Be of good hope
Series: CREATIO | Bible text: Galatians 4:19; Colossians 1:27
A woman who is hopeful directs her life according to this hope. The Bible says that the confident hope of a Christian is comparable to a pregnancy. Just as in a biological pregnancy, there are also clear signs in a spiritual pregnancy: Christ in us is to take shape more and more. How can this happen and what are the consequences?
This experience happened some time ago: the phone rings. A woman greets me in a remarkably friendly manner and informs me about the printers in our office. Then follows an offer for printer toner, which is much better in quality and quantity than the previous one. Since a cartridge costs CHF 369, I decline with thanks. A few months later she calls again. Now she promises me six bottles of excellent wine and dictates a number with which I can contact the post office if the bottles do not arrive. I accept with thanks. Now that she has given me good hope, she wants to sell me another toner cartridge for CHF 369. I decline with thanks. Unfortunately, it never arrived. Although I have a note with a number, my hope for a good drop of wine will remain an illusion. Apparently, the wine only served as bait for a generous order.
Is it the same with the hope of eternity with God? Is it just an empty promise to motivate people to behave in a certain way? Is the thing about re-creation pure illusion?
Illusion or hope?
The Bible promises that there is a rich, glorious, pure, incorruptible inheritance stored up for us in heaven (Ephesians 1:18; 1 Peter 1:4). And Paul says that we eagerly await the day when God gives us this inheritance and the new body he has promised us (Romans 8:23). But unmistakably he also says that this is «only» hope, because we do not yet see it (v.24). Does the hope of eternal glory ever come true? Or will it merely prove to be bait with which Christians are lured into living a godly life.
Many think that Christian hope will vanish into thin air. Since the philosophical Enlightenment, this view of things has even been the opinion of a broad general public. Immanuel Kant wrote that God was only an idea and in no way provable or experienceable. Ludwig Feuerbach went one step further and described God as a projection of our thoughts and thus entirely superfluous. Karl Marx called belief in God opium for the people and Sigmund Freud the cause of neuroses… Is God dead?
Although we have written confirmation of the package that is on its way, the hope of a future with and by God could only be a cheap afterlife consolation.
The reason for hope
As the example with the wine shows, a written confirmation is not sufficient to invalidate the suspicion of illusion. We need to see, feel or experience something.
A pregnant woman is said to be in good hope. No woman would take a childbirth preparation course or register maternity leave with her employer solely on the basis of a medical report. When a pregnant woman feels her hormones and experiences her belly bulging, her heart leaps with joy and she prepares for the day of birth and life afterwards with great vigour. The certainty that she is pregnant leads the woman to lead a different life. She bases her whole life on it. She is hopeful. This hope has life-changing power. Because of her perceptible and progressive pregnancy, she knows that her hope is not an illusion.
In the Christian life it is exactly the same. A life-changing hope requires perceptible signs, a written confirmation alone is not enough. And now – the good news – they do exist, these signs:
- Christ is risen: «Now we have a living hope because Jesus Christ rose from the dead» (1 Peter 1:3b NLB). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christian hope. «Look; I am doing something new; it is already sprouting. Do you not see it?»(Isaiah 43:19a NLB). If Jesus is bodily resurrected, then there is a new creation. A video clip of the birth of an elephant was shown at Zurich Zoo. It is very impressive to see how the 100 kg colossus – once the head is through – plops to the ground quite unbraked. In the Bible, the image of a body is used. Christ is the head and the followers of Jesus the body (Ephesians 5:23). This body is in the process of being born. For this reason Luther said: «The head is already through.» In doing so, he refers to the statement: «But now Christ is the first to rise from the dead»(1 Corinthians 15:20 NLB). The birth process of resurrection to a new life is in full swing and the head is already through. This is an unmistakable sign that the rest will also «plop to the ground». A birth does not come easily, so creation groans and longs for redemption. The resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact that has been recorded in space and time, and has been seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses (1Corinthians 15:5f).
