The Blessed Hope

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The Blessed Hope

By Patrick D. Martell

When a sad situation occurs in our lives, we often ask, why! Paul tells us that all things work together for good. There is a great amount of understanding and belief that we must have to properly understand these scriptures. We often have a hard time believing that all things work together for good. In the study of these verses we will deal with one of God's wonderful ways of helping us, during the time which we are here on this earth. We will have help, while we wait for the glorious return of Christ. We may not understand why things happen, but we do know that God has not left us without a helper.

A very special name is given to the Holy Spirit in John 14:16. The name is also a promise that Jesus gave to us forever. We see in this scripture that we are given a comforter. The Holy Spirit -will help and comfort us. The word comforter comes from a very interesting Greek word. The word is comprised of two words that mean one who is by your side to help you. The word "helper" is all-inclusive. When you need comfort and teaching, the Holy Spirit will be there. Jesus brought out the points that the Holy Spirit is our comforter in John 14:16, our teacher in Verse 26, and our guide in John 16-13. Christ came to help us in terms of salvation. He actually did all of the things, described in these verses, for the disciples while He was with them in person. Today, the Holy Spirit does for us, as Christ did for the disciples. Christ was their helper, their guide, and their teacher. The Holy Spirit is our helper, in terms of Christian living, until the glorious and blessed hope occurs.

Paul presents the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:14-30, as our helper. The Holy Spirit helps us in three important areas. First, in Romans 8:14-17, the Spirit helps us to live like children of God. Secondly, in Verses 18-25, the Spirit helps us to endure hardships and suffering while we wait for the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, in Verses 26 - 26 the Spirit helps us in Christian growth.

When we have the Spirit of God in us and are led by the Spirit, we will behave like a child of God. God wants us to behave like His children because we are His children. Paul explains this in Verse 14. We need the Spirit of God to behave as a child of God. Once we accept Christ, God gives us His Spirit, and it is then that we are able to walk as children of God. In Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus contrasts the walking in the flesh as compared to walking in the Spirit. Jesus gave a few examples, in these verses, to show how we are to behave as the very children of God. If we are led by the Spirit, the people around us will know it. We are to be the light of the world as Jesus describes in Matthew 5:14-16. Only those led by the Spirit can behave as God's children.

All through the writings of Paul bondage is linked with legalism. Paul addresses bondage in Romans 8:15. There is no peace, assurance, or hope in legalism. The Apostle John spoke to those who believe in God in I John 4:16-18. Christians are to know and believe the unconditional love that God has for us. God loves us because He is love. We have boldness, not because of ourselves and our performance, but because as He is, so are we. The perfect love of God casts away all fear. Our love and obedience to God cannot be based upon fear. A religion based upon fear, and which produces works out of fear, is worth nothing.

Paul explains, that those led by the Spirit will give evidence by their behavior and will live like children of God. In Romans 8:15, we see that those led by God's Spirit will cry out, "Abba, Father." These two words are very interesting, they mean "Father, Father". One is for the Gentiles the other for the Jews. Paul did this to stress that whether we are Jewish or Gentile we may call Him Father. Paul is saying that He is our Father, not our executor. Our Father loves His children and wants to bestow on us all kinds of blessings. Paul then addresses something awesome in Verses 16 and 17. We are children of God and an Heir with Christ. God is creating a family. We are given the physical to understand the Spiritual. The physical seed and the ovum are given to ultimately understand the Spiritual begettal of children of God. The Spirit of God (the seed) impregnates the spirit in man (ovum), and a new Spirit life is begotten. The Spirit in man is from God. Animal can only produce animal; man can only produce man; and God through His Spirit can produce God. Ultimately, that life begotten by the Spirit of God will grow and at the resurrection will be born as an individual member of the awesome family of God. God is reproducing after His kind.

The Human being is made up of three elements, which Paul points out in I Thessalonians 5:23. We are made up of spirit, soul, and body. None of these elements are capable of independent existence. Each of the three elements does have a function. Animals only have body and soul. Humans have all three. One of the aspects of the spirit is our conscience. We are able to think, reason, and make decisions. The Spirit convicts us in our conscience that, we are the children of God because we are in Christ. In order for Christ to save us, He had to identify Himself with us. To make salvation effective, we have to identify ourselves with Christ. When that occurs, everything that is true of Christ will be true of us.

