Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #59 - The Hope of the Gospel

In our last post we looked in the Book of Ephesians at the hope of the believer's calling.  We noted that there are two aspects to our calling in Christ:  God's perspective of an eternal calling (He loved us in Christ before the creation of the world); and man's perspective (We accepted His calling through personal faith in Christ at a definite time and place in our lives).  From God's standpoint of eternity (He sees and knows all things past, present and future as one eternal "now") He has either always known us or He has never known us (II Timothy 1:9; Matthew 7:23).  J.I. Packer has defined our calling as "the temporal execution of (God's) eternal intentions."  The means by which God extends His eternal calling to us in time is the evangelical call of the Gospel! The only way we can "make our calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10) is to be certain that we have believed the Gospel.  This is the means that God has ordained in order to make our calling effectual for salvation (many are called, but few are chosen - Matthew 22:14).  Thus the hope of our calling is inseparably linked to the hope of the Gospel:  "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven ..." (Colossians 1:23).  This verse comes in the context of the Apostle Paul's presentation of Christ as the Preeminent One:  He is preeminent over all creation because He is the Divine Creator (Colossians 1:15-17);  He is preeminent over the Church because He is her Divine Head (vs.18-23).  The Creator of the universe is the Sovereign of the Church!  And He alone is our Savior:
1) He made peace (between a Holy God and sinful men) through the blood of His cross - vs.20.
2) He made reconciliation possible to those who were once alienated as the enemies of God - vs.21.
3) He will present the believer as holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight - vs.22.
All of this constitutes the hope of the Gospel!  This is what we may confidently claim and expect to receive because we have believed the Gospel of Christ, but only if we have believed.  The peace and reconciliation Christ died to provide is offered conditionally.  He does not reconcile everyone unconditionally  or else the devil himself and all his demons would be reconciled to God (which is clearly not the case).  He does not reconcile anyone apart from faith in Christ which is a grounded and settled trust in His Person and Saving Work.  To "move away" from this Gospel message is to be excluded from the hope of salvation it offers the sinner.  Only the Gospel of Christ offers the sinner any hope for eternal salvation!  Do you have this hope?  "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus ... for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel" (Colossians 1:3-5).