Jesus Christ Our Hope
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· 786 viewsOur hope is in Jesus Christ. Because of His finished work on the Cross, His death, burial, and resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life with Him. Having hope in Christ means we are able to be bold witness for Him. We are able to stand firm when trials, hardships, doubts, and fears assail us. When the storms of life rage, take refuge in Jesus.
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Introduction
Introduction
The hope we have in Christ is not a cross your fingers and click your heels three times kind of hope.
Our hope is a certainty. It is the confident assurance that God will keep His promises.
When I think about confidence in God and his promises, I think about Abraham.
More specifically I think about Genesis 22 when God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
Isaac is the son of promise. Isaac is a miracle baby conceived by two people past child bearing years through the direct intervention of God!
God told Abraham that He would keep His promises to him through Isaac (Gen. 21:12).
In chapter 15 Abraham believed the Lord and it was account to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).
In Genesis 22 God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
He gathers wood, gets his son, and sets out to obey God.
In verse 5 Abraham tells those accompanying him something very important.
5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
Abraham was confident in the promises of God.
He knew that he and Isaac would both return.
He knew that what God had promised, He would do.
That is the kind of hope we have.
PRAY
There are three questions I want us to ponder as we look at Scripture this morning.
Do I fear death?
What is the purpose of my life?
Does eternity matter now?
Turn with me to 1 Timothy 1:1-2. This is where the title for our message comes from.
1 Timothy 1:1-2
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
In many ways this is a standard greeting from Paul. At least, it would be if he hadn’t included two short words.
“Our hope.”
This word “hope” is an appositive noun. This means it is a word added to give clarification about someone or something previously mentioned.
Hope is the Greek word ἐλπίς (elpis) hope; expectation. Someone or something on which expectations are centered. Noun (appositive), genitive, singular, feminine.
Hope – ἐλπίς (elpis)
What is Paul saying?
Our expectations are centered on Jesus Christ.
He is the foundation of our hope.
One of the Greek dictionaries I have puts the meaning this way.
the looking forward to someth. with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment
We are looking forward to something. Jesus is the reason we are confident that what we look forward to will take place.
Jesus Christ is our hope.
What we are going to do today is explore why Jesus is our hope.
What has Christ done that makes us confident that our expectation for the future will take place?
Today we examine three reasons why we have a confident expectation of life with Christ.
Through examining these reasons we will be encouraged and strengthened.
Living with encouragement and strength spreads vitality to the body of Christ.
The healthier the body of Christ, the greater its impact.
Reason #1.
We are confident in our future because…
1. Our Hope Defeated Death
1. Our Hope Defeated Death
Romans 6:9 says this.
Romans 6:9
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
Death has no dominion over Christ!
He has defeated it!
Death is something to be mourned because it is an invader. It is something brought into God’s perfect creation through the sin of man.
This is made clear in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. Turn there please.
1 Corinthians 15:21-22
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, death came into the world.
God the Son became a man named Jesus and paid the penalty for that sin!
What does this mean?
Death is not something to be feared!
It is to be mourned, it is not to be feared.
Why not?
Death is our promotion to glory!
Look down at the end of 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 53.
1 Corinthians 15:53
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
We cannot enter heaven in our natural bodies. Death is the process by which we move from these bodies trapped and marred by sin into bodies made like Christ!
Again, death is to be mourned, it is not to be feared.
Let’s keep reading in 1 Corinthians 15. Look at verses 54-57.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Memorize this phrase. Death is swallowed up in victory.
According to verse 57 that victory comes through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is only one way to have victory over death.
Faith in Jesus Christ.
Death has no power over the believer in Jesus Christ!
Christ conquered death!
Stop being afraid of a defeated foe!
Our Lord Jesus Christ conquered death! All who place their faith in Him have the promise of eternity!
What then does it mean when this life is over?
It means we have been called home.
Let me read you three verses from 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
There are only two conditions for the believer. Present in the body and absent from the Lord. Absent from the body and present with the Lord.
We are only ever called home to be with Christ when our work on this earth is done.
What does that mean?
Because we are still present in the body and absent from the Lord we conclude that our work is not finished.
You still have work to do. I still have work to do.
No excuses. Get busy serving Jesus.
Paul makes our responsibility very clear in both the passages we have just looked at.
Let me read the next verse in 2 Corinthians, then we will finish this point back in 1 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5:9
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
This is the goal.
If I am here in this body, I strive to please Christ.
If I am called home to be with Him, I will strive to please Christ.
