Finding Hope
Notes
Transcript
Intro Notes
Intro Notes
Last week we began a three part series titled Finding Help. We learned that help is found when we live in light of God’s presence. Acknowledging God’s good and loving presence provides the help we truly need at the level of our souls. We also recognized that finding help requires that we learn how to live in God’s power, and that we live in God’s power in three main ways:
1. We must accept that we are weak and needy.
2. We pivot from self-reliance to dependence on God.
3. We embrace our weakness in order to experience the Holy Spirit’s powerful work in and through us.
-We also realized that we find help when we live prayer filled lives. A prayer filled life provides help for our souls by addressing our deepest need, which is a close personal relationship with the Lord.
-Finally, we looked at how meditation provides an opportunity to meet with the Lord intimately as we reflect on His Word, listen to His truth, and receive help for real life. Our time spent meditating helps us to prayerfully and functionally respond to the Lord through faith and obedience in our everyday lives.
-Today we are focusing on finding hope, not hope in the sense that “I hope something will happen,” which is nothing more than wishful thinking. Instead, we are going to look to Scripture to find true hope that is real and lasting. The Biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation.” One thing I find myself often telling those I counsel is that it is important to manage expectations. We must keep this in check so that we are not taken by surprise when disappointed and become frustrated, bitter, and angry. I believe the most effective way to managed expectations is to expect to be disappointed. Right? Because it is impossible for us to ever be enough, or do enough to fully satisfy people’s expectations. But, I am always excited to share the one exception to this rule; God, and His finished work on the Cross through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now this exceeds any and all expectations that anyone could ever have. The gospel provides true hope, a confident expectation that is real and lasting. God never breaks His promises, He always faithfully delivers more than we could ever ask or imaging. Amen? I am excited to share a passage of Scripture with you today that I believe explains how this hope came to be, and what this hope means for Christ followers. Please turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 5, where we will read 5:1-11. Just so you are aware, I did my passage study using the NIV84 version and will be reading this passage from that same version. My reason for this is due to the updated change to verse 5 in the NIV2011. I believe the sense “And hope does not disappoint us” is more fitting for us today. Let’s begin*
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
-Let’s take some time and work through this passage verse by verse so we can appreciate more fully, how our true hope came to be, and what this hope means for us.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
-The word “therefore” connects Paul’s argument from chapter 4 that justification is by faith and not by works; and he then connects that to how believers now benefit from being justified. First, we need to understand the statement, “we have been justified through faith.” Thankfully, Paul gave a thorough explanation earlier in this letter concerning justification in Roman 3:21-24.*
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
-By God’s grace we have been justified through faith in Jesus Christ, and declared righteous through that same faith. We are redeemed, delivered from the penalty of sin and death. This however was only made possible through Christ taking all the penalty of all the sins of all the people in the world, past, present, and future. Jesus shed his blood on a Cross for you and for me, and now through faith in him our Heavenly Father sees us as holy and righteous through his Son’s finished work on the Cross; because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Rom 10:14). And we have peace with God through faith in our Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ. Take a few seconds and let that sink into your heart… this spiritual reality gives us hope. True hope, a confident expectation of our position before God, and his posture toward us. We find hope here.
-Back to our passage*
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
-We are coming off of verse 5:1 where we are justified and have peace with God through Christ, and Paul continues on here in 5:2. He says it is also through Christ, and our faith in him, that we now have access to, and our permanently positioned, or “standing” in God’s grace. We celebrate this good news by rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. Realizing that*
He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-God chose, predestined, and called us to himself through the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, so that we could share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is our glory, and we rejoice in him.*
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
-We don’t have far to go to find hope because Christ is in us via the Holy Spirit. He is in us and we are in him and this union with Christ keeps us looking forward to sharing his glory.
-We find hope in knowing that God called us to be permanently positioned in God’s grace through our union with Christ, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. -Romans 5:3-4*
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope.
