Where does our hope lie? (6/11/17 Standalone)

ATTN: As a Christian minister, I think a lot about the afterlife. And if I’m not mistaken, this is how most Christians think about the afterlife – this is certainly how I used to think about it: We think of this life as the main event where all the exciting things happen and the afterlife as retirement – an add-on. If this life were a movie, then this life is where all action, conflict, climax and resolution happen, and afterlife is just the last scene of the hero riding into the sunset and the final credit. But the Bible presents a very different picture. This life is 9 months in the womb. Yes, it is full of struggles, wonders, growth, but it’s only 9 months. Then, we are born and into the real world. That is us dying and entering into heaven – the real world! In other words, we haven’t even been born yet! We are still in the womb waiting to be born. We are covered in fluids, surrounded by darkness, see and hear only dimly. But when we are out of this womb – this world – we will experience life as we were meant to experience it, in the next world.  

I will tell you where in the bible I get that picture, but today, I want to talk about hope. Three Sundays ago, I spoke on love. Then, last Sunday I spoke on faith and so I thought it would be appropriate to speak on hope today. Love, faith, hope. Three things that characterize a Christian life. As I’ve been doing lately, I will simply read some verses that speak about hope and then make observations. One of the reasons I’m doing it this way is so that you can see where I’m getting these points from. You don’t have to have a seminary degree or know the original language to get these points. Anyone who knows how to read a book can make same observations. Our ultimate hope is that you will be able to read the Bible for yourselves and know what it’s saying, so that you hear directly from God rather than second-handed…

 

1. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

The Apostel Paul is writing to a group of people living in Rome and he’s encouraging them to keep their hope in God. And he is aware that these Romans are suffering for their faith and therefore, reminds them of what is coming for them – the glory!

Observation 1) Hope allows us to bear our sufferings today

Ravi Zacharias – For nonChristians, this is the best life they will live. For Christians, this is the worst we will live. It will only get better from here on. And for Christians, the worse this life gets, the more we hope for the world to come and it is that hope for the better world that gives us the courage to face our sufferings today.

Now, this was written by a man who was well-acquainted with suffering. Paul knew suffering. And he is not talking about 1st world “suffering” – such as our 401k portfolio taking a downturn or our health insurance going up…

2 cor. 11:24  Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; … through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

He suffered more than any of us ever will. But this man says that the glory that he will receive will so overshadow his sufferings that there will be no comparisons. When we are in suffering, in pain though, doesn’t it feel like no amount of joy will compensate for it? Nothing will make up for it? Job felt that way. Job 3:11“Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? 12Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? In other words, “This life is so hard I wish I were never born! “ But if he was never born, he would never know the joy of heaven. It seems to be God’s formula that the only way to the everlasting bliss is through the calvary. So, if we are on calvary – the road of suffering – know that we are on the road to the everlasting joy. Ps. 30:5, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Hope allows us to bear our sufferings today.

 

19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

So, this whole creation is waiting to be redeemed. The sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the animals, mountains, rivers, valleys, are all waiting eagerly to be restored. It’s as if the creation is under a curse. And it is waiting for the curse to be lifted. This is where I get the picture of this life being like in the womb, waiting to be born.

Observation 2: This world is not what it should be. (It is less than it should be).

ILL: Disney probably doesn’t know that it got its storyline for Beauty and the Beast from the Bible. When the beast sins, his whole castle including his servants are cursed and turn into less than themselves. And they are waiting for the curse to be removed and it all depends on their master, who is a hideous beast. When he is converted, through the love of Beauty, everything gets restored back to the way it was.

We are that beast. It is our fault that this world is less than itself. Do you remember the garden of Eden? It was a paradise. Adam and eve worked for pleasure. But sin messed everything up, and the earth itself was cursed and became a hard place. The world is not what it should be. And it is our fault. Yes, there is still beauty and flash of brilliance, to hint at its former glory, but it isn’t what it should be.

That is why we think, no matter how good we have it, “there’s gotta be more to life than this.” We have this innate sense that something is wrong with this world even though this is the only world we have ever known! That’s because the memory of where we have been had been written in us. We were in the garden of eden. We were in the paradise, where there was no death, no pain, no goodbyes, eternal bliss! But we are not anymore and therefore, we long for that home. What we are really longing for is this world to get back what it should have been. APP: Do not try to get all that this world offers. It will disappoint you in the end. It’s ok if you are not keeping up with the latest fad, what everyone else seems to be getting. Everyone seems to be buying a house. Everyone else seems to be getting married and having kids. Everyone else seems to be investing in their 401k… You will never be completely satisfied here. It is not our home.

