Peace on you, dear children of God, who read “Daily word for spiritual strength”! I believe the Lord will strengthen you through His word of wisdom He gives to us for today.Due to some people´s superficial understanding of hope and its practical application in our Christian life, I decided to share more details about this topic that God revealed to me. That´s why we are still talking about hope as an important weapon at the battle of the last days. As we discovered, Christian´s hope is always related to Christ and waiting for His second coming in glory. That´s what apostle Paul wrote in message to Colossians:
«You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and blameless before him, if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly; of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfil the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased 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;» (Colossians 1: 21-27).
The passage above is full of instructions for our Christian life. They tell us about three parts of our salvation – salvation from the past, salvation nowadays and salvation in the future. God saved us from our wicked way of life we used to have in the past and made us free from the power of satan. We would be enemies of God, tended to do evil, but now because of Jesus who suffered for our sins everything has changed. As soon as we ask God for forgiveness, we receive it and restore our friendly relationship with Him. Though, nowadays God wants us to be holy, pure and blameless before Him. To comply with these requirements we must be strong and persuaded in our faith – that refers to the present time. Meanwhile, there is the third part of salvation – time in the future when we will be saved from the very presence of sin.We got saved from the punishment for our sins in the first part, we are saved from the power of sin in the second part, then in the third part we will be isolated from the very presence of sin. Therefore, it´s important not to backslide from «..hope of the gospel which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven.». Backslid from this hope human being becomes unable to live through his present difficulties and sorrows. Look at how Paul expresses his delight about his time regardless of all sorrows and sufferings he had:«Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly;» (Colossians 1: 24).
How could Paul rejoice in his sufferings and sorrows? He just had a revelation and practical understanding of hope of salvation. Paul wrote this message is to open our eyes at what he calls «mystery», which has been hidden for ages and generations, but now it has been revealed to his saints. Understanding of this mystery gave Paul strength to rejoice in his sufferings and sorrows. In a same way, only understanding of hope of salvation enables us to stay happy among all hardships and sorrows of the last days. What is that mystery Paul is talking about in his message? It´s a mystery of the richness of glory in Christ waiting for us. Paul says: “Christ lives in you, hope of glory”. The word “hope” here means expectancy. In other words, just because Christ lives in us and we live in Him, we should only expect nothing else but glory. Only when we are able to see it we can seek that glory. Helmet of hope is the expectation of the glory of God under any circumstances in our life. God is able to manifest His glory even in our sorrows, illness, shortages, etc. Once disciples asked Jesus a question about a man born blind. Jesus answer was – it all just happened, so that God could manifest His glory (His deeds) in thelife of the blind man:«As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered.» (John 9:1-3).
Do you believe God wants to manifest His glory in your life among all your sorrows, sufferings, pain, deficiencies and illnesses? Do you expect the glory of God in your life? Do you have that hope, that is expectation of the God´s glory? If your answer is yes, nothing can lead you astray and your peace will flow like a river at the last days. You will also become a source of hope, inspiration and comfort for the other people.Remember, whatever the horror of this world is, you can expect the glory of God in your life, since you´ve received the helmet of hope, so you know Christ lives in you, the hope of glory!See you tomorrow!Rufus Adjiboye, pastor.