- Christ lives in us: Fortunately, in addition to this important sign, there are others that are personally closer and subjectively perceptible. An important hint is here: «And even we, though we have received in the Holy Spirit a foretaste of the glory to come […].» (Romans 8:23 NLB). The Holy Spirit is the guarantee (or security, pledge, down payment) that He will give us everything He has promised (Ephesians 1:14). Through the Holy Spirit, glory with God already spills into our temporal life. Paul says about this: «[…] And this is the mystery: Christ lives in you! In this is your hope: you will share in his glory.»(Colossians 1:27 NLB). Christ in us, that is the Holy Spirit. The day we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. When faith takes hold of a person, he becomes «born again» (John 3:3), he is animated by the Spirit of God (Ruach).
Again, just knowing that Christ dwells in me will hardly animate me to live a hopeful life. The key is the following sentence: «My children, it is as if I had to give birth to you a second time. I am going through birth pangs once more until Christ takes shape in your lives.»(Galatians 4:19 NGÜ). Paul, as a teacher of the good news of God, was instrumental in the first birth of these people in Galatia. Now he is in labour pains again. The new birth process is about Christ taking shape in the lives of newborn Christians. Figuratively speaking, a Christian is pregnant, he is in good hope. As with a natural pregnancy, the spiritual pregnancy should also become more and more visible. If a pregnant woman’s belly is always the same size and no movement can be felt, a doctor must be consulted as soon as possible. Normally, however, she goes for an ultrasound from time to time to see the amazing development of the child. When we go to the ultrasound every year Christ in us would the doctor put on a serious or joyful expression? If Christ does not take shape in us, we will hardly live a life marked by living hope. Without noticeable and progressive pregnancy, no one will change their life and orient it towards eternity.
Being of good hope is not only based on historical knowledge, but also on tangible experience.
Living with hope
Through a noticeable pregnancy, a sweet-loving, coffee-denying, emotion-suppressing, business-oriented, suffering-shy, book-denying woman becomes a pickle-eating, coffee-sipping, sentimental, nest-building, suffering-accepting, book-studying woman. That’s how powerful the effects are when someone is full of good hope.
Just as vast is the difference between a Christian with a living hope and a Christian who is ’simply» saved:
- He will deal differently with suffering and afflictionA pregnant woman endures the same amount of suffering more easily than other people because she thinks from the goal and knows that suffering is not pointless. Paul also puts suffering in relation to future suffering: «But I am convinced that our present sufferings are insignificant compared to the glory he will give us later on»(Romans 8:18 NLB). A hopeful person knows that God shapes him through tribulation. Therefore, he will not rebel against it.
- He will Experience miracles: The reason for Abraham’s wonderful life of faith was his confident hope. Therefore, the recommendation is: «Therefore do not throw away your trust (= confident hope) which has a great reward»(Hebrews 10:35 LUT). Those who can see through the horizon will live more courageously and experience God’s power.
- He will live with an eternity perspective: A hopeful person will look much more at the invisible. «For we do not fix our gaze on what we see, but on what is now still invisible. For the visible is transient, but the invisible is eternal.» (2 Corinthians 4:18 NGÜ). As a result, a Christian will set the priorities in his life completely differently. He will think of life from the end and prepare intensively – like a woman for the birth of her child – to take possession of the inheritance.
- He will be full of joyBeing full of good hope and being full of joy are two sides of the same coin (1Thessalonians 4:13; Proverbs 10:28). When Mary was pregnant, filled with joy, she sang the famous hymn of praise (Luke 1:46ff). The birth announcements also express the great joy of the parents.
- He will tell of his hope: Just as a young family announces to the whole world what has happened when their child is born, so too will a Christian do so full of good hope.
A Christian full of good hope will live a strong life worthy of imitation. The condition for this is that Christ receives enough nourishment in me so that he can grow and take shape. And then, then I will be full of good hope and my life will be refreshingly different. Christ in me, the hope of glory!
Possible questions for the small groups
Read the chapter of hope from Romans 8 together!
- Biblically, what are the two reasons for confident hope?
- Why is the resurrection of Jesus the pivot of this hope?
- Christ in us (Colossians 1:27) – therein lies our hope. Why is this so? In what event does Christ in us?
- How can Christ take shape in us (Galatians 4:19)? Tell about people you know in whom Christ has taken shape!
- How does it show that a person is of good hope? Which of the statements listed do you find insightful and important?