My responsibility doesn’t change! I live for the glory of Jesus Christ!
Now, back to 1 Corinthians 15:58.
1 Corinthians 15:58
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
One day we will stand before Christ. One day we will be called home to be with Him.
Until that moment comes.
Be steadfast. The idea here is to be unwavering. Don’t waver back and forth between belief and doubt. Choose Christ and follow Him!
Immovable. Establish your faith on the foundation of Scripture and don’t allow the trials and difficulties of life to move you!
Always abounding in the work of the Lord. You have gifts, talents, and abilities. Use them! Serve Christ!
Your labor is not in vain. What you do for Christ is never useless.
Here’s our lesson.
Because death is defeated, I live with purpose.
Sing with me
“Christ is Risen”
Jesus Christ is our hope.
He has defeated death.
Don’t live in fear of death.
Live with purpose for Christ.
Reason #2.
We are confident in our future because…
2. Our Hope Gives Life
2. Our Hope Gives Life
In John 10:10 Jesus is recorded saying that
John 10:10
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus came to bring us abundant life.
Jesus will go on in this passage to declare that He is the good Shepherd. He gives His life for the sheep.
His sheep know Him and follow Him.
When Jesus talks about giving us abundant life, He is not necessarily talking about material blessing.
Side note: If you are hearing me today and have more than just food and clothes, you have been blessed with material things.
But that’s not what Jesus us talking about.
The abundant life Jesus promises is Spiritual life.
Here’s the tricky part. You cannot have an abundant spiritual life if you are spiritually dead.
We have hope and confidence in our future because Jesus Christ takes those who are spiritually dead and makes them alive!
Look at what Ephesians 2:4-5 says.
Ephesians 2:4-5
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Before we place our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are spiritually dead. We are separated from God.
We are saved by His grace when we place our faith in Jesus!
We are then made alive together with Christ. At that moment, we have abundant life.
Look with me at what John says near the end of his gospel.
John 20:30-31
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
The things written of Jesus in John’s gospel are written so that we might believe in Jesus and have life in His name.
What is it that we need to believe?
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 has the answer for us.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
In order for sinners to have access to heaven their sin must be dealt with.
Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Heb. 9:22).
Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died shedding His blood as the payment for sin.
In order for that payment to be applied to your debt of sin, you must place your faith in Jesus Christ.
Believe that He died for your sin. Believe that He was buried. Believe that He rose again.
When we do that, we are given life.
We have hope for our future because Jesus Christ gives abundant life!
We who once were dead in trespasses and sins have been made alive through faith in Christ. We are saved by grace through faith.
Now Christ lives in us!
Galatians 2:20 says this.
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
It is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me.
Because we have been made alive by Christ, we live by faith in Him.
Our lives have been transformed.
Because Christ made me alive, my life is His to command.
Sing with me
#363 “More Love To Thee”
Because Christ defeated death, because He gives life, our love for Him grows.
The life that He has given to us belongs to Him.
Are we living for Him?
We are confident in our future because Christ has defeated death, and because He gives life.
Reason #3.
We are confident in our future because…
3. Our Hope Is Coming Again
3. Our Hope Is Coming Again
Scripture has a promise that Christ is going to return. For us as believers this is a precious promise.
Let me read to you two verses from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Christ is going to return!
With a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God!
We are going to rise, be caught up with Christ and be with Him forever!
This is the precious promise we have.
However, here we are and Christ has not yet returned.
Look with me now at a few passages of Scripture that deal with our activity as we await His return.
Turn with me first of all to Romans 8:18-25.
Romans 8:18-25
READ v. 18
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
What we endure now, no matter how great, pales in comparison to the glory that is coming!
You who are troubled, hurting, and broken. Please hear this. Glory is coming!
Jesus is going to return! You are going to be with Him! Hold on in the darkness because the light of glory is about to shine!
READ vv. 19-21
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
One day, creation itself is going to be released from the bondage of corruption.
Right now both we and creation are subjected to futility. We face corruption. We face the slow degeneration of our bodies. We face pain, suffering, heartache, and trials.
We are subject to all of that, it’s true. But we have hope. We have the confident expectation that Christ is going to return!
What will happen then?
READ vv. 22-23
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Creation groans, we groan. Everything within us and around us is longing for that moment when we trade in these old bodies for the new model!
When Christ returns, we will be gloriously transformed!
That is the promise.
READ vv. 24-25
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
We are saved with the confident expectation of future glory. We can’t see it yet. If we could see it, we wouldn’t be hoping for it anymore.