-We heard a lot concerning suffering over the past few weeks, and many of the things we heard were challenging, but learning to rejoice in our sufferings has to be right up there near or at the top. I don’t know about you, but I do not naturally rejoice when I’m suffering. So then why would we rejoice and find hope in the midst of our suffering? Because God uses our suffering to develop perseverance and character. And as our character is shaped by God’s presence, power, and promises through suffering, we find hope, or a confident expectation that God will see us through.*
-Romans 5:5*
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
-Unlike the disappointments we live with day in and day out, all the shattered expectations that cause despair, our hope in God can not and will not disappoint us. Why is this so? “Because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Our hope rests in knowing, believing, and trusting that God is who he says he is, and that he will do what he promised. God’s love dwells within us, and his love for us is confirmed by the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us. True hope is found in God’s love that comes from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.*
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
-We have hope knowing that we belong to the Lord, that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee of our future glory. Are you encouraged yet? Finding hope? I know right, and just think, we are only half through the passage.
-Let’s keep going, Romans 5:6-8*
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-These verses show the magnitude of God’s love for us. He knew just the right time when Christ would die on that Cross for us ungodly sinners.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God fully understood our desperate hopeless state. That we were completely powerless to do anything about our fallen human condition, so he did something about it. He did what had to be done to bring us back to himself. It is important to remember*
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
-We find hope when we remember that we were once separated from God, but that God’s mighty act of love through Christ’s death on the Cross, made it possible for us to be near to him. And as if this news wasn’t amazing enough, Paul continues to give us even more to put our hope in.*
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
-Paul reminds us that we are justified through Christ’s substitutionary atonement, and saved from God’s wrath. He goes on to say that even though we were God’s enemies, he chose to cloth us in Christ’s righteousness and reconcile us to himself. But that’s not all, Jesus not only died for our sins providing salvation, justification, and reconciliation; but, Jesus lives, sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf.*
but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
-We have hope, a confident expectation that we can approach God through Jesus, and that he will completely meet our every need as our great high priest. Jesus will never fail us. He will always be true to his promises. His love for us endures forever.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
-We find true hope that is real and lasting when we approach God’s throne of grace, because Jesus fully knows our weaknesses and suffering. Jesus knows, but he also cares, which is why we receive mercy and grace from him.
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
-We are filled with hope when we rejoice in the salvation God has provided through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
-We find hope for our souls when we remember the goodness of God, and we can trust in his unfailing love, because Christ is in us, and he is our hope of glory.
Finding Hope
Finding Hope
-Based on our passage study we learned that Biblical hope, or confident expectation, comes from the Father’s love for us, manifested through Christ’s finished work on the Cross, and is lived out by the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us.
-Our hope rests on knowing, believing, and trusting that God is who he says he is, and that he will do what he promised.
-We find hope knowing God chose, predestined, and called us to himself through the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, so that we could share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is our glory, and we rejoice in him.
- This hope comes through Christ, and our faith in him, recognizing that we now have access to, and our permanently positioned, or “standing” in God’s grace.
-We have hope knowing that we belong to the Lord, that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee of our future glory.
- Jesus not only died for our sins providing salvation, justification, and reconciliation; but, Jesus lives, sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf. Hope is found here.
--We have a confident expectation that we can approach God through Jesus, and that he will completely meet our every need as our great high priest. Jesus will never fail us. He will always be true to his promises. His love for us endures forever.
-We find true hope that is real and lasting when we approach God’s throne of grace, because Jesus fully knows our weaknesses and suffering. Jesus knows, and he also cares, which is why we receive mercy and grace from him.
-We are filled with hope when we rejoice in the salvation God has provided through our Lord Jesus Christ.
-We find hope for our souls when we remember the goodness of God, and we can trust in his unfailing love, because Christ is in us, and he is our hope of glory.
Jesus is, therefore I am
Jesus is, therefore I am
-Hope matures in us as our identity is increasingly acknowledged as in Christ. It is helpful to meditate on Scripture that reminds us of who we are in Christ. When we practice this, we have proper expectations of ourself that are grounded in truth.
-At the end of the service I will be giving handouts to anyone who would like to have one. It consists of “I am” statements like: I am chosen by God, I am crucified with Christ, I am dead to sin, and so on. Each I am statement has the verse written out where that particular truth is found. This is a great way to meditate on Scripture that reminds us of who we are in Christ. In this way we keep our hope rightly in the Lord by not attaching our identity to anything else.
Communion
Communion
-At this time we are going to prepare to take communion together by passing out the elements. This is a time for you to meet with the Lord, share unconfessed sin with him that has been weighing heavy on your heart. Thank him for the salvation you now have because he took your place on the Cross.
-Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
-Pray 1 Corinthians 11:26
