Hope of the Gospel

"BUT sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Pet. 3:15

WE should most certainly conclude from reading the above language that the Christian's hope is a subject which can, and should, be understood, and that there are also ample evidences and proofs in which the true gospel hope is set before us; else how could we "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh"? To do this we must know what our hope is, when, and in what manner it is to be realized, and upon these points we assert that the Scriptures do thoroughly furnish us.

Paul says: "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured; he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them, an end of all strife. Wherein God; willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel; confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Heb. 6:13-18.

If there is strong consolation for them that lay hold of the hope, then surely it is important that we understand the hope, that our faith may lay hold of the evidence from which this consolation is to be derived.

Hope is defined as expectation and desire. Neither of these alone constitutes a hope. A man may desire what he has no reasonable expectation of receiving. Again; a man may expect to receive what he by no means desires. A man may desire eternal life, and all the glories of the kingdom of God, yet he cannot expect to receive them unless he complies with the conditions on which eternal life is promised. The sinner may expect, on the authority of the word of God, that if he does not turn and serve the Lord; he will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power (2 Thess. 1:8, 9), yet he does not desire it. So we may conclude that the hope is a combination of expectation and desire, based upon what God has promised, and upon the assurance that we ourselves are complying with the conditions of the promise.

GOOD HOPE.

In order then, to have a good hope, we must expect and desire what God has promised, and not settle down in the expectation of that object, unless we have the fullest assurance that we are complying with every condition on which that object is promised. We see, then, that a well-grounded hope must be a matter of promise, and as every promise of God is made on conditions before we are entitled to the promise, we must be sure we are complying with the conditions.

That all God's promises of reward and punishment are made to us on condition of our obedience or disobedience, is the only reasonable position we can take. When we appeal to the Scriptures, we see they give us a general rule reaching all such cases. We read, "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." Jer. 18:7-10. Complying with the conditions of a promise, constitutes us the heirs of that promise. "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3:29. "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham." John 8:39.

While we see that a true hope must be based upon the promises of God, and that none can truly cherish that hope as theirs unless they are complying with the conditions; yet there are false hopes, and there are hopes cherished by those who are not complying with the conditions of God's promises or else hoping concerning matters that God has never promised. Job says, "The hope of the wicked shall be as the giving up of the ghost." "As the puff of breath," margin. Job. 11:20.

We have seen, by the reading of Heb. 6:17,18 that the true gospel hope is based on the promises of God, confirmed by an oath. So a false hope would be a hope not based on the promises of God, or, if comprehending what is in that promise, cherished by one not obeying the conditions of the promise. Paul says of those who were ignorant of the promises, and, as a matter of course, not obeying God, not complying with the conditions of the promise, "Wherefore, remember that ye being in the time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. 2:11,12. We see that one important reason why they had no hope was because they were strangers to God's promises of future blesssings. Then, indeed, every hope to be well grounded must be based upon the promises of God.

THE GOSPEL HOPE.

But we now come to the direct question. What is the gospel hope? Paul says, "There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." Many are the hopes cherished by different classes, yet there is but one true hope given to cheer God's people. But it may be inquired, If there is but one hope, why are there so many things spoken of in the word of God as the hope? We reply, There may be several events to be accomplished in order to the realization of the hope, and each of these may be spoken of as the hope, but only in the sense that the accomplishment of these events is embodied in the ushering in of the one gospel hope. And so these several events may be necessary to be accomplished, in order that we may receive that for which we are hoping. These objects, or events, are so intimately connected with the hope, as to be called the hope; because if these are not fulfilled the hope would fail of its accomplishment.

We look upon the different events embodied in the ushering in of the hope as we would look upon several steps to be taken to gain an eminence; each is taken to gain the eminence, but no one of the steps alone will bring us to the object desired. Although each is taken to gain the point, still it is not gained unless all the steps are taken. So with the different steps that, in their order, as fulfilled, usher in the realization of our hope; all must be fulfilled or our hope is never realized. But we will pass to notice, in their order, the events that are called the hope.

CHRIST OUR HOPE.

