Specific and Extraordinary Details of Your Hope
By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #382 ~
God gives us hope, an expectation of a glorious future, the promise from His word of the great things He will do for us in the coming ages. Hope is looking forward to this future, is being excited about the coming of God’s everlasting glory. And hope is not optional, it is essential, for it helps us be spiritually strong as we wait for Christ. To be growing and fruitful in these tough and troublesome end-times, we must have hope. This hope will be especially needed by that last generation of Christians, by believers living on earth during the evil rule of that devilish Antichrist.
Hope is encouraging for it gives us a glimpse of an amazing, incredible, and wonderful future that God has planned for us. Hope is purifying, motivating us to not sin against Him who has done so much for us, and who will continue to bless us in the ages to come. Hope helps us to persevere, to keep going for God to the end of our life or the end of this age. Living all out for God, sacrificing and suffering for Him during our short life on earth, is definitely worth the eternal glory and blessings we will receive and, most importantly, the super-close relationship we will have with Jesus Christ Himself.
In today’s post, I write out a long list of New Testament verses that speak specifically about your hope. In the article I just published, Article 59 – Your Great and Glorious Hope, you will find a much longer list of verses, with some being from the Old Testament. I encourage you to read what I have listed out in this post and in my most recent article, and to print them out so you can go over them, and give them to others.
* Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
* Matthew 5:5 – “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”
* Matthew 5:11-12 – “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.”
* Matthew 6:9-10 – “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is heaven.”
* Matthew 25:19-21 – “‘Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”
* Luke 16:9 – “I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
* Luke 20:34-36 – “Those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
* John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
* John 14:2-3 – “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
* John 17:24 – “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me.”
* Romans 8:18 – “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
* Romans 8:21 – “The creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
* Romans 15:10 – “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people (the Jewish people).”
* Romans 15:12 – “There shall come the root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the Gentiles – in Him shall the Gentiles hope.”
* 1 Corinthians 6:2 – “Do you not know that we will judge the world?”
* 1 Corinthians 6:3 – “Do you not know that we will judge angels?”
* 1 Corinthians 15:40-42 – “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
* 2 Corinthians 4:14 – “… He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.”
* 2 Corinthians 4:17 – “Momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”
* 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 – “If the eternal tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands… our dwelling from heaven.”
* 2 Corinthians 5:8 – “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
* Ephesians 1:4-5 – “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”
* Ephesians 1:9-11 – “He made known to us the mystery of His will… the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose.”
* Ephesians 2:5-7 – “But God, because of His mercy… made us alive with Christ… and seated us with Him in the heavenly places with Christ so that in the ages to come He might show us the surpassing riches of His grace.”
* Ephesians 2:10 – “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
* Philippians 1:21 – “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
* Philippians 2:9-11 – “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those in heaven and on the earth and under the earth… every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
* Philippians 3:21 – “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory.”
* Colossians 3:4 – “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
* 1 Thessalonians 2:18 – “Who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
* 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “We who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
* Hebrews 12:22-24 – “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God… and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus…”
* 1 Peter 1:3-5 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who… has caused us to born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”
* 1 Peter 1:13 – “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
* 1 Peter 5:10 – “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
* 1 John 3:2 – “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
* Revelation 2:26 – “He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.”
* Revelation 7:12 – “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
* Revelation 7:14-17 – “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore, nor will the sun beat down on them… for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
* Revelation 11:15 – “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
* Revelation 15:4 – “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before You.”
* Revelation 19:7-8 – “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”
* Revelation 20:6 – “They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
* Revelation 20:10 – “The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone… They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
* Revelation 21:1-4 – “I saw a new heaven and a new earth… I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem… ‘Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.’”
* Revelation 21:5-7 – “Behold, I am making all things new. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My Son.”
* Revelation 21:16 – “The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles.”
* Revelation 21:22-25 – “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.”
* Revelation 22:2-5 – “On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any light… the Lord will illumine them and they will reign forever and ever.”
* Revelation 22:12 – “Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Let’s sum it up: our hope speaks of being with Jesus, seeing Him in all His glory, loving and worshiping God, being in our heavenly home, being like Jesus, being with believers, being immortal, being blessed and glorified, eternal life, eternal purpose, being rewarded, receiving an inheritance, being in a new heaven and on a new earth, serving in God’s kingdom, and reigning with Jesus Christ.
Hope is extremely important. But sadly, many Christians are lacking in hope, are missing a key ingredient for their growth and joy. May this not be true of you. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6