Christian Hope

socal m1 shooter · #1 01-12-2021, 2:42 PM

Seems like this is as good a time as any to share this.

In various messages Tim Keller mentions something he borrowed from Jonathan Edwards regarding Christian hope. One of these messages-- "Hope for the World"-- can be downloaded/streamed for free, or watched on YouTube (the portion covering the Edwards quote starts about 12:00 minutes in). You can even read a transcript if you care to.

In essence, for Christians, hope is maybe not what many think it is:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Keller/Hope for the World

Let me reiterate that, and this is very important to hear. Christian hope has to do with the ultimate future state, not the immediate. I used an illustration that talks about hoping for a billion dollars a year from now. Christianity is not about that, although many people think it is. Many people say, “If I live a good life and I try very hard and I give myself to the Lord, my salary will go up. Bad things won’t happen to me.” In other words, they think Christian hope is “If I live a good life now, I will have peace and prosperity in this life.” Their hope is for here and for now. That is not how Christian hope works at all! Not at all. You are forgetting somebody. There is only one person that really lived a great life, who gave himself to the Lord completely, who lived a perfectly godly, wonderful life. And yet he was rejected, betrayed, tortured, and crucified. You say, “Jesus—well, he was different.” Why? He says he is not different: “A servant is not above his master” (John 13:16); “if they hated me, they will hate you” (Matthew 10:22).

Put it another way. Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon on Christian hope and happiness, says there are three things you need to know. Your bad things will turn out for the ultimate good; your good things can never be taken away from you; and the best things are yet to come.

Christian brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit give you ears to hear.

Dirtlaw · #2 01-12-2021, 2:54 PM

Amen, Amen and Amen again. That is true. This is NOT our home. The things of value in this world are meaningless when all is said and done and we finally are home.