Title: Faith and Hope
Contents
▒▒▒ Romans 8:12-25
In this way, hope in God can be said to be faith in other words. Because faith is related to hope, it is future, not about the past. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. God called Moses and said that he would lead the people of Israel who were suffering by him to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. God asks Moses if he believes that the people of Israel will come out of Egypt and enter the land of Canaan soon, even though they are suffering now. So Moses confessed that he believed in God's work and began to hope for what God would do. In this way, faith and hope are closely related like a needle and a thread. Faith has two distinct characteristics. One is the hopeful feature that God's promises are fulfilled in the future. The other is certainty, that is, certainty.
As we read the Bible, we receive grace from various angles. You can see in the Bible that God raises people of faith who believe in God's promises. For example, God raises 75-year-old Abraham and 80-year-old Moses as people of faith who believe and follow God's promises. In addition, God shows Joseph a dream and raises him as a person of hope and faith who believes that the dream will come true. Therefore, to have faith means to have hope. On the other hand, a person without hope can be said to be a person without faith.
In 587, the Israelites are taken captive to Babylon. They worshiped Baal and Asherah instead of God in the promised land of Canaan. God sent prophets such as Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Isaiah to tell them to turn away from idolatry and serve God. But they did not depart from worshiping idols, and even placed male and female prostitutes serving Baal and Asherah in the temple of Jerusalem to defile the temple. As a result, the temple in Jerusalem was burned and the Israelites were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. But what is surprising is that God showed mercy, compassion, and grace to the Israelites who were taken into captivity in Babylon for idolatry, just as God covered the shame of Adam and Eve when they were driven out of the Garden of Eden by making leather garments. . And God promised to return them to the promised land. Although they are being taken as captives now, the people of Israel heard the word of hope that they would soon return to their homeland and believed the word. Those who hope for the fulfillment of God's promises in the future believe that those hopes will come true. Because faith is hope.
When it comes to the New Testament, Jesus is our hope as it says, “Let us look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates the love of God in that Christ died for us, who were sinners of ignorance.” In Romans, the reason that God recognizes and loves us as sinners is a sign that He has given us a living hope through His resurrection from the dead. Our hope is Jesus Christ, the living hope that does not decay and does not fade.
So, what is our hope now, living in the 21st century? It is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us realize and believes that Jesus is the truth that He rose from the dead and lives forever. Therefore, our hope now is the Holy Spirit. This work of the Holy Spirit makes us realize that we are sons and daughters of God. Moreover, our hope now is that the Son of God spoken of in Romans 8 will appear. We await the Lord of the Second Coming. Surely, believing and waiting for the Lord to come to this earth, this is our hope. Jesus will come and bless us to be lifted up as glorious beings.
Dear saints, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become all of you who live today boldly with hope.
2009-10-01 15:03:55