We've talked about powerful words, so far. "Hope" is another one of those. It is such a powerful notion that the ancient Greeks (who were masterful psychologists) created the myth of Pandora and her box that contained an expectation of good things: "hope."
Hope is a big thing for humanity - every where, every time, every culture. Yes, there are people who have no hope but that is because something or someone has just beat it out of them. The natural, healthy, and fulfilled human being has hope. And, unsurprisingly, God speaks to the hope we have as Jesus-people.
… having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (Eph. 1:18-19 ESV)
Hope is a big thing for humanity - every where, every time, every culture. Yes, there are people who have no hope but that is because something or someone has just beat it out of them. The natural, healthy, and fulfilled human being has hope. And, unsurprisingly, God speaks to the hope we have as Jesus-people.
… having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (Eph. 1:18-19 ESV)
Look at that phrase: “Know what is the hope which he has called you …” This knowledge, recognition, acknowledgment of The Hope gives us a sense of perspective. In fact, for every Jesus-person, all that this life is – as busy and challenging as that life seems now – is intended as preparation for our hope. What is the hope? It is the life to come, our inheritance. What we casually speak of as Heaven but what would be more accurately termed our eternal state.
There is a technical and even complex nature to our hope; that is, our existence after our physical death. Our hope is a wonderfully phased revealing of greater and greater glory.
Initially, we are saved (protestants use the terms justified and born-again) and we receive a glimmer of that inheritance immediately. We are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13); forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7); a completely new relationship with God (Eph 1:5); and much more. There is much that we spiritually gain in this world, as authentic Christians!
Once we die, we enter into what the theologians call the Intermediate State. We will be with Jesus in the current heaven. We then see the end of human history, as we’ve known it, with Jesus victorious and our existence changed with a new, “glorified” physical body. Jesus reigns in his Kingdom, but trouble erupts. Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire. Then a new heaven comes down to join the new earth. This will be a New World that is both familiar and different. Then, for believers, life really gets started!
Initially, we are saved (protestants use the terms justified and born-again) and we receive a glimmer of that inheritance immediately. We are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13); forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7); a completely new relationship with God (Eph 1:5); and much more. There is much that we spiritually gain in this world, as authentic Christians!
Once we die, we enter into what the theologians call the Intermediate State. We will be with Jesus in the current heaven. We then see the end of human history, as we’ve known it, with Jesus victorious and our existence changed with a new, “glorified” physical body. Jesus reigns in his Kingdom, but trouble erupts. Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire. Then a new heaven comes down to join the new earth. This will be a New World that is both familiar and different. Then, for believers, life really gets started!
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That is the Big Goal – to reunite heaven and earth; to bring them back together. That is God’s end-game; not my personal self-centered salvation or self-actualization – but the cosmic rebuilding. Our hope as Jesus-people is wrapped up in the larger redemption of creation.
Now, how that will work out for me or you all depends on that saving work of Christ. Yet my – and your – justification is only the beginning of which God has called us to participate in – both the then-to-come as well as the here-and-now.
Now, how that will work out for me or you all depends on that saving work of Christ. Yet my – and your – justification is only the beginning of which God has called us to participate in – both the then-to-come as well as the here-and-now.
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