There is One Hope

By Brian Mitchell     Paul’s seven ones that equal unity is a fascinating study. God wants His people to be unified and the 7 ones are the things that unite us. So far in our series we have discussed the one body and the one Spirit. Consider the one hope we have in Christ. Let’s begin with an illustration from the Peanuts.     Lucy asked Linus, “You know what we’re going to do tomorrow?” Lucy continued, “Patty and Violet and I are going on a picnic!” Lucy concluded, “I just hope to goodness that it doesn’t rain.” Linus, the resident theologian, replied, “‘Hoping to goodness’ is not theologically sound!” This “one hope” is not an uncertain “hope so” type of hope, like the way we often use the word hope.     Like Lucy, we often say, “I hope it to doesn’t rain tomorrow on our picnic,” but we don’t really know one way or the other until it is time to go. We use the “hope so” kind of hope when we talk about hoping to get promoted at work, or hoping that our sports team will win. I hope that Alabama will win the national football championship–I hope the Titans will win the Super Bowl–that’s “hope so” hope. Our Christian faith gives us a “know so” hope, not a “hope so” hope. In biblical hope, we hope for things that are absolutely certain, but have just not yet been realized.     How can we be so certain about the biblical things we hope for? They are a certainty because God has promised them and God always keeps His promises. God had promised that Abraham would have a son with Sarah and many descendants to follow. He made the promise when Abraham was already 75 years old, but then Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled—BUT IT WAS FULFILLED! (Heb.6:13-19).     I think that one of the reasons why God made Abraham wait so long was to prove how God is able to keep His promises and can even do so in a man and a woman who are way past child-bearing age. When God makes us a promise, He has no one greater than Himself to swear by. But when He makes a promise, we can know that He will keep it – because it is impossible for God to lie. God’s promise of our salvation through Jesus is the hope of our calling and it is an anchor for our souls, firm and secure.     In the end, our hope is so secure, because our hope is in Jesus Christ and His righteousness; our hope is not in our righteousness. Like the great hymn proclaims: My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. In Rom.3, Paul explains: 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:23-24).     Our God is full of love and grace, and so, He has provided salvation through Christ Jesus. We are saved by grace through our faith in Christ. We are not saved by our own meritorious works, otherwise we might boast, and we would certainly fall short, rather we are saved by Christ’s work in His death, burial and resurrection. How’s that for good news? Great news!

- Brian Mitchell served as a minister with the Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson, MO. Visit the congregation's website at https://www.jacksonchurchofchrist.net