A parting word on “hope” as we move on. Hope is a necessary aspect of the Christian life in a fallen world that is trying to destroy God and all goodness.

 

Hope is an expectant faith the makes it through though it struggles with the tensions of life.

 

Our election is to God’s highest and best, to the manner of Christ Himself. Faithful is He who called us. He will also bring it to pass. We obey faithfully, hoping in God through the tensions and distractions and temptations of life to Himself accomplish it in our lives.

 

Rom 15:1-13

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached Thee fell upon Me." 4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

7 Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written [Psa 18:9 – Psalm of David as king],

 

"Therefore I will give praise to Thee among the Gentiles,

And I will sing to Thy name."

 

10 And again he says [Deu 32:43],

 

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people."

 

11 And again [Psa 117:1],

 

"Praise the Lord all you Gentiles,

And let all the peoples praise Him."

 

12 And again Isaiah says [Isa 11:1, 10],

 

"There shall come the root of Jesse,

And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,

In Him shall the Gentiles hope."

 

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Actual hope came to the world through the finished work of Christ. No one, not the devil, can destroy it.

 

This hope has moved from person to person, from generation to generation. It has turned the world upside down. One tactic in the hands of the devil, when he realized that he couldn’t destroy the hope of Christianity, was to infiltrate Christian churches with false doctrines, and men who disguised themselves as servants of light, and fracture it from within through the pride of such men, inflaming also the pride of the actual saints.

 

Another tactic used by Satan is to give the world his own manufactured hope, promising to provide what Christianity foretold, but through an earthly kingdom. Marx and Engels promised utopia when undesirable people were removed. It was tried and if failed miserably, bringing about great evil and murder and the people lost hope. The elites of the world, the majority of which are influenced by the devil, realized that the revolution of the workers [Marxist theory] was not going to bring about what they wanted so they decided on a different course and they brought their revolution to academia, to the university to influence the young to bring about their ends. These in turn would influence the public school, the media, and corporations. In the old method they attacked class. In the new method they attack the culture, deeming it unworthy, devoid of any good, racist, and only built on oppression of other cultures.  This actually started in the 1920’s and 30’s in Germany and Italy, but the war put it on hold. The machinery of this evil desire began to run again in the 60’s, the pampered and materially blessed youth of the great generation of the war and it has continued since. The same thing will happen, it will fail, hope will be lost, and then the kingdom of darkness will seek another way.

 

We are one body, which is made and given life by One Spirit, and has as its goal one hope of its calling. So then, the body has one head, one faith to sustain its journey, and one origin – the baptism of the Spirit.

 

Eph 4:4-6

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

 

And finally, there is one Father, the giver and planner of it all; the one Originator, the one source of the entire plan of human history and the final kingdom of men joyously thriving in God’s kingdom of heaven. It is truly a glorious story, the glory of which belongs to one Trinity.

 

The repetition of “one” is striking, and it is meant to be. It is used seven times.

 

In 1Co Paul reveals that the world has many gods but we have one Lord and one Father to whom we owe our existence.

 

1Co 8:5-6

For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

 

In chapter 12 Paul states there is one Spirit, one Lord, and one Father, though we all have different spiritual gifts, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit, meaning, one baptism.

 

The one body is the church, comprised of Jewish and Gentile believers; and its unity and cohesion (remember 1Co 3:1-17) is due to the one Holy Spirit who indwells and animates it. Our faith is one, in one Lord and His law (Rom 8:2; Gal 6:2), to whom the Spirit as baptized us into Him by the one baptism. Our calling is one, to be like Christ for whom we wait in expectant hope. The one God and Father is over the whole family, to whom He has given His name.

 

There is a visible and invisible church. The invisible church is comprised of all believers everywhere. They are unified in the eyes of God the Father. They are his family and they possess His name. They are one body, indwelt by one Spirit, having one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Father. However, we see great disunity in the visible church. It must therefore be the visible church that Paul refers to when he says:

 

Eph 4:3

being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.