Title: Have a Hope /Romans 15:4-13
A person in despair cannot live. The English poet and author of Paradise Lost, John milton (1608.12.9-1674.11.8), wanted to portray the greatest depth of the place where Satan was cast out of heaven. So Milton had the Satan tell the fallen angel in Hell, "Our last hope is utter despair." Can we have full hope in this desperate world we live in? One of the world's most influential and respected leaders during World War II, Winston Churchill, died in despair, leaving "there is no hope" in his will.
Is that true? Is there really no hope for us? It's not like that. The Word of God today teaches that Christians can have true hope and find the way to the most sound and sure hope in the words of the Bible. “Whatever was written before, was written for our instruction, that we may have hope, either with patience or with the comfort of the Scriptures” (verse 4). How, then, can we have true hope?
1. God says that we can have hope through the comfort of the Bible (verses 1-4).
The Bible is the Word of God. To believe what is written in the Bible is to believe in God. I said 'with the comfort of the Bible', but the comfort of the Bible is the comfort of God. The Greek word for 'comfort', 'paraklesis' ( ), is widely used for 'supplication' and 'recommendation', but in the text it means 'consolation' and 'encouragement'. The Bible, the Word of God, is full of these words of 'comfort' and 'encouragement'. Therefore, if you believe and accept the Bible, you already have hope. If you have this hope, you will have stronger faith. Because God is the source of all good things, He is the source of hope. It is also the fundamental purpose of hope. Only in Him can we have true hope, not in those things that this worldly and sinful world encourages to be hoped for.
If we set our hopes on men, we will soon be disappointed. If you put your hopes in stocks or securities or bank accounts, you'll soon get frustrated as they may disappear overnight. Health cannot be our hope, neither house nor property can be our hope. Because it may soon disappear or rather bring us destruction. But those who get hope from God and trust that God is the One who reveals Himself through Jesus can stand firm in any case. Because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In fact, we used to be hopeless. We were truly "...without hope and without God..." (Ephesians 2:12). However, our condition was quickly reversed when we brought in God. We are now children of God, and we have become the protagonists of history. Because God is the source of hope, we can have true hope through Him.
2. God says that the true hope we should have is to glorify God through unity.
In “Give yourselves into conformity with one another in the conformity of Christ Jesus”, the Greek word for ‘imitation of Christ Jesus’ is ‘sixty kata kriston’ ( ), and the literal translation is ‘following Christ Jesus’. In other words, it means to imitate the characteristics and example of Christ (Ephesians 5:24; Colossians 2:8). And in verse 5 of the text, Paul prays, "Give us the same mind." Here, unity means "thinking about the same thing." In other words, it means "to have one and the same mind for each other." Obviously, Paul's concern here is that the community of Jesus, to which all true Christians belong, is indivisible, just as Christ is indivisible, but living a life of acceptance, acceptance, and forgiveness of one another as members of one body. .
Paul wants all people to have unity and the same conviction and thought in all things by living a life that imitates Jesus Christ. In ‘one heart and one mouth’, ‘one heart’ is the Greek word ‘homo du madon’ ( ), which means ‘with the same heart’ and ‘unanimously’. It means 'unanimous confession of' and this is a vivid expression of the united faith, meaning that all the saints become one, always profess the same faith, and glorify God in front of people. And it says, 'You also receive one another'. 'Welcome', 'Welcome'
Paul is emphasizing unity here. Because that is the most beautiful image that glorifies God. The appearance of unity in the text refers to the family unity of the Holy Spirit, which is already given to believers. And this is the most beautiful property we will continue to maintain. Paul says, "There is one body, and one Spirit, and in this way you were called in one hope of your calling" (Ephesians 4:4). This is also the oneness Jesus prayed for in John 17:22, "The glory that was given to me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one."
.Paul here encourages the right appreciation of the other person, the appreciation of being together with the other person in the body of Christ. Such a life is the most precious life that ultimately gives glory to God.
3. God says our hope is made fuller through the work of the Holy Spirit (verse 13).
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” We cannot love, become one, or pray on our own. Jesus also made it clear about this. "...apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). We cannot believe unless God makes us believe (Ephesians 2:8). We cannot create peace on our own.
It is the same with joy. Joy comes only from God, and it is the fruit of the Spirit working in us (Galatians 5:22). Although we cannot achieve anything on our own. Nothing is impossible for God who makes all things possible for us and in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all things are possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit. Here, the ability is Dunamis ( ), which refers to the power to accomplish something. After all, when the Spirit of God of hope is with us, we can hope in the midst of despair, and the power of the Holy Spirit can completely change our lives. Therefore, we should always long for the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
In Greek mythology, there is a story of Orpheus and Eurydice. After mourning the sudden death of Eurydis, who loved Olpheus so much, he went to the underworld to meet King Pluto of the underworld and make a plea. It was a begging to return the life of her lover, Euridice. King Furuto made a condition, agreeing to grant Olpheus's piercing plea only once. "I will return your lover, Eurydis, to the earth. But from here, while you are traveling through darkness, you must never look back until you see the light of the earth. I promise you, but Eurydis is always running after you. Trust me and don't look back."
Olpheus was full of hope and set off with a happy heart. For the first time in a while, I didn't look back. But as time passed, doubts began to sprout in Orpheus' mind. Is Eurydis really following her? Can a person, once dead, really come back to life and return to earth after him? As the doubts began, they took a tail and escalated, and he looked back just before he finally reached the ground. At that moment, he found Yuridis eagerly following him, but it was already too late, and as Pruto said, Yuridis fell back down to the underworld.
The lesson for us is that hope always follows us, so don't doubt it. Hope is running forward, not running backwards.
conclusion
Christians 'should be full of hope.' This is what Paul is emphasizing in the text. God, who is the source of hope, is asked to fill us with joy and peace, who realize that trusting in God is filled with joy and peace, and through the power of the Holy Spirit who works, He fills us with the hope that God the Father is the source of.
As Robert Haldane said, "God's people possess a noble hope." really we are We have a holy, great, and powerful hope. Therefore, let us all have this hope, and let the world share our hope in abundance in hope.