THE
GOD OF HOPE!
Rom
15:13
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of
the Holy Ghost.
Paul, writing to the Romans,
offers multiple views of God. In Romans 15:5, He is the God of patience and consolation. The
patience is His and the consolation is ours! Here the word “consolation” is paraklesis
and is the same word that is translated “comforter” when Jesus promised
the Holy Spirit in John 14:16. The
word is made more powerful by the use of a definite article making it “THE
consolation.” Consolation is in the person of Jesus Christ.
He is the God of peace
in Romans 15:33 and the word “peace”
is eirene
and indicates both quietness and prosperity. It also is preceded by a
definite article which makes it “THE peace.” Peace, both quietness and
prosperity, is in the person of Jesus Christ.
In our text this morning, He is the God of hope.
Here hope is elpis (el-pece’) and means both expectation and confidence.
Once again it is forcefully preceded by a definite article. The hope that we
have in eternity is an expectant hope. It is like an “expectant” mother large
with child. She is confident of delivery but uncertain of the date! Many signs,
both visible and known only to her, assure her that her hope is well founded.
Dear Father, all around we see signs and evidence of
your soon coming. Inside us also there is a confidence that our hope is well
founded. Thank you Lord, that our hope, our peace and our consolation is firmly
grounded in your person. AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment