Lasting Hope in the Grace of God – Life Is a Journey, part 23
Disappointed or discouraged today? Learn how to have a hope that reaches beyond today’s circumstances. This message will help you understand where to put your hope and how that one decision can affect your life and the lives of those around you.
Through this series, you’ll learn how to live well & enjoy God's promises. You are loved by God; He knows your name. He has a plan for your life. Get helpful advice, encouragement, and hope for a life well lived in 2021 and beyond.
Are you walking in faith and victory? Set your eyes on the promises of God. You only have one life journey; say yes to Jesus.
Your hope is secure when anchored in the grace of God.
What is hope?
Hope always looks forward, not backwards. And if we hope for what we don’t have, we’ll wait for it (Romans 8:24-25). The journey of hope in the grace of God is where you continually look to God’s grace that is extended to you every day. God’s grace is undeserved and unwarranted favor towards mankind.
We all experience the grace of God each day. We need the grace of God because, without it, we wouldn’t have the hope of salvation.
Hope looks to the grace of God.
Hope looks to Jesus’ soon return.
Hope looks to eternal life with God in Christ.
Hope involves faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Hope is seen in the believer who is choosing to actively live as an obedient child of God.
The word hope infers a feeling of expectation or the desire for something. Hope is believing in something, and believing that something would happen and work out in a particular way, even when things may appear to be otherwise. Hope is living with sure and certain faith in the grace of God, believing and knowing in one’s heart and mind that the outcome of God’s grace is salvation. Eternity with Christ without having seen it yet. Salvation comes by faith in Christ and the free gift of God’s grace.
Many people have seen their hopes crushed or somehow passed over.
Their hope for a certain job that went to another.
The hope of a raise.
The hope of a successful business crushed by a virus; a fire; a hurricane; an earthquake; and maybe ending in bankruptcy.
The hope of winning a drawing for a weeks’ vacation.
The hope of buying a first home.
The hope of getting accepted into a certain college.
The hope of having children or the hope of simply being together and getting together for Christmas.
Not everything we hope for will happen and not everything we hope for is what is best for us. Not everything we hope and desire is good. Hope in anything other than the grace of God will leave you wanting.
Hope is an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19). Hope will keep you steady in times of storms.
Where is your hope anchored?
Where is your hope anchored? Is it anchored in the grace of God or is it anchored in a worldly desire?
You can hope for a certain outcome, but if that hope is based on an evil desire or in something other than the grace of God it won’t produce what you truly need.
I could hope to break an unhealthy habit or lose weight, but there needs to be an effort on my part. I need to try and accomplish it myself. I might need some encouragement or help from someone else. If my hope is anchored in wishful thinking or if my hope is anchored in a lie, I am bound to fail. If my hope is connected to chance or in a person, and what I had hoped to happen doesn’t happen in the time period I set, I might lose hope all together.
Many people feel hopeless today. They see no hope or future for themselves. They see no hope of change. What they had hoped for has ended in disappointment time and again.
A person feeling depressed and hopeless may do some things that they normally would never even consider. Hopelessness and discouragement can cause a person to give up on life, or do something out of desperation like shut down emotionally, become angry and bitter, hurt themselves or others, or take their own life.
When things are going well, a person has no need for hope. When things are going well, a person may feel they have no need for God. They may not want to hear about God, and yet when all looks hopeless, a person can become open to hearing the Gospel. They may be open to knowing more about God. They may listen to a reason of hope. They may ask you for your reason of hope. Why are you always positive? What will you tell them? What is your greatest hope?
What hope do you have that you would like to pass on to your family, friends and others? Where is your hope anchored?
How does hope lead to eternity?
I believe hope is a journey. It is a life journey that we will all experience. It is a journey of understanding and learning what is truly important in life. It is a journey of life where we look beyond what we think to be important in this life, to what is truly important: eternity with Christ.
Millions of people need to hear of the grace of God and of the hope of eternal life in Christ. A person hopes in the present and looks to the future in anticipation and expectation for what they hope to gain.
Unbelievers look to possessions, position, and the present circumstance. They look to themselves to anchor their hope. They rely on their ability. Only one problem: their desires are never satisfied. It’s never enough. They will desire to build bigger barns to house even more possessions. They never gain true peace. They will never be satisfied and, in the end, they will leave this life empty-handed.
But Christians look to Jesus. As believers we look to God Almighty. We look to the grace of God. We place our hope in God’s free gift of grace and that he will supply all our needs in Christ. As believers, we live in faith and hope in the grace of God. How we live each day displays our hope in God.
We should live “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2, NIV). This is seen in Genesis. God, by his grace, clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins after they sinned. God then placed them outside the garden so they could not take from the tree of life and be spiritually dead for all eternity without the ability of redemption. God already knew Jesus, the lamb of God, to be the savior of the world.
‘Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God’ (1 Peter 1:13-21, NKJV).
Where you place your hope is extremely important. It’s important who you place your hope in. Where you place your hope is critical with regards to what you are hoping to gain.
