Many Christians in their new-found walk of faith in Christ Jesus ask, "What exactly is the Hope of our Faith that I hear so much about? Can I consider my Hope and Faith in Jesus to be literal facts? Can I be sure that I am going to Heaven when Jesus comes back or when I die?"
Jesus is the answer, He IS OUR HOPE ... and He "will not disappoint us because He has poured out His love into our hearts by His Holy Spirit, whom He has given to us" Romans 5:5 ...
“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of His Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13. "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for your welfare and not evil, and to give you a future and a hope" Jeremiah 29:11.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again TO A LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in Heaven for you, WHO BY GOD'S POWER ARE BEING GUARDED THROUGH FAITH FOR A SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME" (I Peter 1:3-5). "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
If we die before Jesus comes to rapture His Church---His Children---we will be instantly in His Presence in Heaven. Until then and are still iving when He comes, we are constantly looking for the Glorious Appearing of our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, whom Titus 2:13 says is "our Blessed Hope." We are constantly in a state of readiness, like Jesus said is having our "lamps lit" to stay awake and watch for Him!
* Until the Day we are born again to the Day of Redemption, each child of God is Sealed by His Spirit until Jesus returns! (Galatians 4:6) And God's Divine Order is that we are born of His Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus and made children of God, and then God sends forth His Spirit, His Spirit of Sonship, to dwell in our hearts.
The indwelling of God's Spirit is a consequence of our becoming His children which establishes and anoints us in Christ. His Spirit Seals us by giving us the Earnest of His Spirit in our hearts, 2 Corinthinas 1:21-22.
The Earnest of God's Spirit is the same as earnest money paid when purchasing a house. He Seals us to the Day of Redumption, just as the earnest money seals the contract until the house is purchased and we have the deed in our hands.
We are Sealed according to His purpose, who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will. We who first Hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of His glory! We who heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our Salvation, and believed in Him were Sealed with God's promised Holy Spirit who is the Guarantee of our Inheritance, until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory" Ephesians 1:11-14!
*Each child of God has been engraved with a Mark upon the palms of God's hands ... "'My Lord has forsaken and forgotten me' cried Zion. However, can a women forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, but I will not forget you because I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands, you are continually before Me" Isaiah 49:16.
God's solid foundation is firm and Sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are His, those who confess His Name" 2 Timothy 2:19. This is the love that God has for His children, He has a Mark on the palms of His hands which constantly reminds Him of us. Our tribulations, our paths, our wounds are continually within His view, and He has a wall of protection around us and will not forget us!
As Christians we have been Redeemed by the Purchase Price of our Savior's blood and now we belong to Him. We have been bought with a price and now He is our Master and we are to serve Him. And God has put His Mark upon each one who belongs to Him, and His Holy Spirit has sealed each Believer in Christ Jesus until the Day of Redemption" Ephesians 4:30, when He will call us Home, to preserve us with His Mark or Seal in order that in the end He will find us holy and unblamable and unreproveable in His sight.
In the Old Testament the king's seal was law. It meant that things were finished and the king would place his seal upon things he did not want disturbed. Esther 8:8, "Write for the Jews in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing, which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse."
*Believers are sealed for security and protection (Revelation 20:3). We are sealed to hide the contents within (Deuteronomy 32:34), each Christian is a walking testimony to the power of God by Christ through the HIS Spirit. We are full of God's treasure. No one can take this from us because we are sealed. The disciple of Christ is sealed to confirm or approve by testimony.
*God seals the believer for ownership, 2 Corinthians 1:22, "who hath also sealed us, and given the Earnest of His Spirit in our hearts." This is God's pledge to us that our sin debt is paid in advance and in full. We are debt free. There was an exchange made on the day of Christ's crucifixion, His life was given for ours and our sin was substituted for his righteousness.
This ownership begins when a person repents and accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord, Romans 8:9, "if the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are born-again by His Spirit of Truth" and are a walking testimony and witness of God because you now belong solely to Him.
The conclusion:
We Christians are the Children of God, who are Sealed from the nano-second we believe unto the Day of Redemption, when we will receive our new bodies (Romans 8:23) and where we will receive our Inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). God's Spirit is the Earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the Purchased Possession, which was Redeemed and Bought by Christ Jesus on the Cross, unto the praise of His glory! He gave His life for us, so let's serve Him with all our hearts!
Other Scriptures from Job to John where God shows us that we can trust His love for us:
Job 13:15 - Though he slay me, yet I hope in God.
Psalm 31:24 - Be strong and take heart, all who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 33:18 - But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love,
Psalm 33:20 - We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
Psalm 3:25 - The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.
Psalm 42:11,43:5 - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 52:9 - I will praise You forever for what You have done; in Your Name I will hope, for Your Name is good, I will praise You in the presence of Your saints.
Psalm 119:49 - Remember Your Word to Your servant, for You have given me Hope.
Psalm 146:5 - Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Psalm 147:11 - The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.
Isaiah 40:31 - Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Jeremiah 29:11 - "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Lamentations 3:25 - The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.
Micah 7:7 - But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior, my God will hear me.
Matthew 12:21 - In His Name the nations will put their hope.
Romans 4:18 - Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him.
Romans 5:2 - through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:5 - Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by His Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Romans 8:24 - For in this hope we were saved.
Romans 15:4 - Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of His Holy Spirit.
1Corithians 13:13 - Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
1Corithians 15:19 - If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Galatians 5:5 - By faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
Ephesians 1:12 - In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:18 - I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 4:4 - There is one body and one Spirit---just as you were called to one hope when you were called.
Colossians 1:5 - The faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven, and that you have already heard about in the Word of Truth, the Gospel.
Colossians 1:23 - If you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel---the Gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Colossians 1:27 - To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, The Hope of Glory.
1Thess.1:3 - We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Thess.4:13 - Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope.
1Thess.5:8 - But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
2Thess.2:16 - May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father who loved us, and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,
1Timothy 1:1 - Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
1Timothy 4:10 - For this we labor and strive, that we have put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
1Timothy 6:17 - Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Titus 1:2 - A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.
Titus 2:13 - We wait for the Blessed Hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Titus 3:7 - Having been justified by His grace, we become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Hebrews 6:11 - We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
Hebrews 6:18 - God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
Hebrews 6:19 - We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 11:1 - Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen ... or in another version ... faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
1Peter 1:3 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
1Peter 1:13 - Therefore, prepare your minds for action---be self-controlled, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1Peter 1:21 - Through Jesus we believe in God who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, our faith and hope are in Him.
1Peter 3:15 - In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord---and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have---but do this with gentleness and respect,
1John 3:3 - Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Hope and faith are not possible if there is nothing to believe, we must have an object. And The Object of our Christian faith is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! Hope and faith are more than intellectual assent to His claims, but involve our will and a decision to believe what His Word of Truth says, and a surrender and commitment to His claims.
He claimed that He would die and be buried and then rise again, and this claim was fulfilled, just as all the claims in His Word will be fulfilled. He is alive as our High Priest and able to keep every single promise that He made in His Word. He said that if we believe in Him we will have eternal life---we do not just "hope" that He will keep His promises, we can know for sure that He will because He gives us that assurance!
We don't know Him through our five physical senses, but through the “Sixth Sense of Belief” that He gives to every born-again Believer---the ability to confidently know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our hope and faith in His Word are sure and eternal.
Now unto HIM who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within each Believer, to Him be glory in His called-out-Church, who is in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations and for ever and ever, Amen!
Shine, Jesus, shine!
You are our Blessed Hope!