Jesus came to this world from heaven. His citizenship did not belong to this world. Satan, using the world, made life hard for Christ. He suffered, while He was here, because He was not of the world. Jesus' suffering was only for a season that we might be saved. We must be willing to suffer, that His name might be glorified. He suffered that we might be saved; we suffer that he will be glorified. We need to remind ourselves that we are joint heirs with Christ, as Paul states in Verse 17. What does that mean to be a joint heir? In Daniel 2, there is a great image made, from different medals, and each medal represents a kingdom. The kingdom to focus on is the stone Kingdom. The stone Kingdom will be an everlasting Kingdom. In Daniel 7, we are told that the saints of the Most High will rein with Christ forever in that Kingdom, when it's established. We need to keep in mind that glorious hope. John tells in Revelation 20:6, happy is the person who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over the believers who have part in the first resurrection. In Christ we have already died the second death; He took the pain and we enjoy the benefits. Christ did not die in our place. We died in Him. We will then reign with Christ. In Revelation 22:5, we see that we will reign with Him forever and ever. We will reign because we are joint heirs with Christ. He is the King of Kings of whom we are the Kings. Paul tells us that this will be our privilege that takes place at the glorification. In the mean time, we will have to suffer because we are living in enemy territory.

A scripture that is very useful in times of trouble is, "It came to pass." Whenever we go through a hard time remember, "It came to pass". Nothing we face in this world is permanent. It is temporary. While we may have to suffer for a short time, it is only for a season; remember, " It came to pass". Our real and blessed hope is the coming of Christ. The Bible makes it clear that we will suffer now, but we will enjoy later. We ask, "Is it worth the suffering"? Let us look at what Paul has to say about that in Romans 8:18. We need to have the same attitude as Paul. We need to live in the context of eternity because we have received eternal life in Jesus Christ.

While we wait for the glorious hope, we will groan as Paul explains in Verse 19-22. When sin entered the world, the world was not destroyed, it was cursed. God gave us hope, but until that reality, we may have to suffer and wait patiently. The process of birth is a painful process. However, once the baby is born it is a wonderful time. The suffering and the pain of this present time are worth it. We have great anticipation and eagerly await the redemption of our body as Paul explains in Verse 23. The suffering will not be forever. Our minds must not be focused on the present situation, but on the future. We have a glorious future that we eagerly wait for with patience, as Verse 24 and 25 details. If we keep that glorious future in mind, then the present suffering will seem as nothing. The word hope used in these verses is not a word of doubt. Paul is sure of his salvation, and he is using the word in terms of something that he knows he will get. Paul says in Romans 8:26 - 27, that God understands when we groan. Jesus redeemed us and that redemption is unconditional. The Bible teaches that all men are redeemed in Christ. Only those who deliberately, willfully, and persistently push Him away and say, God we don't want you or your gift will be lost. God will not force His gift on anyone.

The Holy Spirit will be with us all day, every day. The Spirit dwells in us; this is the God whom we worship. He does not leave us helpless. We know this, as Paul states in Romans 8:28. Not everything that happens to us is from God; but God uses everything for our good, because all that God has is good. Everything is good and everything works together for good. Remember when things are bad and collapsing, that the Spirit is by our side to help us. The statement Paul makes in Verse 29 has caused some confusion. Paul is discussing those individuals who God knew before hand and who would accept the gift of the Kingdom, of God at this time. God knows those who will accept Him and His ways. God has predestined that He reproduce in us the character of His Son. He has predestined all men to be saved, but He will not force salvation on man. God wants to reproduce in us what He has already accomplished in Christ. We are to reflect Christ. That is what He has predestined for every believer. He has predestined for the world salvation for the believer He has predestined and foreordained a transformation of character until we reflect the image of His Son. The steps to be followed are in Verse 30. There is a promise found in I Thessalonians 5:24; God is faithful and He will accomplish His work. God will do it. Through the Spirit God will fulfill in us what He has accomplished in Jesus Christ. Our job is faith and to walk in the Spirit.

We need to learn to daily walk in the Spirit, and to be led by the Spirit, so that God may produce in us the character of His Son. We will suffer in this world; but remember that this suffering is nor worth mentioning, when compared to the eternal glory in Christ. We cannot depend on the organizational church, the Pastor, or on any human being. When the time of trouble comes the organizational church will disintegrate and the Pastor may not be there. We must remember that there is one by our side who won't leave us or forsake us. We will have a guide, a source of strength, and a comfort. We must never forget who we are, and who it is that is our helper, our guide and our strength.

Note: This article was written based on tape number 23 in the Romans Study Series. The Romans Study Series is produced by United Christian Ministries and is presented by Mr. Ray Wooten. It consists of 38 separate tapes that are less than an hour in length and are each accompanied with a study guide. These tapes are available, by request, in sets of four.