Focus: Our Sure Hope

Text: Act.2:26

"My flesh shall rest in hope."

At death we rest in hope. While alive we "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom.5:2). In Christ we have a sure hope that will never disappoint us. 

Paul tells us that "we are saved by hope." He says that our hope is laid up for us in heaven, and he describes it as "the hope of the gospel" and "the hope of salvation." In Christ we have "good hope through grace" (2Thes.2:16). It is "the blessed hope" and "the hope of eternal life" (Tit.1:2; 2:13). It is a purifying hope. Our hope in Christ serves as "an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…" (Heb.6:19). It's a sure hope. Peter informs us that it is "a lively hope" (1Pet.1:3). In 1Pet.3:16 we learn that our hope is an inward reality. 

Indeed, our hope is a living reality within us. It is both internal and external, or internal, external and eternal - it is something that is both present and eschatological.

In Jeremiah's book of Lamentation, amid his tears for the captured city of Jerusalem and the enslavement of the captured people of Judah by the Babylonians, he said, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope… The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him… It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD" (Lam.3:21,24,26). Yes, our hope is in Christ! We patiently wait for our sure and solid hope. It is hope that never fails.

A certain graveyard in England has this epitaph:

"I have sinned;

I have repented;

I have trusted;

I have loved;

I rest;

I shall rise;

I shall reign."

What a confident assurance of a destined, certain and secure future! Paul declares with absolute certainty, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Rom.15:13). He assures us that "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col.1:27). 

Our hope is sure. Our future is settled. Our life is insured by God in Jesus Christ. Dead or alive, we have nothing to worry about. Rejoice in your sure hope!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter