I pray these last few letters on hope have brought encouragement and strength to you as we have refined our understanding of hope according to God’s word. I conclude, for now, this topic with these words: Jesus − our only hope.
We have learned that hope is an inner image of Biblical truth. That inner image is fortified when we study God’s word and allow it to penetrate our hearts framing the reality of it in us. We then draw it out by faith producing results of God proportions.
We must not confuse natural hope with spiritual hope. Natural hope always resides elusively in the future; spiritual hope is readily available in the present. Spiritual hope is produced by the preaching of the gospel that infuses our spirits with expectation that cannot be overcome by adversity, but that demands what we see to manifest in our lives.
Colossians 1:15, 17 state that Jesus is this spiritual hope − the image of the invisible God that is set before all and through whom all things consist. He is the word spoken by God that framed the worlds. (Heb. 11:3) God placed Jesus, the Word, or image of His desire before us to unify our intentions and imaginations. When we place our eyes on Him, His ways are downloaded into our hearts and we begin to see God’s plan and purposes for our lives. This is what is called revelation or revealed knowledge.
Notice the words of Solomon in Proverbs 29:18 in both the Amplified and Message:
AMP “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man] – blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.”
MSG “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are blessed.”
Without this inner image or prophetic word before us, we cast off restraint and run wild after our own thoughts, visions and imaginations. We are not to lean to our own understanding or to be wise in our own eyes. We are to allow God to build our hope from His word and allow that image to direct our every move and decision.
This kind of hope is defined in Hebrews 6:19, which states, “This hope we have as an anchor to our souls, both sure and steadfast and which enters the Presence behind the veil.” Hope produced from the word of God does not disappoint for it takes us into the Presence of God where by faith we obtain the promises. Every soul saved, body healed, and need met is produced by the Image of Christ that is FORMED and made alive in us by the power of His word!
Let Jesus be your only hope; the only Image that you allow to voice opinion and give direction to your daily life. Speak out daily the hope produced from the gospel and watch it make your way prosperous and produce great success.