Built to Hope

INTRO

The things that makes humans different...

There are many opinions around the world about the evolutionary process.

Yuval Noah Harari — an Israeli public intellectual, historian and a professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

He found that the main thing that separates us as humans from the rest of the animal kingdom is our ability to IMAGINE—or HOPE. To see into the world something we cannot see. Let me explain....

In 1903, the Wright brothers hoped for a contraption to help people fly in the sky. So they created the airplane.

In 1923, Walt Disney hoped for a place where parents and kids could have the most fun of times. So he created Disneyland.

In the same year, Garrett Morgan, with only an elementary school education, hoped for a safer place for cars to drive in the streets of America. So he created the three-light traffic light.

WE ARE BUILT TO HOPE.

Hope is something that God has woven into the fabric of our being.

Hope is the thing that makes you fully human.

Hope is the greatest form of resistance in a world full of lies.

I was designed to hope. And the moment I decide to function contrary to what I was designed to do is the SAME moment I begin to MALFUNCTION.

DYSON VACCUUM.

BODY

Romans 8:24–25 ESV

24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

THE LEVELS OF HOPE

LEVEL 1: Hope in the accomplished.

“For in this hope we were saved.”

Hope in the OT

The ancient Israelites were commanded by God to tell their children and their grandchildren of how God set them free. To have them HOPE in that which has been done.

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 ESV

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Hope in the NT

Salvation is an accomplished fact.

Good NEWS, not Good advice. Advice is something you suggest. News is something you tell. News is the testimony of that which ALREADY happened.

So throughout the NT, we see the writers reminding us of what Jesus ALREADY accomplished on the cross!

Hope today

When we look back at how God has already worked in our lives, it gives us strength for the next level of hope.

TELL MOM’S STORY.

LEVEL 2: Hope against limitations.

“Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?”

Our human nature limits us to do many things. Some can see far, some cannot. Some can jump high, some cannot. Some can run fast, some cannot. Hope, however, is not hindered by my human limitations.

JOSHUA MARCHING AROUND JERICHO — Joshua 6.

Joshua and the Israelites were told by God that He already given Jericho over to their hands. BUT their means of conquering wasn’t weapons, but marching. THEY WERE A LIMITED PEOPLE.

If we can see that which we hope for, we don’t need hope. If we are able to properly calculate every detail, then I don’t need hope. But when I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, hope is my only option.

CERTAINTY BECOMES OUR IDOL.

IRONMAN 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake?

Explain distance.

In Lubbock, Texas, IRONMAN 70.3 was hosting hand-cycling division championship.

These triathletes, taught me that hope is the strongest muscle in my body.

LEVEL 3: Hope beyond sight.

“But if we hope for what we do not see”

In Lecrae’s album “Restoration”, Kirk Franklin makes an appearance saying, “If what you see is all you seen, then you really do not see all there is to be seen.”

A text that further explains this level is 2 Corinthians 4:18:

2 Corinthians 4:18 ESV

18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

TEMPORAL vs ETERNAL.

Many of us have placed our hope in things that are visible/temporary. When we do so, our hope is bound to fail.

My hope isn’t placed in something that only lasts a moment. My hope is placed in the Eternal God. My hope isn’t in something I can see with my physical eyes. My hope is in the unseen—the Invisible God.

LEVEL 4: Hope through every circumstance.

“we wait for it with patience.”

Patience: “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.”

Now if i’m being honest, being patient is difficult.

Hoping in patience requires me to be content with the present.

SO WHAT DO WE DO WHILE WE WAIT?? WE WORSHIP.

CONCLUSION

Over 2,000 years ago, a Jewish man from the little town of Nazareth walked the earth with the hope of bringing a powerful Kingdom. He saw into the world things that others weren’t able to see. He even saw some things in people that they didn’t see themselves! Jesus sees in us something we can’t. Jesus hopes in us, so may we hope in Him.

Jesus was hopeful in what His ancestors and those before Him accomplished

Jesus did not limit His hope to His human sight.

Jesus hoped in a sinners to realize their holiness.

Jesus patiently hoped for the defeat of sin.

When you cannot hope any longer, just know that you were BUILT TO HOPE.