The term hope
itself, as we have noted, is a faith
term. It speaks of our trust in God for
the future, for things not yet seen. Thus
two things are to be noted as to the makeup of this hope. First, it is a living hope. It is the
promise of life in the presence of Christ after we conclude this earthly
life. It is what Jesus promised His
disciples in John 14:2-3: I go to prepare
a place for you. And 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. It is that
simple. Do not simply call it the hope of heaven; it is the hope of being
in heaven, the place He is preparing where we can be with Him forever.
But it is also living in the sense that it is lively. That is, it enlivens in this life those who
have received Christ by faith. Our
relationship with Him, which is growing as we live in this sinful world, leads
us to long for the joys of eternity. It
encourages us; it inspires us; it strengthens our resolve to follow Christ
now. Everyone
who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John
3:3). If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with
perseverance (Rom. 8:25). Our light affliction … is working for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen (2 Cor. 4:17f).
The hope of eternal life in a true
Christian is a hope that keeps him alive, quickens him, supports him, and
conducts him to heaven. Hope invigorates
and spirits up the soul to action, to patience, to fortitude, and perseverance
to the end. The delusive hopes of the
unregenerate are vain and perishing; the hypocrite and his hope expire and die
both together, Job. 27:8. (Matthew Henry)
Second, this hope involves an inheritance. Perhaps you have wondered if your parents
will leave you a pile of money when they die.
That is a hope that some have and it is a vain hope in that, 1) it may
not happen; and 2) if it does it is still material, earthly and will not truly
satisfy in this life or in the next. But
for those who are born again into the family of God, He in fact is our lot, our portion, our inheritance
(Ps. 73:26 and many other passages).
Peter tells us four things about this
inheritance. It is incorruptible (it won’t decay), undefiled
(it is pure, all assets and no liabilities), does not fade away (perennial, it does not get used up), and reserved in heaven (kept secure by the
Lord, guaranteed to be there when we arrive).
Concerning this last point the Bible has much to say. It is properly called the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7; Mt. 19:29). James says we are heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him (Jas.
2:5). We inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14).
It is actually the inheritance God has given to His Son and we are joint heirs with Christ; thus it is
claimed when we are glorified, having
arrived in the place He has prepared (Rom. 8:16-17).
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