Our Hope!

(Revelation 21:7) “… and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Our lives are rather interestingly ensnared if and when we view it from the surface; generally we are all alike. Most work in a job they would rather not, most try and save of get credit for a holiday; a rest and new excitement away from the norm of life. Generally we are driven to want “More”. But “More” of what must be our question. It is hardly ever more of Christ! Not really when examine our lives against the Word. How often do we long for more contention around the gospel or more suffering so that Christ may be exalted when we are tried? We are human and sold under sin! So by default we will naturally always look for the easy out, unless we see something is in it for us, we will look to avoid it like the plague. If there is a dream holiday that we are looking to have with friends or family, but we know that we will need more money than we have saved, we will make sacrifices, if we want it badly enough. The sacrifice will be worth it all as we shoot for our yearend holiday, it is our hope that drives us! These types of thoughts and actions are normal and we hardly have to see a psychologist to help us along the way.

But now as Christians we have the greatest of all hopes; for all who conquer, one day we will be like our glorious Saviour, we will live in a heavenly state forever, we will have a body like His, incorruptible, never aging and above all else our God and Father will claim us as His sons outside of faith. In person He will look us in the eye and declare to all in the heavens that He is our God and we are His children; “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:7-8)

How I long for that day! The drive I once had for life and the deceitfulness of “wine woman and song” was such a thief and it robbed me to the point of despair. Thankfully our God is greater than the snares of sin and He has put new life into me, I never deserved His mercy or grace. Why would He choose to rescue a wretch like me? Especially as my life was so full of folly, like a dog to its vomit, time and time again, all I am let to say is thank you Father God for never giving up on me. If I could explain how much despair I faced at times I would, but words elude me, it was a place of torrid torment and all because of my selfish wants. I beseech you beware of fleshy lusts that war against the soul.  

He has given us eyes to see! For those who can cry out, “I can see” we must now learn to trust, obey and believe in Him. Regardless of the trial of life, it is the trial of life itself that feeds our hope. And a people without a hope will perish. But we have the greatest of hopes, so let us now learn to focus with the eyes of faith and not the eyes of our apparent wants. If they do not make us more like our Saviour, they are all just decoys and lies.

What then must we be on the lookout for so as to obtain our ultimate goal, heaven?

Let us now unpack these verses as our beloved brother John has left us a wonderful hope but with it comes a warning; we have received a free love gift from the only One capable of imparting it, it is the gift of eternal life. There is nothing we can do in our sinful selves to deserve this gift. It is unmerited favour! Let us consider what we will receive as sons of God…

“By the tenure and title by which they enjoy this blessedness - by right of inheritance, as the sons of God, a title of all others the most honourable, as resulting from so near and endeared a relation to God himself, and the most sure and indefeasible, that can no more cease than the relation from which it results. By the vastly different state of the wicked. Their misery helps to illustrate the glory and blessedness of the saints, and the distinguishing goodness of God towards them.” (Matthew Henry)

But as children we now have a responsibility and we must examine our own lives. John Piper makes a statement and he says that we were never made for mirrors. His point is we were made to worship God and not ourselves, and of course He is right, but mirrors should play a part in our lives, they are there to help us examine ourselves against the Word of God. Let us then examine our lifestyles in conjunction with what it should not look like and if there be any wicked thing in us, we then need to find grace and wrestled with the “angel of the Lord” until we are freed from all practicing sin. Habitual on-going sin must have no part in our lives. Sin will be a thorn in our flesh until we eventually breathe our last, but we must be resolute in resolving to root it out of our lives. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2)

Let us now heed the warning…

“The sins of those who perish, among which are first mentioned their cowardliness and unbelief. The fearful lead the van in this black list. They durst not encounter the difficulties of religion, and their slavish fear proceeded from their unbelief; but those who were so dastardly as not to dare to take up the cross of Christ, and discharge their duty to him, were yet so desperate as to run into all manner of abominable wickedness - murder, adultery, sorcery, idolatry, and lying. (2.) Their punishment: They have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. [1.] They could not burn at a stake for Christ, but they must burn in hell for sin. [2.] They must die another death after their natural death; the agonies and terrors of the first death will consign them over to the far greater terrors and agonies of eternal death, to die and to be always dying. [3.] This misery will be their proper part and portion, what they have justly deserved, what they have in effect chosen, and what they have prepared themselves for by their sins. Thus the misery of the damned will illustrate the blessedness of those that are saved, and the blessedness of the saved will aggravate the misery of those that are damned.” (Matthew Henry)

We must be on guard against another one the devils tactics; thinking we can live as we once did without any change to our lives. I will conclude with Paul’s teaching; “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16-21)

May grace abound throughout today to the glory of our risen King! Let us remember to pray for one another.

Signing off

Tyrone