In 1 Tim. 1:1, Paul calls "Christ our hope." Of course a true gospel hope must never center in Jesus Christ as the object, being, or agency through whom the promises of God concerning man are to be carried out. "We are complete in him." Without him we "can do nothing," and are nothing. He is the "Alpha and Omega." Alpha and Omega is the more ancient form by which the Greeks expressed their alphabet. Alpha being the first Greek letter, and Omega, the last one in their alphabet; from the Alpha to the Omega was from the first letter to the last, or, in other words, the whole alphabet. So Christ is the Alpha and Omega, or the alphabet of God's plan and purposes concerning man. As the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet, arranged in various combinations, constitute literally the words of the Bible, so the subject matter of the plan of salvation treated of in the Bible is Christ arranged in various forms as the being through whom God's purposes concerning man will be carried out. As Christ was employed in the work of creation, so also is he the second Adam, through whom the restitution of all things God has promised will be carried out. The Father "has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of man." So, also, the Father "has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as he has given him." Christ is in the promises of good and in the threatenings of judgment. He is the root and center of the great plan of atonement devised for the rescue of man, and, in fact, he is the grand source of all the bliss and joy promised to the faithful. Christ is the agent by whom, and through whom, all is to be accomplished. With this view of the subject, we see, then, that the Bible itself is Christ arranged in his various offices, form, and work. As we would arrange the twenty six letters of the English alphabet in their various combinations to form a book, so we see how Christ is the Alpha and Omega.

When we say Christ is our hope it embodies all that is in Christ, or is to be brought about through Christ. In making our inquiries respecting him, and of what is accomplished by him, we should find ourselves, in some respects, in a similar position to that occupied by the ancient prophets in their researches concerning Christ: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 1 Pet. 1:10,11.

Hence, we see that a hope in Christ embraces all that is wrought out by Christ till the glory of God is revealed in his people, in their being brought to their eternal rest in his kingdom.

In the very connection of the text above, we gain some light as to what our hope embraces: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Pet. 1:3-5. In writing to the Colossians, Paul says, "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." Col. 1:3-5. Thus we see that the true gospel hope brings to view the final consummation, when the saints of God shall receive the heavenly inheritance which is now in reserve for them; when they shall become possessors of that of which they are now heirs—the kingdom of Heaven.

We will look again at Paul's testimony to the Hebrews, and we may gain some light as to what is the hope: "When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." Heb. 6:13-18.

From the foregoing, we understand Paul argues that we have strong consolation from the hope, because the Abrahamic promise was made sure. This is conclusive evidence that that promise has special reference to the hope. That this promise to Abraham had reference to some future inheritance is clear from the following testimonies: Paul says of Abraham that he was called to go out into a place "which he should after receive for an inheritance." "He sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country." Heb. 11:8, 9. Stephen said of Abraham, that the Lord gave him none inheritance in it [the land], no not so much as to set his foot on. Acts 7:5. Again Paul says of him and all the multitudinous seed that sprang from him, that they "died in faith, not having received the promises." The promise, then, which was made with such certainty to Abraham and his seed, must relate to things beyond this life. Again he says of these ancient worthies: "These all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."

These quotations show that the promise to Abraham had not been fulfilled when Paul wrote to the Hebrews. They also show that the promise cannot be fulfilled until all those are made perfect, who are embraced in the term "us," which embraces all Christians in the gospel age. So the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise must be beyond the gospel age. That promise embraces Christ as the true seed. "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. 3:16. Christ is the seed to whom the promises are made. He has been on earth once, as the "Child born," and the "Son given." But he is to come again as "King of kings, and Lord of lords," and then the "government shall be upon his shoulder." We are now "joint-heirs" with him; but we shall then be recipients of the glory, entering "into the joy of" our Lord.

Paul, when permitted to speak before Agrippa, said, "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come; for which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews." Acts 26:6, 7. If Paul, with the twelve tribes, still hoped to come to that promise; it had not yet been fulfilled. We do not think that Paul would submit to be judged for his expectation concerning a promise that had already been fulfilled. From his reasoning, he must have considered the fulfillment of that promise in the future. Knowing the manner in which their thoughts would run, he says, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" Verse 8.

We must conclude from this reasoning that Paul considered the fulfillment of that promise as an event beyond the resurrection. As this promise to Abraham is the sure foundation of the hope which affords consolation to those who have laid hold upon it, it follows that the gospel hope is the hope of a future inheritance.

Peter says of this inheritance, "Reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Pet. 1:4,5. But, you may say, he here speaks of an inheritance reserved in Heaven, which cannot be the future kingdom. Paul said of Abraham, "He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. 11:10. That city of foundations is now in Heaven—"Jerusalem which is above is free." Gal. 4:26. It is in reserve for the obedient. "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. It is finally to come down from Heaven, and be the great center of the new earth kingdom. Rev. 21:2. So this glorious portion of the inheritance is reserved in Heaven, ready to be revealed, not at death, but "in the last time."