We are eagerly awaiting the return of Christ.
As we wait, we persevere.
This last word here comes loaded with implication.
We wait with perseverance because perseverance is needed!
This word refers to steadfast endurance.
The implication is we need endurance because there is something to endure!
Hardship, stress, difficulty. These we endure because we know what is coming!
We don’t just endure. We strive to reflect Christ.
Look with me at two verses in 2 Peter.
First, 2 Peter 3:11 .
2 Peter 3:11
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
Here Peter asks a very important question. If we really believe that Christ is going to return and that one day we will have a new heavens and a new earth, what kind of people should we be?
He then answers the question.
We should have holy conduct and godliness.
Our behaviour should reflect that reality that we are purchased possessions of Christ. We belong to Him.
Because we are His, we live to declare Him to those in darkness.
Now look down at 2 Peter 3:14.
2 Peter 3:14
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Without spot and blameless.
We are called to live above reproach.
Peter tells us to be diligent in striving to live this way.
When Christ returns, how will we be “found by Him?”
Because Christ is coming again, be holy.
Beloved, He is coming again.
This is not the end.
Sing with me
#245 “What If It Were Today?”
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11:23-32. This is a time for believers to remember the price that was paid. To be reminded of the penalty of sin. Taking part of communion does not save you. This is simply a way for us to be reminded of what Christ has done. If you know the Lord as savior this morning, please join us in bread and juice as we remember Jesus Christ. These are only symbols, they represent the body and blood of our Savior. Examination – verses 26-32
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION
OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION
1 Corinthians 11:23-32
The Bread (His Body) vv. 23-24 #505 “Love Lifted Me” (chorus only)
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Love lifted me
Love lifted me
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me
(REPEAT)
The Cup (His Blood) v. 25 #506 “I Will Sing Of My Redeemer” (chorus only)
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Sing O sing of my Redeemer
With His blood He purchased me
On the cross He sealed my pardon
Paid the debt and made me free
Conclusion
Conclusion
Do I fear death?
What is the purpose of my life?
Does eternity matter now?
Personal: Christ defeated death and He has given me life. This means that my life is not my own. I am to please and serve Him. What does this look like on a practical level? Let’s consider just one example. Your time. When you trust in Christ, He becomes the Lord of your life. Therefore, your time belongs to Him. How much time do we waste? A commitment here could be spending less time on social media or entertainment. The goal is to have more time to spend with the Lord and to be able to encourage others.
Relationships: One day Christ is going to return. Scripture reveals that He is going to judge the living and the dead at His appearing. I don’t want to have any friends who look at me and ask why I never told them about Jesus. Does that mean we are constantly cramming Jesus down people’s throats? No. It means He is so much a part of our lives that others ask us the reason of the hope within us. It also means that we do talk about Him as we have opportunity. A commitment here could look like being more authentic in our interactions. Meaning, when we are having a bad day, we say that. But we also say, “on days like this I have to remind myself that God uses hard times to strengthen me and to teach me to rely on Him.”
Parenting: Christ defeated death. If your children are believers, you need to let them serve the Lord however, and wherever, He is leading. If that means they go to a dangerous country, so be it. If that means they are in harms way for the gospel of Jesus Christ, okay. Because Christ is going to return someday, the greatest thing we as parents can do for our children is prepare them for His return. If that means discipline, do it. If that means teaching them responsibility in difficult situations, do it. Our goal as Christian parents is not to raise straight A students or kids with no problems. That is an impossible goal. Our goal as Christian parents is to raise Christ followers! We want to raise children who fall down 7 times and keep getting up! A commitment here could look like honesty in sharing our personal struggles and failures with our children. Why? Because if we can teach them from our mistakes, maybe they won’t repeat them.
Marriage: Christ is to be the center of your life. Not your spouse. Christ satisfies your deepest needs. Not your spouse. Christ is your hope in this life and the next! Not your spouse. When we find our fulfillment, meaning, and purpose in Christ, our marriages will go more smoothly. That being said, we must take the time to invest in our marriages. A commitment here could look like spending time talking about what God is teaching us. If you feel like you don’t have time. Start with 5 minutes.
COMMITMENT: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus Christ is Our Hope.
He is our hope.
We have the confident expectation of future glory because of Him.
He defeated death.
Live boldly and courageously!
He gives life.
Meaning and purpose are only found in the service of Jesus.
He is coming again.
Live a life of active service, passionate worship, and steadfast endurance until He returns.
Because Jesus is our hope we share Him with others.