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Living Hope
(Jer29:11; 1Pe1:3-4)

God is the God of hope (Rm15:13).
He gives good hope and a future as grace (Jer29:11; 2Th2:16), and
He makes those who put their hope in Him as His heirs (Tit3:7).

Faith is putting hope in the living God (1Ti4:10) and
The life of this faith is to hold onto the blessed hope to the end in order to become heirs according
to the hope of eternal life (Tit2:13, 3:7).

Hope is a unique quality that only humans have.
While the young have many dreams and wishes
As he grows old his wish becomes simplified to just having a long life in health.
In reality, however, they are rarely fulfilled and even if they were, satisfaction is difficult to be found.

This is due to the fact that the ancestor of mankind, Adam, was
Deceived by the false hope of becoming like God and sinned (Ge3:4-6).
All men were to toil in vain and ultimately follow the devil to hell (Ge3:16-19; Mt25:41).

The Bible is the story of the God of hope (Rm15:13).
While false theology deceives men to put their hope in success and prosperity in this life
God wants to be their hope and put their hope in Him (1Ti4:10) and for that,
He created all things, the angels, the universe, man, things in the present or the future (Rm8:38-39).
Against all hope Abraham believed and became the father of many nations (Rm4:18; He11:12).
Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than treasures for
He was looking ahead to his reward (He11:26).

After the exodus, Israel arrived in not a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex3:8) but the wilderness.
All those who grumbled and wanted to go back to Egypt fell and died there (Nu14:4-23),
Without entering the promised land for they were despaired by what was seen and
Did not put their hope in God who gives hope and a future (Ps146:4; Jer29:11).

The sanctuary reminded them that Jehovah was the hope of Israel, of their ancestors (Jer14:8, 50:7).
But because they sinned, breaking the Law, they were destroyed, their hope uprooted (Job19:10).
This was, however, for a better hope by which they would draw near God (He7:19) —
That is, for those condemned under the Law to be led to Christ (Rm7:12-13; Gal3:24).

Yeshua said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,” because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body (Jn2:19-21),
Not in the name Jehovah the hope only for the chosen people Israel
But in the Father’s name Yeshua the hope for all nations (Jn5:43; Rm15:12)
He would become the hope for not the righteous but the sinners (Job4:6; La3:18-22).
Since He disappointed the Jews who longed for the Messiah to rule over the kingdoms on earth
He was passed over to death (Jn6:15).

As He died, He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that:
1) He died according to the Father’s command revealing that even in death
the righteous has hope (Pr14:32; Ps119:49, 116; Jn10:18);
2) The hope of the wicked, the devil, ends in wrath (Pr11:23; 1Jn3:8); and
3) He sprinkled His redeeming blood on all men to give them a living hope (1Pe1:3), as

In the beginning was the Word, the God of hope, who came as man (Jn1:1, 14):
•His flesh — even in death the righteous has hope — His resurrection
•His blood — does not perish, spoil or fade — a living hope.

The resurrection of Christ became a new hope for all mankind, and
The Holy Spirit makes known the hope to which He has called the believers (Eph1:18) and
Lets them put hope in Christ, to die and resurrect with Him and enter eternal life (Rm6:4-5; 1Co15:23).

The Christian is he who in the past was without God, without hope in the world (Eph2:12) but
Now has the hope of the resurrection of the dead (Ac23:6; Eph1:18).
Whatever adversary he faces, he does not lose heart (2Co4:16-18) and
Even if struck down without despair he gets back up again (1Co4:8-9) for
Even if everything is taken away this hope can never be taken away.
Therefore he seeks in prayer (Rm5:5), does not hope in uncertain wealth in the world (1Ti6:7),
Lives a sanctified life (Rm6:22) and builds up the church, the anchor of his soul on earth (He6:19).
Until Christ appears a second time to those who are waiting for Him (He9:28),
Despite the hardship, he becomes an evangelist of the gospel of hope (1Ti1:1; 2Ti1:8; Col1:23).

O Lord,
Into this darkness, a place of despair
You came…and died…
To plant the seed of living hope!
Now, no matter what happens, I shall never be despaired
For I have this hope —
On that day when You return,
To join in the resurrection and stand before You face to face and live with You forever!
Amen.