…and of Christ Jesus our hope,
Summary: Paul’s words are carefully chosen, and as we look at them, we are able to catch a glimpse of how Paul sees his Lord and Savior.
Let’s begin our meditation with a review of Paul’s entire opening words so far:
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope …”
Paul has established that he serves Jesus as an apostle, meaning he has been sent into the world by God to represent God’s interests.
It is interesting how Paul structures his sentence:
1. He is an apostle of Christ Jesus.
2. He is commanded by God to be an apostle.
3. God is our Savior.
4. Christ Jesus is our hope.
There is a clear authority structure here. God is in charge. Paul leaves no doubt about it: It is God who saves us and God who commands us to obey Christ Jesus.
When Paul writes that Jesus is our “hope,” he touches on a very important concept.
The writer of Hebrews defines “faith” this way:
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
What is it we “do not see?”
For one thing, we can’t “see” God directly. For another, we can’t “see” heaven or the people in heaven. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
What assurance do we have about these things?
We have the Bible, God’s Word, and the conviction of his Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 16:8-11).
And, what do we hope for?
Ultimately, we want to be reconciled with our God, our Father, and Creator (See Luke 15:11-32, John 3:16). (People who are never reconciled to God end up in the trash pile of eternity — Revelation 20:11-15). Another way of saying this is that we want to live forever.
Jesus testifies to this when he says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)
Without Jesus, all of this becomes impossible. God has made it easy to believe. He sent his Son, Jesus, who changed the world forever. Jesus is both our assurance about what we do not see and a reason to have confidence in what we hope for.
Christ Jesus is indeed our hope!
Application: Always trust Jesus.
Food for Thought: There are many reasons that Jesus is our hope. Why do you put your hope in Jesus?
If you look at the history of mankind, it is not difficult to see that we morally devolve as we pursue our own selfish desires, consuming the world and everyone around us for our own gratification. I don’t really need anyone to tell me that, I can see it, and I can see it in my own life.
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Matthew 15:19
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Because of this, we can also see hopelessness and destitution in the world. And as individuals, we will always suffer the same hopelessness and destitution in one or more areas of our life. This is because sin brings death.
Romans 5:12 ESV Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Even before I began walking with the Lord, I knew this to be true. I knew in my heart that I was in a downward moral spiral. How I appeared on the outside was not a reflection of who I was on the inside.
Matthew 23:28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
It wasn’t until I began to accept the truth in the Bible that I understood the difference between my spiritual nature and my fleshly nature. In doing so, I saw the hope in the spiritual (being reconciled to God, being transformed into the likeness of Christ) and I saw just how evil my flesh nature was and could be.
Galatians 5:17
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
There are many reasons that Jesus is our hope. Why do I put my hope in Jesus?
I want to be transformed from death to life. I want to turn from sin. I want to embrace righteousness. I want to have a meaningful and internal relationship with my Creator.
None of this is possible because I have already sinned; I owe a debt. The only hope I have is if someone will pay my debt, one who has no debt themselves. I put my hope in Jesus because He is the only hope. He is the living hope given to us by God through grace. He is the willing hope who gave up His life to save mine.
Romans 5:8
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 Peter 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Chris,
Your words really resonate with me this morning. Thank you!
Thank You CH!
There are many reasons that Jesus is our hope. Why do you put your hope in Jesus?
As nonbelievers, we are spiritual beings confined within physical bodies, seeking physical, corruptible things of this world as symbols of our value compared to others. On our own, we worship, place our hope in things we see, things made by man, and our flesh seeks to accumulate these things as symbols of our value above others.
As a believer, I have received eternal “life” through Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit remain on earth to be used by God for His purposes. Jesus has made Himself known to me, and today I live and serve Him in the knowledge and assurance that He who has begun a good work in me will complete what He has begun and I will be of service to Him for all eternity
Philippians 1:6, being confident of this, that he who began a good workin you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 6:19, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
John 6:68, Peter replied to Jesus, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Thanks, Ron!
I like your phrase “symbols of our value.” That says a lot! We struggle to prove our worth in the eyes of others — others who are struggling to do the same. True life in Christ is much more satisfying!
Thank you – and great comments as always CH.
I put my hope in Jesus because of the Creation, the Incarnation, the perfect life, the death, the resurrection and the promises He gives to us.
Thank you, Rich!
Jesus is, indeed, flawless! He is worthy of our hope. 🙂