Thought for the week of May 5… Hope in what
Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide”, is titled “Motivated by Hope”. This is a good title for each of us… and a good study, too. Referencing the title… what “hope” are you and I “motivated by”? The weekly study leads us to look “forward to the coming of Christ as the hope of the church” (Quarterly for Sunday). And it surely is. But this still begs the question “why”? Why is Christ’s coming the “hope of the church”?
Is our hope of Christ’s coming in order to escape the trials of this life? I hope not. “The trials of life are God's workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from our character… (we) need to learn that trials mean benefit, and not to despise the chastening of the Lord nor faint when we are rebuked of Him” (Mount of Blessing pg. 10,11). So, our hope in Christ’s return is not to escape the trials that life brings. That would be tantamount to escaping God and His providential leading.
Is our hope of Christ’s coming in order to gain eternal life? I hope not. “He who loves his life shall lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). “To live for self is to perish… the desire of benefit for self's sake, cuts the soul off from life. It is the spirit of Satan to get, to draw to self. It is the spirit of Christ to give, to sacrifice self for the good of others” (Christ’s Object Lessons pg. 259). So, our hope in Christ’s return is not to gain eternal life. This is not the motive of heaven’s inhabitants.
So, what is our hope in Christ’s coming? Isaiah has said it best, I think. “And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isaiah 25: 9). Our hope in Christ’s return is to see, look upon and even touch the one we have loved for so long. The disciples had that privilege … “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled” (1 John 1:11). This will be our greatest hope fulfilled.
But wait. Is there more than this? Yes. More joy, more hope, than even our own relationship with our God. “The effort to bless others will react in blessings upon ourselves. This was the purpose of God in giving us a part to act in the plan of redemption. He has granted men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature and, in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellow men. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Creator” (Steps to Christ pg. 79).
The greatest joy, the most blessed hope, is to see others come into a love relationship with their Father, their Friend. And we have the privilege of entering into this joy and hope! How good our Father is! I can hardly wait to see Him! I can hardly wait to see the ones who are bowed down by sin see Him! Let each of us say with our Brother, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).
With brotherly love,
Jim