The New Testament - Hope That Does Not Disappoint
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Hope that Does Not Disappoint
Hope that Does Not Disappoint
Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:1-1
Romans 5:
An interest
Delayed hope makes the heart sick, but fulfilled desire is a tree of life.
Proverbs
What do you set your hope upon?
This is a most crucial question for you and me both to answer.
Some things hold great promise but prove to be passing fancies as life goes on. Other things are even dangerous and destructive. In this old world, hopes are often delayed and many times never really realized. Do you see why our question is most crucial? What do you set your hope upon?
An interesting admission is made by Christ’s disciples in that I think gives us an understanding of what they were thinking about the crucifixion of Christ. It’s found in .
Read this with me:
But we were hoping that He was the One who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened.
What they had put their hope in was an understanding of Jesus Christ being a conquering king who would deliver them from the Roman rule.
Many of our problems come from attaching our hopes to things that were not made to bear them.
What do you hope in?
This is where God comes in.
Turn to with me.
Read Romans 5:1-11.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
As the One who made us, God knows how we work best and what is best for us. He knows what we should hope for and the neat thing about it is He has set the very things we should hope for in the Bible so that we can fix our hopes upon them.
This is the Message of the New Testament — Hope that does not disappoint. Let’s look at the New Testament in overview and see how hope in God — never disappoints. We will do this overview by looking first at : Hope Revealed and then at Hope Lived.
I want to
I. Hope Revealed
I. Hope Revealed
The Gospels reveal God’s Hope is in Jesus Christ Alone
The collection of 27 books that comprise the New Testament begins with 4 accounts of the life of the Messiah — Jesus of Nazareth. These are documentaries, if you will, of the life, words, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Matthew was written for a Jewish community and stressed Jesus’ fulfillment of OT prophecies, as the opening genealogy demonstrates. He is the Son of David.
The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
Mark chronicles, probably from Peter’s recollections, in a very fast action style presenting Jesus as the Suffering Servant, emphasizing service and sacrifice.
The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life —a ransom for many.”
Luke, whose author is a meticulous historian, sometimes called the Gospel to the Gentiles, stresses that the Messiah has come not just for the Jews, but for all the nations of the world and he stresses OT prophesies that make this promise.
The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed,
Luke 24:
He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The 4th gospel account, John, emphasizes an overall message that Jesus is clearly identified as the Messiah and that this Messiah is God Himself.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Now let’s direct our attention back to .
“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith...”
The Greek construction and English translation underscores the fact that justification is not an ongoing process, but a one-time Divine declaration with eternal results. And it’s not subjective!
You remember the statement by the disciples?
“We were hoping that He was the One who was about to redeem Israel.”
But the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ is not subjective and internal “religious feeling” within the devout believer, but external, objective reality. It is completely outside of the any man.
Look at the words in verse 1.
“We have peace...”
The verb translated we have is in the present tense, indicating that this is something that is already possessed. There are many blessings the believer awaits for in his resurrection and glorification from these earthly bodies — but Peace with God — is established through our Lord Jesus Christ — and this peace came to us — the moment we believed — “by Faith!”
And this peace is only obtained because we have “access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand...”
Being that this peace is all by grace, it is therefore all of God and only through Jesus Christ.
So, the person who is justified by faith in Christ is at peace with God, regardless of how he may feel about it at any given moment.
This is a hope that does not disappoint!
You may be asking, “Why do we need peace with God?”
Many unsaved people do not think of themselves as enemies of God. They consider themselves, at worst, to be “neutral” about God. They are not, in their minds, actively opposing God or contradict His Word. They’re just neutral. But this is an impossible position. Their peace is only with things of the flesh, and they are thereby “Hostile toward God.”
For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so.
And not only are all unbelievers enemies of God — But God is the enemy of all unbelievers — to the degree that He is angry with them every day...
God is a righteous judge and a God who shows His wrath every day.
and condemns them to eternal hell. God is enemy of the sinner, and that enmity will not end, cannot end, unless there is faith in Jesus Christ. And worse of all — every person who is at enmity with God is a child of the devil — not God.
And this is the reason Jesus came;
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
We are condemned without Jesus Christ! And there is no Hope outside of Christ. But because of Jesus Christ — we now have a Hope!
