Correspondance Course - Lesson 56

THE PRICELESS GIFT OF HOPE IN YOUR LIFE

Reading : Lamentations 3

Hope is one of the most precious gifts that come from God.

In his love for us, he knew how much humankind would need it and in his dealings with humanity, he has made it possible for us to use it in even the worst of circumstances. Just look at your Bible and find Paul € s second letter to the Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 16 and 17.

From the very early pages of the Bible, we are able to follow the lives of people moved by hope. There is a strong link between hope and faith and we will be looking at faith in lesson 57.

In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 we read that faith is the substance (or reality) of things hoped for. When we hope we hold in our minds pictures of things we would like to happen, things we would like to do and, because we are human, things we would like to own. Hope is one of the three things Paul saw as the character of the real disciple of Christ. Faith Hope and Love. So let us go now and look at some people in the Bible who had hope, plus a few that did not.

We will start with Jesus and look at the words of Peter, one of his first disciples. They are in Acts chapter 2 verse 26. Peter was speaking about Jesus but using the words of King David from Psalm 16 verse 9. If you can put yourself in Jesus € place when he allowed himself to be captured, tortured and put to death on the cross, you can appreciate just how important the prophecy made by David in this Psalm would have been to Jesus.

Next, we will look at some words of the prophet Jeremiah who suffered many things because he fearlessly spoke the messages from God to the people in Jerusalem. He explained to them and their King that to survive they must surrender to the Babylonian army. Jeremiah was treated as a traitor and put into the deepest dungeon in the city. Go to Jeremiah chapter 38 verse 6 and read about this. In Lamentations, Jeremiah speaks of his fear and his desperate plight. Look at Lamentations chapter 3 verse 1 to 6. The wonderful lesson for us is that in pain and danger Jeremiah was able to see things in a better way. verse 18, we might be tempted to feel like that at hard times in our lives but now read on verses 19 to 21. Jeremiah suddenly realised that he was still alive and the beautiful words for us to remember are in verses 24 to 26.

So hope is a patient thing, we need to wait quietly for salvation from God.

Much has been written about Jesus coming back to the earth as a King. We would like it to happen today, there are so many problems in this world that need solving. Men seem unable to do this no matter how hard we try. It is now that Jeremiah € s words are important for us to remember. We have to wait patiently for the time that God has decreed.

Now let us consider the example of Abram who moved house and gave up everything to follow a vision of the future. When God promised things that were in the far future, it was obvious to Abram that he would need a son to continue after him and possibly grandsons and great grandsons as well! Look and see how long Abram had to wait before Isaac was born. Abram was 75 when he left Haran and 100 when Isaac was born. 25 years: a long time to wait in faith.

How terrible it must be to live without hope. For a short time, Job was like this Job chapter 7 verse 3 to 7. When you read of all of the disasters that had come upon him and his family it is easier to understand why he felt like this. However after reacting against the human reasoning of his friends his outlook on life improved and in chapter 19 despite the terrible conditions of his life and the things he is suffering he suddenly changes his lament and speaks about things that we still believe today on the subject of death and resurrection. We should be astonished at his clear vision of the future and at the deep lasting hope that was the centre of this man € s personality. Look at verses 25 to 27. I know that my Redeemer liveth. These are very good words to turn to when we are in trouble and even life itself becomes uncertain.

Therefore, hope is a wonderful thing to have. Hope in the promises of God coming into existence here on this earth in such a way that all people € s lives will be dramatically improved. Yet, there is a more wonderful way that we can understand this word Hope.

The Apostles of Jesus called it THE HOPE; it was a way of describing all of their beliefs concerning Jesus and his future kingdom. The words they used were € The hope of Eternal life € Titus chapter 3 verse 7, € The hope of Salvation € first letter to Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 8, € The hope of glory € Colossians chapter 1 verse 27.

Paul even wrote in Romans chapter 4 verse 18 that we are saved by hope, and in his first letter to Corinthians chapter 15 verse 19 he challenges us all to stop and think. If in this life only we have hope we are of all men most miserable. To hope that politicians, diplomats, soldiers, even the wonderful relief organisations like M d cin sans frontiers, Save the Children, Oxfam and the Red Cross can change the world into a permanently better place means that we will always be disappointed.

Paul says that it is quite different when you hope in Jesus because Jesus has risen from the grave, he is alive, and he is coming back to the earth. When Jesus comes to set up his Kingdom, all of his disciples of all of the ages of history will be raised from death and if they have kept their faith, will be given life that will continue for ever in a beautiful and peaceful world.

The Lord Jesus Christ will be King over all peoples and he will reign with the power of God, with justice with wisdom and with love.

Baptism into the name of Jesus opens the way to these wonderful things and the apostle Peter writes in his first letter chapter 1 verse 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Baptism is a rebirth to a new life as a disciple of Jesus. This, for us today is a living hope and one that we can have the most wonderful satisfaction of sharing with others.