Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Romans 15:4 (We have Hope)

Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Hope is a great virtue to keep in mind at Christmastime. We, as believers, know that our hope is in Jesus Christ (Psalm 33:20-22), and we know that our hope was realized on the first Christmas. We even read in Paul's letters that the God of all hope will "fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13). What Christian wouldn't want that? Boy, hope sure is a good thing. That's why I've got one question: What is hope?

We've all got our own ideas about what "hope" is, but what does the Bible say "hope" is? To find out, surprisingly, we'll have to look outside of the Christmas story. Yes, the word "hope" is not used in the Nativity story, and moreso it is seldom used throughout all four gospels. In fact the word "hope" appears most in the New Testament in the book of Romans, where it is used 13 times (five more times than any other book in the New Testament). The word for "hope" in the New Testament, and throughout all of the book of Romans, is ἐλπίς (elpis). Biblical "hope" is defined as an expectation of some event, putting one's trust in something or having confidence in someone. We see "hope" used according to this definition in this verse, "Against all hope [expectation], Abraham in hope [with trust and confidence] believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him," (Romans 4:18).

"Hope" is used to describe the expecting or trusting of things we don't yet have but are awaiting. We don't "hope" for things about which we have not been told. We, as believers, "hope" for things about which we have been told, especially by God.

With this in mind, it makes sense why the word "hope" does not appear in the Christmas story or in the gospels. That story is not about hope, but "hope" being realized. That "hope" being realized was the coming of the promised Messiah, the savior of the world. In the same way Abraham put his "hope" in God's promises, so too did God's people put their "hope" in these promises: The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), He would have a virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), He would be called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), He would be worshipped and given gifts by distant kings (Psalm 72:10-11), He would be a descendant of king David (Isaiah 9:6-7) and many more. God gave all of these promises, and He fulifilled them all in the Nativity story. This is one of the reasons why after Mary is told she will conceive and give birth to a son, eventhough she is a virgin, she responds saying all generations will call her blessed (Luke 1:48). She knows that the baby she will carry is the realization of her long awaited "hope".

Long awaited precious promise
Son of God and son of man
Heaven's glory in a manger
Has come to us in Bethlehem
-Francesca Battistelli

So, since the people of Israel put their "hope" in God's promises about the coming Messiah, does that mean we, as Christians in this present age, can put our "hope" in those prophecies as well? To be honest, no. Why? It's because we already have a Messiah. We can't "hope" for what we already have. This is why Paul writes, "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently" (Romans 8:24-25). So, that begs yet another question: Is there anything for which we are patiently hoping? Yes. Paul writes that we, as Christians, "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved" (Romans 8:23). We are waiting for the day, when our bodies will be made anew, our place in God's kingdom will be revealed, and our "hope" will be realized. I know this, because God promised this to all believers. These are the promises God made about the end of time: God will take His vengeance on His enemies (Jeremiah 46:10), God's holy Temple will be established in the highest heavens (Micah 4:1), our strength will be renewed and we will rise on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31), God's perfect kingdom will last forever (Daniel 2:44) and many more. This is for what we "hope"; the coming of God's perfect kingdom.

All of these promises from God about when He will restore all things were given to us in the past to teach us and give us strength. To summarize this, Paul writes "everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope" (Romans 15:4). God's promises revealed to us through Scripture give us hope. If we don't know what Scripture has promised, then we won't have hope, or we will hope for things that have not been promised and as such will never come. We must put our "hope" only in what God promises. When we do that, we will know that what Paul wrote is true, "Hope does not put us to shame," (Romans 5:5). If we put our "hope" in God, He will never let us down, just like He didn't let down all His followers who had been waiting for their Messiah.

Messiah! Messiah!
A baby born to save us all
Messiah! Messiah!
On our knees we fall
-Francesca Battistelli

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