Part 3: Hope
Day 15: What is hope?
Jeremiah 15:19-21
I hope I get the new iPhone for Christmas. I hope that my Bengals win their conference. I hope my kids like this movie as much as I did when I was their age. All these are examples of how we think about hope in our modern context. It reflects how the Greeks in Jesus’ day thought about hope. It is a preference about future possibilities. I may not get a phone for Christmas, the Bengals may fail at wining the conference, and my kids may find the movie boring.
The hopes of the Old and New Testament are different. One resource defines hope in the Bible as “The confidence that, by integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past with trusting human responses in the present, the faithful will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.” To say it another way, Biblical hope knows that God will bring about a certain future possibility. The same resource that had the longer definition, reminds us that the resurrection of Christ is the ultimate act of a promise being kept by God and securing our certainty in all his other promises.
In our reading today God promises that certain acts of repentance will bring about a certain response of mercy from him. The thing is that many times I promise a repentance I cannot follow through on. “Starting today, no more carbs…is that pizza? Okay, starting tomorrow no more carbs…” “Starting today no more yelling at the slow right hand turns in front of me.” “No more frivolous spending…” I don’t know about you, but if my repentance is the source from which I can hope on God’s mercy I am in serious trouble.
The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus perfectly lives out the moral requirements of God and accesses the blessings of the oracles to Jeremiah we read about today. Then Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to give us the power to begin to live out repentance. The Gospel does at least those two things. It saves us, and it empowers us. I hope your day is full of the power of the Holy Spirit.
A Prayer for Personal Growth: Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me, and all the benefits thou hast given me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother: Grant that I may see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day. Amen.
The hopes of the Old and New Testament are different. One resource defines hope in the Bible as “The confidence that, by integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past with trusting human responses in the present, the faithful will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.” To say it another way, Biblical hope knows that God will bring about a certain future possibility. The same resource that had the longer definition, reminds us that the resurrection of Christ is the ultimate act of a promise being kept by God and securing our certainty in all his other promises.
In our reading today God promises that certain acts of repentance will bring about a certain response of mercy from him. The thing is that many times I promise a repentance I cannot follow through on. “Starting today, no more carbs…is that pizza? Okay, starting tomorrow no more carbs…” “Starting today no more yelling at the slow right hand turns in front of me.” “No more frivolous spending…” I don’t know about you, but if my repentance is the source from which I can hope on God’s mercy I am in serious trouble.
The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus perfectly lives out the moral requirements of God and accesses the blessings of the oracles to Jeremiah we read about today. Then Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to give us the power to begin to live out repentance. The Gospel does at least those two things. It saves us, and it empowers us. I hope your day is full of the power of the Holy Spirit.
- What are some things you hope for that you are unsure of, what are some hopes that you are sure about?
- How would you gauge your hope in the resurrection?
- What promise of transformation have you attempted in your own strength and failed to succeed in?
- Do you feel a sense of the Holy Spirit giving you strength in your Christian walk?
A Prayer for Personal Growth: Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me, and all the benefits thou hast given me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother: Grant that I may see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day. Amen.