This blog is a continuation of a series of questions that internationals in our church have asked.
Q: If someone asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you, how would you respond?
A: I suppose I should begin answering this question by stating what my hope is. Biblical hope has certainty just as faith does. Biblical hope is not the sort of hope people mean when they say, “I hope it will be sunny tomorrow.” That’s something more like a wish. In addition, Biblical hope deals with the future. Thus, the hope that is in me is a certainty that my future will be glorious in Christ.
Now. To the question. What reason can I give for the hope that is in me? Lots of reasons actually. In fact I could give a thousand reasons, depending on the context of the question. Some of those reasons would deal with apologetics. Others would be personal. Some would deal with what I see in life. Others with what I see in the church. Still others with what I see in me. But, in the end, all of them would somehow deal with what I see in God through Christ as related by the Scriptures.
So why am I certain that I have a glorious future in Christ? First of all, the Scriptures promise me this. I have an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for me (I Pet 1:4). I will see his face (Rev 22:4). I have eternal life (I Jn 5:11). We could go on. I understand that for some people, the Bible is not a reason, but you’re asking me for my reason, and that will be part of my answer because I’ve seen that the Bible is reliable.
Second, I see what Jesus has already done. If He loved me so much that He went to the Cross to pay for my sin, then will He not graciously give me all things? (Rm 8:32) The Cross is both the means to my hope and the proof that God will grant me that hope. I do not need to worry about the love of God for me. I see it plainly in the Cross.
Third, I have God’s Spirit, and His Spirit is like a down payment, a guarantee of a future inheritance (Eph 1:13-14). His Spirit gives me abundant peace and joy from the inside. Christ makes my heart bubble over. I see as plain as the sun that Christ fulfills what He promises here on Earth. How much more then can I trust Him for what He promises later?
These are the reasons I would first choose to give. These reasons may then initiate a conversation like “How do you know the Bible is reliable?” Or “How do you know Jesus died and rose again?” Those questions then take us into the realm of apologetics, and there are good answers to those questions, but they are not the question you asked me.
