When it comes to hope, we all need some. Within our modern culture, the idea of hope has more of the idea of wish. Within Scripture, when hope is used, it has the idea of future expectation. This is because if God promises something, we can expect that He will come through.
The question is, how does God’s holiness give us hope? Let’s start with the fact that at some point, we may feel hopeless. There are times where we think things will never get better. That includes our sin and our life. We know that we have broken God’s law and disappointed Him thousands of times. Then we read passages like Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
This does not seem like a lot of hope. A passage that says we can not measure up to God. As we study Scripture more, we see that God can’t be in the presence of sin. So what hope is there for sinners like us who desire to be in God’s perfect presence? What about those who hope to live with Him for eternity in His paradise?
There is good news. There is hope. That hope comes from God’s holiness. God is perfectly holy. Jesus lived a flawless holy life. With that, God sent His Son Jesus into the world to live a perfectly holy life. While He had no sin in Him, He would allow Himself to be sacrificed for our sin. God would take His own holiness and place it on His people.
This holiness brings us cleansing. I John 1:7b says that “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” God’s holiness makes His believers holy. Not because we are holy, but because He sees us in the light of holiness through Jesus Christ. Because of that holiness, we can now enter the presence of God, and therefore, we can have hope.
Once you have this hope, then you can find hope in more things. Revelation 21 talks about how believers will experience life in Heaven with no more death, crying, or pain. Because of the hope of eternity with God, we have hope that the sufferings of this life will not just be over, but that they will be fixed completely.
We also have hope between now and then. Sometimes that hope comes through healing of our pain in this life. God does miracles, and He does them often. But even if He doesn’t choose to heal us in this life, He promises us that He will sustain us through those trials. He will “never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).” It’s hope while waiting for the ultimate hope.
Think About It
Where do you need hope in life?
Have you trusted in the hope of God to heal your broken relationship with Him?
Do you have hope through His holiness?
Are you trusting Him that He will sustain you in this life?
Do you have hope that He will make all things right again one day in the next life?