My Hope Is Built On . . .

What is your hope built on?  If this question were asked to a number of different people, I’m guessing the answers would be quite varied.  And I’m also guessing most answers would revolve around things of a physical or temporal nature.  But what about the Christian?  Where is our hope built?

We sing about our hope being built on “Jesus’ blood and righteousness,” and it definitely should be, for over and over in Scripture this message of hope is emphasized.  The apostle Paul, speaking before King Agrippa, said “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers” (Acts 26:6).  Paul continues to speak of this hope in his letter to the saints in Rome when he says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).  Later, in the same letter, Paul states the following:  “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (Romans 8:24-25).

In his letter to the faithful in Colosse, Paul makes it clear to us that the hope which we have is dependent upon our reception of the truth and adherence to what it says.  In the first chapter of the letter, the apostle reminds the brethren of “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth in the gospel” (vs. 5), and the importance of continuing “in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (vs. 23).  A few verses later in the same chapter Paul states “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles:  which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (vs. 27).

As we consider our hope, may we remember the wise man who built his house upon the rock and it stood firm, alluding to hearing Christ and doing what He says (Matthew 7:24-25).  Returning to the aforementioned song, may we faithfully sing “On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”