- (DARBY) "Every word of God is pure..."
- Psalm 12:6 (NIV) And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times
- Psalm 119:140 (NIV) Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
- Romans 15:4 (MSG) Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.
- 1 Peter 3:15 (NLT) Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. Be gentle as you speak and show respect.
Biblical hope is not based on some outlandish wish or desire for something that has no basis in reality. Recently, in our nation, there is a group "hoping" that the course of nature will "somehow" be overturned so that a person might continue to live. Others are hoping that this path (living without food or water) will take it course and she will die. This is not the kind of hope spoken of in these verses.
We hope in the reality of the Word of God. That it is true. Protected by Him. Pure in its original autographs. Its promises fulfilled.
We hope in what we know can be, has been, and will be. What God has said is "pure" - i.e. full of integrity - whole and complete and proven true. Something that is pure needs nothing added to it: in fact, whatever is added renders it to be no long pure.
Because His Word can be relied upon, I can have hope and expectation that He will come again. Those Jews, who trusted the Word, recognized the Messiah as the fulfiller of their Hope. And He, today, fulfills our hope. We can have faith in what is unseen because what has been proves that His word always yields what was predicted. It is truth, even if it is yet not seen. Many today, however, want to shape His Word and Him according to their image and hopes. They want a God to fulfill their needs, not His glory. If we are going to offer authentic hope to a dying world, it must be based upon God who does not change - who is love, justice and righteousness. Hope that because His Son who suffered for us, He understands our pain. Like Him, we can be alive with hope that is being purified in the furnace of life.
Ahhh...there's the rub. Our culture demands "tolerance" for behaviors that God called sin,. Tolerance for life-styles that do not please Him. Tolerance for visual stimulation in music videos and movies that only appeal to our prurient natures. Tolerance to accept many ways to God when our hope is in one-way, one truth and one life. To be really Christ-like in this environment takes both faith and hope.
Our hope is not only in His return again, but also in His promise that in our daily living, He is our shield - our protector. He is our hope for a reason: we must not only live in hope - our life must also reflect that hope within us.
Our hope has meaning. So should our lives. Does your life offer hope?
"Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure." I John 3:3
Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell
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