The God of Hope



Romans 15:7-13
7Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
8For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
9and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
10And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.”
12And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

As Romans draws to a close, Paul reiterates the all-inclusiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus may have come through the Jews, but He came to save and rule everyone. Then comes the hope defined as that confident expectation in God’s love for us all.

Hope is an interesting thing. We use the word incorrectly so many times that it has lost some of its impact. We often interchange the words ‘hope’ and ‘wish’. That is unfortunate because are nothing alike. Wishes are those imagined things we desire. My mom always used to say “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Hope is different because hop has teeth. Hope is about an expectation. We don’t just “wish” God’s love were real, we “know” that it is real. We live with the confident expectation that He will always love us and do what is best for us. Wishes cast doubt, hopes casts joy.

Paul’s prayer for his readers is that they would know “the God of hope” and as that takes place our lives would be lived from that place of confidence. Wishing God would come and save me is not born of faith. Hoping that God would come and save me is born of a certain knowledge that He can and He will.

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