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About Jesus - Steve Sweetman All
My Hope Is In Jesus One of my favourite
songs in the last few years is David Crowder's "All My Hope Is In
Jesus." With his song in
mind I often think that the word "hope" does not get as much
pulpit press as it deserves. It
is often overshadowed by the word "faith."
Some Christians actually equate hope with doubt, as in "I hope
to win the lottery." If
this is your thinking, you misunderstand the meaning of Biblical hope.
Those in the Hyper
Faith Movement have rebuked me for my usage of the word "hope."
They say that if I hope for something, my hope implies doubt.
I, therefore, have little to no faith in Jesus.
They tell me to aggressively claim present reality for that which is
not yet realized in my life. I
don't view hope that way. I
define Biblical hope as being certain of a future expected reality. The Apostle Paul
wrote about hope. In the NIV
version of Romans he used the word "hope" thirteen times.
Romans 8:24 says this: "For in this hope
we were saved. But hope
that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for
what they already have." Paul said that
there is an element of hope in the process of our salvation.
Hoping for a future reality is one characteristic of a true believer.
In Romans 8:25 Paul continued by saying this: "But if we hope
for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Despite what Hyper
Faith people say, Paul admitted that we hope for things that we do not
presently have. Should that
frustrate us? Should we
aggressively claim a future reality to be our present reality?
According to Paul we wait patiently for that future reality.
Waiting patiently implies genuine faith in Jesus because Biblical
faith is defined by trusting your life with Jesus despite your present
reality. We wait patiently
because Biblical hope is being certain of an expected future reality that
has not yet been realized. That
makes hope closer to faith than most realize.
I close with what
Paul wrote in Romans 15:13. "May the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit?" God is the author
of hope. As we trust our lives
with Him He fills us with joy and peace, something we need as we wait
patiently for unrealized future expectations.
If we have the genuine faith we claim to have we will overflow with
the hope of a future reality provided us by the Holy Spirit.
Click this link to
listen to Crowder's "All My Hope Is In Jesus." https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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