You’ll most likely be disappointed if you put your hope in yourself or another person. Placing your hopes and dreams in your own ability, possessions, money, a job, your health, friends, family, or in worldly promises will also end with disappointment.
If your hopes are on a timetable and the timetable is not going the way you plan, your disappointment is certain and the outcome will not be what you had hoped.
Is your hope in heaven? Scripture tells us that our hope should be in the grace of God. Our hope is not in the law like the religious Pharisees, or in good deeds. Your hope should be in God’s free gift of grace.
Peter explains that we need to prepare our minds and be sober minded and hope to the end. Peter uses a picture of wrapping or tying a flowing robe around the waist in order to walk or run so not to trip or fall. Peter’s idea of being sober is not talking about alcohol or drugs. No, Peter is telling us we need to be serious and our minds should be focused on what is truly important: eternity.
Peter clearly warns us to actively take steps to avoid the hazards of distractions and to focus on what is truly import: the spiritual and not the carnal. We should have faith and hope in the grace of God. Peter tells us not to fashion or set our hope on things according the former lusts that we once lived in when lived in ignorance towards God. You see, Peter is addressing believers and is telling the believer that they are called to be holy; believers are to be set apart.
What makes hope possible?
It is the grace of God that makes it possible for us to even have a hope of eternal life.
We are to live as obedient children, knowing that we have been redeemed, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, or by the religious tradition of our fathers. We are not redeemed by obedience to the law, or how well we live, or by how much we give or go to church or are “religious”.
Remember Jesus said that some religious people will be told, “I never knew you” because of their lack of faith and hope in Jesus. It is only by grace through faith that we are redeemed; it is a gift of God, not our own doing (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Knowing that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish, we are called to live as obedient children.
I remind you that Peter is writing to believers; to the elect; to those living as strangers in the world; to those who received the grace of God through faith; to those chosen in Christ according to the foreknowledge of God through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ.
Peter is very clear to whom he is addressing this letter. He is giving the believers the gospel (the good news) of hope in Christ. We learn in the beginning of the letter that this is a living hope:
A hope of an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade.
A hope that will not tarnish or go away.
A hope more precious than gold.
A hope that continues on through times of suffering and that will result in praise, glory and honor to God.
A hope that results in joy unspeakable and full of glory.
A faith and hope that results in salvation and the glory of God.
It is God’s grace, God’s unmerited love and favor towards mankind that results in this hope in the heart of every believer. Grace is God’s free gift to us all. God’s grace is totally undeserved, unwarranted and it takes the form of divine favor, love, and mercy of God. God’s grace is extended to the undeserving sinner and is received by faith in Christ. While you were still a sinner, Christ died for you. It is through the grace of God that those who believe are saved. God’s Grace is seen in Jesus on the cross “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2, NIV).
“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20-21, NIV).
Put your hope in God and never be disappointed.
In times of trouble, trials, and testing, choose to set your hope on the grace of God. Know your hope in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and return is secure and will never be withdrawn. It is the blood of Christ that paid the debt that you could never pay yourself. Know for certain, hope anchored in the grace of God is secure. Live sober minded. Live with hope of eternity with Christ. Live a self-controlled life and with your mindset fully on Christ.
It was before the creation of the world that Jesus said yes to the cross. It was before the creation of the world that God’s grace was extended to you, that you might believe and have the hope of eternity with Christ in glory (see Ephesians 1:4-7). It was before Adam and Eve sinned that the grace of God was extended to all mankind. It was in the grace of God, that God clothed Adam and Eve.
It is because God is gracious in his nature, that God foretold of a savior in Genesis: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
God’s grace is not cheap even though it is freely given. It was paid by God’s one and only son dying on a cross. Understand, all mankind are sinners at birth.
It is only by God’s grace, his undeserved mercy and favor, that a person who is dead in their trespasses and sin could be made alive in Christ.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:4-10).
As Christians, our hope and journey in life is a journey of learning and living with hope in the grace of God.
You may feel unworthy of God’s love. Not one of us deserved God’s love or grace. But thankfully, God’s grace is not based on your worthiness or good works. It is solely because God is gracious that he extends grace to each and every one of us. Every person is born with a sinful nature. No one would be saved, redeemed, forgiven of sin apart from the grace of God.
God’s grace is sufficient for you, as it was for Paul when he asked God to take away his pain (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). If the enemy attempts to get you to doubt your salvation; if the enemy tempts you or you are tempted to sin by your own sinful desires, turn to the Lord. Repent from sin and know that God’s grace is sufficient (see Titus 2:11-14).
Place your faith and hope in the grace of God. Live by faith as a child of God and you will never be disappointed.
Never forget the grace of God that was freely given to you. Now I challenge you extend grace to those who may have offended you. To the person who has strayed from Christ or who has never placed their faith in Christ. I want you to understand the grace of God was not extended to you as a onetime event. His grace is still extended to you, even now.
Do not reject his grace, embrace it and know by the grace of God and faith in Christ, you have the hope of eternal life with Christ in heaven’s glory. To the glory of God.
Suggested Praise and Worship
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