encouraging, relevant, and eternal truths.
Then he will come across several verses and short passages that not only confirm, but further describe what God has planned for him, the big picture of his life. He will see God succinctly summarizing the totality of his life. In these verses it’s crystal clear that God wants a Christian to continually have the entirety of his eternal life in his heart. There are many of these verses and it’s going to take three weeks to look at them all. So let’s get started.
* Romans 5:1-3 – “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… and we also exult in hope of the glory of God.” You were saved by faith resulting in peace with God. And you are to have hope, you are to be excited about seeing God’s glory in Jesus Christ, believers, His works, and on this earth. Ps. 72:9, Ps. 98:7-8, Is. 6:3, Hab. 2:14
* Romans 8:30 – “These whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” God is giving you an overview of your salvation, that you were predestined in eternity past, justified in the recent past, and will be glorified in the future, which occurs at Christ’s coming. In the present, He is sanctifying you in that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” Rom. 8:28
* 1 Corinthians 1:7-9 – “… so that you…, awaiting eagerly the revelation of Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son.” You were given a relationship with Jesus at the moment of your salvation, and you are now being confirmed, being kept until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, the day when He is revealed and you are glorified. Phil. 3:20-21
* 1 Corinthians 11:26 – “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Taking communion is a present celebration of a past event, the death of Christ, and you’re to keep doing it until He comes. You are to remember and proclaim that Christ spiritually saved you by His death at His 1st coming, and will physically save you, will glorify you, at His 2nd coming.
* 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 – “Christ has been raised from the dead… since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in His own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.” Christ became alive, He was raised from the dead, and through Christ you were spiritually made alive – and when He comes back, you will physically be made alive, you will be resurrected.
* Ephesians 1:7-12 – “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses… with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.” When we were saved, we were redeemed and forgiven – and God gave us hope, and so we believe that Christ will be Lord of all, the King over all the earth, and we will reign with Him. Phil. 1:9-11
* Ephesians 1:13-14 – “You also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of your inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” This is another overview of your life, that God spiritually saves you and then physically saves you, that God spiritually redeems you (vs. 7) and then physically redeems you. And the indwelling Holy Spirit is your guarantee that this will happen, and that you will receive a glorious and unbelievable inheritance. Eph. 4:30
* Philippians 1:6 – “I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” God began His work in you, He justified you, and will finish His work, He will glorify you on the day of Christ, which is at His coming. 1 Thess. 4:15-17
* Colossians 1:4-5 – “We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel…” God wants you to have His perspective of your entire eternal life: you had faith in Jesus Christ and He saved you, and now you have hope, you believe that God has a great and glorious future in store for you. You know that you will worship Christ and have fellowship with believers, and you will be in heaven with a powerful new body. Heb. 12:22-24
* Colossians 3:3-4 – “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” In the past, you died, you were crucified with Christ with the result that you were spiritually saved from sin. In the present, your life is hidden with Christ – it is not you who live but Christ who lives in you. In the future, when Christ is revealed, when He appears, you will be glorified and be seen with Him.
* 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 – “You turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” So what do we learn? 1) By God’s grace, you turned to God from idols and were saved. 2) Now you are serving God and waiting for Christ’s return. 3) In a very little while, Christ will come back to rescue you from the coming wrath and take you home to heaven to be with Him. Indeed, this is a wonderful way to summarize a key part of your Christian life.
We understand the gospel, that Christ suffered, died, and rose again, and that a person needs to repent of his sins and believe in Christ to be justified and forgiven. We know that a believer must be sanctified, must spiritually grow as a Christian. He must also have hope, he must look forward to being glorified, and to a perfect future that God has planned for him. These verses we have looked at today keep repeating and reminding us of the entirety of our salvation, and of our eternal life, from the moment we were saved to the end of this age to being glorified to being with Christ to the millennial kingdom to the eternal kingdom. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Ps. 23:6
P.S. God gives us a big picture of our eternal life, and that’s because He wants us to know our past, present, and future – He wants us to understand God’s purpose and plans for our life, now and forever. Please read “An Overview of Your Christian Life” and look at these charts – “The Kingdom of God” and “Your Kingdom Come”.