The Bible says in Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
We need to hold fast. That means it’s coming. But we need to remember that He who promised in the past is faithful. We can clearly see that we’re talking about something that is approaching, because the Bible says, “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.” There’s a hope for a future event, and there is a promise that was given in the past.
Isaiah says, “I am God. There is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My council shall stand and I will do all My pleasure.’” (Isaiah 46:9-10) This is amazing because God declares the end from the beginning. He wants us to know and His plans are not depending on our faithfulness or our level of our spirituality. Your decision to walk with Christ or not will affect your location when God is fulfilling His promises that He will fulfill. He who promised is faithful.
There are few things in our life experiences that are equal in impact to hope. It is a commodity that affects our world view, our attitude, and, even, our emotions. The presence of hope in all people’s lives gives life a bit of a roller coaster atmosphere. One hopes for something to happen, and, when it does, our attitude and emotions soar. But, when it doesn’t, they plunge. Some hope for a promotion at work or a good grade on an exam, and the pattern is the same. It is also true in relationships. Some are in hopes of peaking the interest of a particular person, and when that happens, the heart soars. If it doesn’t, the heart aches. It is the normal course of life for all of us.
This tells us that hope always requires an object in which it is placed, and we all have thought or wished at times that everything we had hoped for would come true. While the roller coaster ride of temporal hopes will remain for as long as we are here on earth, there is a hope that has exclusive characteristics attached to it that has no ups or downs associated with it. This is because that hope will come to pass for everyone who has it.
Romans 5:1-5 KJV – “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
When the object of our hope is Christ, there is no potential disappointment that awaits us. The hope we have, no matter what we may experience in life, is immutable – a word that means “unchangeable”. If Christ does not change and He is the object of our hope, then the hope we have in Him assures us of a future that is nothing like the present. Tribulations cannot change that hope, trials cannot change that hope, persecution cannot change that hope, because our object of hope is unchangeable.
There are two things for us to keep in mind until we experience the fullness of this promised hope in Him. First, someday we will walk by sight and not by faith.
1 John 3:2 KJV – “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Secondly, someday we will not need to live with hope.
Romans 8:24 KJV – “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?”
In these last and perilous days, our hope should not be waning but should be soaring. We, for the first time in church history, live in a generation that sees the day approaching. What day is that? The day we’re all hoping for.
Titus 2:13 KJV – “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”
When we meet the Lord in the air, we will forever be with Him. We won’t need to hope for His coming, for our blessed hope will have become a reality. We won’t have a roller coaster ride of attitude and emotions, because we will be like Him and see Him as He is. There is one thing we must always keep in mind as we await this glorious day, and that is, “God’s promises are as true when they are said as when they are seen.”
That means we don’t have to wait to find out “if” what we were hoping for is going to happen, but rather we can face each day knowing today could be the day it does. How do we know? He who promised is faithful. And because God is the object of our hope, there are no unknown outcomes like we have here on earth. All that He has promised to those who are His will surely come to pass.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!
