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Ron Writes

This hope isn’t a worldly hope. Worldly hope is merely wishful thinking. It’s like wishing for a million dollars. The chances are this isn’t going to happen. It’s not something that’s expected to happen. It’s not something on which to build your life. Disneyland is where wishes and dreams come true. It’s where reality is suspended. It’s the end of a fairy tale. It’s make believe. There’s a reason it’s called never, never land. It’s about something no one ever, no never expects to see. The world has come to know hope in these terms.

Christian hope is much different. It’s a confident expectation. It’s a living hope. It’s an expectation that there’s more to life than what is seen. The apostle John had a vision of a door standing open in heaven. We understand doors. Doors separate two areas. We have all passed many closed doors. Just because we haven’t seen the other side of the door doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Since we have seen this side, there’s a hope, an expectation, that we will see the other side too. Hope that is seen isn’t hope. Christians have a confident expectation in the unseen. Christians believe there’s something on the other side of the door.

It’s about hope in Jesus. Christian hope is built on the historical fact that Jesus came to earth. It was foretold for generations just exactly what it would look like, and every prediction came true. His crucifixion was witnessed by many and was entered into the historical records, both secular and sacred records. And, most important of all, He came back from the dead, a fact witnessed by hundreds. Over and over, He spoke of an eternal kingdom, His Father’s house, a place for His friends to live with Him. God is not the Father of the dead, but of the living. Since everything else the Bible said would happen came true, it’s reasonable to have a confident expectation that everything else it predicts will be true as well.

This is a hope you can build your life on. It’s a hope that you’ll want to share. It’s a hope that has been passed down from generation to generation. Christians should always be ready to give an explanation for the hope that lies within them. We have a glorious expectation of living with God eternally in a new heaven and a new earth.