Nothing is Impossible // Hope is Possible
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. “
Revelation
1:17b-18 (ESV)
“…Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Hope is possible.
Joy is possible.
Peace is possible.
Hope
Greek = “Elpis”
“Joyful and Confident Expectation”
Christian Hope is Unique.
“Our present behavior is determined by what we believe our ultimate future to be.” - Timothy Keller
The Christian’s Hope is Anchored in Certainty About God’s Future and Character, demonstrated in Christ’s Work and Affirmed Everyday by the Holy Spirit.
How Do We Get This Hope?
Romans 5:1-5 (ESV)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Invitation > Endurance > Character > Hope
Romans 15:4 (ESV)
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
“May 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.”
“God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He