Hope Laid Up in Heaven
Of the three chief virtues, the greatest that sustains the saints in their journey is the demonstration of hope that is laid up for the Christian in heaven. No other religion offers the hope that Christianity offers. In the African traditional religion, trials, hardships, and death are often greatly feared as they are associated with displeased ancestral spirits. Thus, many people usually live in fear, trying to please ancestral spirits whom they cannot ascertain whether they are living according to their desires. It is a life that does not guarantee any future hope because people find it challenging to embrace hardships and death in society. However, biblical Christianity points to hope beyond any trials saints may undergo while on this earth and the fact of death, which is the passage to eternal life. Unlike in the case of the ancestral spirits, God has revealed Himself to His creatures through His eternal word and in His incarnate son, Jesus Christ. We know what trials and hardships mean and that we are not to be afraid of death because of the hope laid up for us on the other side of this life. The Christian Church communicates this biblical hope, not because it is meant to excite the conscience of the saints but because the Church has firm foundations in the truth of God, who is the personification of all truth.
Thus, it is important to note that hope is the basis upon which Christians build their faith in Jesus Christ and their love for the saints. Hope acts as the foundation of both faith and love. Just like our idea of love, hope is usually projected as mere wishes. Whatever, in most cases, is usually hoped for, there is no assurance or guarantee that it will come to pass. However, biblical hope is never presented as mere wishful thinking but as that firm conviction that whatever God has declared for us will come to pass. Hebrews 6:19 sheds light on what kind of hope the Scriptures are referring to, whereby it is stated that “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain.” We need to put our hope in what is laid up for us in heaven. We know that it is in heaven that Christ is present in all His glory and splendor and that the promise of God is made that we shall be raised with Jesus Christ in glory (Col. 3:4). Thus, the hope of the Christian as he/she pilgrims through this life is not groundless neither is it unfounded, but firmly anchored in the full assurance that there is going to be a resurrection of the saints and that the kingdom of God will definitely come. Peter expounds this Christian hope more fully in 1 Peter 1: 3-5.
Peter shares that as God’s children, Christians are God’s heirs and co-heirs with Christ, and this inheritance for which they are assured is salvation. Salvation communicates that there is a final future deliverance from sin and that Christians are going to enjoy eternal glory with Christ, who is most definitely going to return in power and glory. We as Christians need to believe in this hope because it is the grace of God in truth, the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Christ was raised, so was the despair of the disciples now turned into hope, a point that the Scripture uses to encourage the church (1 Thessalonians 4:14), that just as they believed that Christ died and rose, so will God bring with Him those who die. Hope is a true mark of the image of the faithful church that is grounded in Jesus Christ our Lord.
What Then Does This Mean For Us Here And Now?
It is important that we understand that faith, love, and hope are not virtues that a believer produces for themself; rather, they are gifts from God. We also have to understand that the church is not an organization. Rather, it is an organism that has many members but who belong to one body under Christ. These are important truths to have because they help us understand that the demonstration of these gifts is central to the body of Christ, which is the church.
- First, as a church, we have to show as true saints that we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, that name apart from which we cannot be saved that we believe that Jesus Christ is the only one sufficient to save us from our sins and grant us the newness of life. How do we demonstrate such faith? First, as disciples, God expects us to share the Gospel by being faithful to share the true Gospel. We must strive to be like Epaphras in the Church at Colossae, who, after hearing the Word of God, which is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, did not seek to corrupt it as those who wanted to do so in the Church at Colossae, but became a faithful minister of Jesus Christ. Much has been corrupted, and we need to be fully alert that we may not be led astray, but that will only happen if we study the Scriptures keenly, seeking to first know Jesus Christ and the power of His salvation. Further, we shall remain steadfast in Jesus Christ by demonstrating our faith in our Christian life through good works (Eph. 2:10; Col. 3:17). And faith, let it be remembered, comes not by anything else other than hearing and hearing through the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). So, let us be submitted to Godly teaching. The only way to ascertain whether it is the truth of God is to take your Bible and read and plead that the Holy Spirit gives you clarity.
- Secondly, to demonstrate the image of a true faithful church of Jesus Christ, we will show love to one another, especially to those of the household of faith. There should not be found dissensions (Romans 16:17), divisions (1 Corinthians 1:10), ungodly desires that cause quarrels and fights (James 4:1-3), and other acts that do not show love in the Church of Jesus Christ. We have to reflect and mirror God’s love so that others, not those of faith, will be forced to call us saints not as mockery but as a true description of who we are in Christ.
- Finally, we should demonstrate hope, especially in these difficult times when we are alive. As the youth, we should not despair nor portray fear because of the uncertainties that befall us. We should demonstrate that we are the true Church of Jesus Christ who places our entire hope in Him and on the promises that God has declared to us in Christ. We are to demonstrate hope such that even as we are going through the sufferings that are allotted to us by God in His goodwill, we have the assurance that we shall be with Him in glory, in that side of the new heaven where it has been declared about God, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelations 21:4).
Our Response
Those who do not hold to the Christian faith have no hope outside of this life. Many live in fear and despair, trying to please those they do not see and cannot ascertain their response. As saints, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have great hope because it has been revealed to us by God, creator and sustainer of life. Thus, we are to show the world that we are the true Church of Jesus Christ by demonstrating the three chief virtues of faith, love, and hope. It is the only way the Word will bear fruit within and without the church.
