I Hope ...
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 28 Sep 2008 in From Steve's Study ::
“I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow”. “I hope that I pass my exams”. “I hope the boss doesn’t go off at me at work today”. “I hope my shares don’t drop like they did last week”. “I hope the kids grow up to be healthy and successful”. “I hope the Sharks win the Grand Final this year”.
Hope is a pretty common part of our vocabulary. Most days we express our desires about what the future might hold in terms of hope.
And yet, clearly our hopes are so often dashed – rain falls, exams are failed, bosses are unkind, share prices drop, kids go off the rails and the chances are that the Sharkies are already out {they hadn’t played at the time of writing}.
It can get to the stage where we are so “burnt” by false hopes that we can lose all confidence in the future, indeed, we can become skeptical about anything or anyone that tries to “get our hopes up”.
The Christian faith certainly falls into this category as is gives a long list of outrageous claims about our future. It claims that although we will all one day die, there is a chance to live forever in a place with no suffering or mourning or pain. In the meantime, it promises a life filled with purpose and meaning, where God himself will be there to comfort and strengthen us when the going gets tough. It’s not too hard to imagine why so many are skeptical about such audacious claims.
However, these are no Nigerian Internet Scam where false promises are made with no foundation in truth. The hope that the Bible lays before us is not just wishful thinking, but a certain hope based on verifiable facts. The Apostle Peter writes, “God has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Paul says something similar when he claims that, “God has given proof of this to all people by raising Jesus from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
In other words, hope may not be the best word to describe the promises made in the bible. Perhaps the Aussie slang “Dead Certs” gives a more accurate picture of the fact that the great blessings of being a Christian are founded on the historical proof of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The fact that Jesus died and rose again gives us the confident assurance that his promise of eternal life to all who believe in him will indeed become a reality.
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