This world is not what it should be. Keep your hopes up.

 

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as wwe wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

I am so thankful for this verse in the bible. Not only the creation be restored, but our bodies will also be restored!  Yes, we will get a new body! And it will be wonderful!

Observation 3: We are not what we will be!

ILL: I think I’ve gotten maybe a little too close to my Chinese students. We were sitting around one day and a student asked, “Mr. Hong, where do you get your haircut?” I told him where, and he said, “It must take him less a minute because you have no hair!” Why don’t you shave it? And other students got in on it? When did you start losing it? Did you study too hard? Does your dad have hair? They were just egging it on. All in good fun, though. But it’s no longer funny when it is far more serious, such as cancer, surgery, child-deformity, etc, that some of you had to face. But it is something all of us will face. It’s simply a matter of either now or a little later. But just a little later than later, we will all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (2 cor. 11:24)

This hints at the value of a human life… Did you know that your life is worth more than all the things in this world? Hard to believe.

ILL: My Serrie was sick and missed several days of school. I took her to Burger King on Thursday and I was eating chicken fries with her and as I was watching her eat, this thought came to me: “This little girl, less than 100 lbs, is worth more than every monument, museum, building, majestic mountain, exotic island, vast farm land, – even more than the sun and the moon and the stars. Not just to me but to God. Why do I say that? Because Jesus didn’t die for all those other things. Jesus died for us human beings. We are worth the life of the Son of God!

C.S. Lewis: There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. We get so impressed when we are standing in front of Grand Canyon. But we should be 100 times more impressed by a single human being in all his attributes…

But it sure doesn’t seem that way, does it? You look at some people and they don’t seem to be worth much. That’s because we have not been restored yet. C.S. Lewis: “…remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship,

Good news. We will receive a new body. And it will be better than you could ever imagine. Just think how many of our society’s problem would go away if we were all invincible, where no one can be killed…  

We are not what we should be. Keep your hopes up.

 

1. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

For in this hope, we were saved. But our salvation is not yet a complete reality. It is still in the future. That is why we hope since it’s not a reality yet.

Observation 4: Hope waits for the maximum joy.  

Christians are not people who strive to get all that we can in this world. Unbelievers do that because this world is all they get. So, they should get all the pleasure out of this world they get since they will not a second opportunity. But we are a people that is waiting for the future glory.  And you know what I discovered? That waiting for the future joy, that expectation itself brings joy.

ILL: Think of a child, the night before Christmas just eagerly waiting to open all the presents under the tree the next morning. She can hardly sleep! So filled with joy and happiness. That is the picture of Christians. Versus a child who has opened all of it and is now bored, but wants more… That is the picture of the world.

The world will taste everything this world has to offer and say, “This is it? That is all? There has to be more!”
The Christians will refrain, deny themselves and say, “I enjoy thinking about what is to come. There is more to come!”

APP: Christians, our bucket list ought to be different from the world’s. The worldly, this world is all they get and so it makes sense for them to want to do as much as they can before they die because after they die, they won’t get to do it. But Christians. We get to inherit the earth. Matt 5:5 “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” We do not only get to own heaven, but we get the earth thrown in in the deal. We will have all eternity to explore every part of this earth – the renewed earth! So, Christians, don’t feel like you are missing out because you haven’t traveled to such and such place, or you didn’t get to do such as such. You will have plenty of time to do everything you’ve ever imagined and more. I am refraining from going to Fiji Island – I saw it on Costco Travel magazine and it looks absolutely gorgeous. I’m refraining, first of all, because I can’t afford it, but second, even if I could, I will get to do it for free after I die. So, why go there now?

CONC: This world feels like we are inside the womb. The sound we hear, the colors we see, the pleasures we feel, are all absorbed by the fluid all around us. But when we are finally born, when we are finally free from this world, we will see truly for the time. We will hear truly for the first time. We will taste truly for the first time.

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9)

Hope in God. Bear your sufferings. Wait for maximum joy!