Paul continues —
We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
The most immediate consequence of justification is reconciliation. Reconciliation with God bring peace with God - a permanent and irrevocable peace because of Jesus Christ. And this is because of Who Jesus is and What He has done.
This is what the Gospels declare. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God and He came to make the way of peace to God the Father.
“If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
He did this by becoming sin for us.
And so, no matter what afflictions we may endure — afflictions don’t destroy us, but produce endurance, and endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
And this is the hope — that does not disappoint!
Why?
Because there is redemption in Jesus Christ alone.
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him.
Reconciliation speaks of relationship. The biblical word for relationship is Covenant.
Jesus spoke of His covenant with them:
In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you.
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
Covenants are used to form new relationships, which is why Jesus came: to make a new relationship for His people with God, because their relationship was destroyed by their sin.
And that takes us to Hope Lived.
II. Hope Lived
II. Hope Lived
The Rest of the New Testament Reveals how that Hope is lived out in Christian life.
A hope that does not disappoint translates into a life that is lived with Christ at the center.
The book of Acts showed how this Hope Lived began in the lives of the Disciples as they lived in Christ.
III. His Creation
III. His Creation
And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.
Acts 24
The book of Romans, as we have already seen, demonstrates lives lived in the reality of the Hope found in Christ.
We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:2
Romans 5:2
“and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
And in this epistle, Paul lays out the clearest expressions in a careful, logical, ordered outline of the Gospel message.
1 Corinthians defends the gospel against corruptions from within under the guise of human wisdom. 2 Corinthians answers the attacks of false teachers against the Gospel.
Galatians argues against the false teaching of the Gospel plus something else, grace plus works, Christ plus something or someone else. Galatians demonstrated that anything besides the Gospel was a different gospel.
Ephesians emphasized the essential truths of the Gospel message — salvation is entirely God’s work — Grace alone.
Philippians was practical counsel and exhortations to living out the reality of the Gospel and sharp warning against gospel-corrupters.
Colossians addressed the deliberate corruption of the Gospel with human philosophy, asceticism, and manmade traditions and proclaims the supremacy of Christ over all.
1 and 2 Thessalonians instructed the church that the Gospel came to them by the power of the Holy Spirit and encouraged them to wait patiently for Christ’s return while living in a way that honors the Gospel truth.
The epistles to Timothy and Titus were urgings to two young pastors to preach the truth of the Gospel and encouragements in their work as elders.
Philemon is a short, intensely personal letter written to reconcile a runaway slave with his master. The amazing thing here is the crystal-clear picture of the Gospel truth of what Christ did for His people through imputation and His substitutionary death.
So if you consider me a partner, accept him as you would me. And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
The rest of the NT is comprised of 9 books, none written by Paul.
Hebrews helps us to understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments and what is meant by the new covenant people of God — all culminating in what we have in Christ. In the OT, you had priests who died because of their own sin and endless sacrifices of bulls and goats that only made people ceremonially clean. But in Christ, the sinless Son of God, you have been made truly clean and holy, so much so, that you can enter the holy of holies with boldness.
James is a very practical letter that describes how to live the Christian life with a real and practical concern for others.
1 and 2 Peter are relevant because they show us how to live rightly and that doing so means that life on this earth does not go well. But they encourage Christians to persevere in the faith with Christ as their example.
1, 2, and 3 John are brief letters to encourage Christians of their security in Christ and pursuit of faithful obedience to the Lord.
Jude is a brief letter warning against false and immoral teachers.
Revelation a letter to 7 churches that encouraged them in the Lord Jesus Christ revealed as the risen, glorified Son of God, and victorious Lord of Glory in whose judgment of all the world the culmination of the world will come.
All of this come in Christ Jesus.
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
We have a living hope, a hope that does not disappoint.
Such hope brings joy at the deepest level of life and it is expressed beautifully in Charles Wesley’s magnificent hymn —
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Romans: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Believer’s Joy in God
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!
Hear Him ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come;
And leap ye lame for joy!
There is Hope and it’s a hope not based on feelings in a moment that can disappear as quickly as they came. This is a Hope based on the reality of Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This is a Hope that Does Not Disappoint.