Blessed Hope

I have been reflecting on part of my last blog. Actually, I have been considering in more depth the concept of hope. All of us have hopes and dreams. Some of them are day to day, selfish and not worth mentioning. Some of them are of much more import. We hope that we can make a decent living. We hope we and those around us will be healthy. We hope for happiness in relationships. We hope our children and grandchildren will be strong, capable and succeed on their own in this world. Some of us hope for a comfortable and healthy old age. To hope is a very human condition. I have realized this morning that there are basically two hopes that have very long lasting consequences. Both are described in the Bible and both are guaranteed to happen if indeed you believe in the Son of God. In Hebrews 6: 18-19 we read of the first of the two really important hopes that we should acknowledge often.

18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

By the assurance of two unchangeable things, the promise as well as the oath taken by God, and God does not ever deceive us, we can hold onto a very special hope. We who believe have that hope that is anchored so solidly that it cannot be pulled from our grasp. Indeed it is anchored by the very presence of God. That hope is the certainty that when we die, and except for the fulfillment of the second and following hope, there is no escaping that event, we will go to heaven and we have the further assurance that Jesus has gone before us to prepare the way for us.

The second hope that we have is often overlooked and that is the return of Jesus to this earth to gather all believers both living and dead and take them to heaven. This is often called the rapture, a word which is not in the Bible. Although we have no idea when this event will occur, this promise is also spoken as a guarantee. We find this hope in Titus 2:13


13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

The word “blessed” in this context signifies that it is an immutable promise to us by God that indeed His son will appear and take us directly to heaven. We always have the hope as believers that Jesus will return for His church. His church is quite simply those who believe and worship Him.

We therefore have two hopes that make all of our other hopes of minor consequence. Both hopes rest on a reality that lasts for eternity. They do not just contain the hope of success and good health for just a few years here on this earth. These hopes are for eternity. These hopes centre upon two promises that last forever. There are two possibilities that both end in an eternity in heaven with Jesus. We can enter through the portal of death or we can enter by way of a magnificent escort. Either way our hope rests on heaven. What an empty life it must be to hope only for this short and sometimes difficult life time.

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