This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.
When outsiders visit a jail or prison, or even a rescue mission, often their initial impression is that this is a gloomy, sad, place. They see the results of what sin does in a life still being lived out on earth. BUT, by contrast, if they see residents that are true believers and followers of Christ, they should be stunned by their overall attitude of joy.
Biblical Christianity produces real, lasting joy - even in the midst of suffering and hardship. That is a reality because true believers have HOPE. This month I want to begin to speak about Christian hope. I think ministers of the gospel should teach this hope to all those who are seeking Christ - even in jails, prisons and rescue missions.
Throughout the Bible, hope always looks forward to the promises of God being fulfilled IN THE FUTURE.
Psalm 43:5 says:
"Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall YET praise Him (note the future tense there) the help of my countenance and my God."
Proverbs 14:23 likewise looks forward when it says in the King James version: "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath HOPE IN HIS DEATH."
Then Jeremiah, who was in the midst of suffering, had this to say in Lam. 3:21-24,
"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’"
When the New Testament speaks about the Christian’s hope it is talking about the sure future awaiting all true believers. As a verb in relationship to believers, hope never means something they wish for - that might not come true. Rather, it means their confident expectation of the fulfillment of the promises of God, who CANNOT lie.
Romans 5:1-5 says:
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and REJOICE IN HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 Now HOPE does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
The Amplified Versions renders the first part of verse 5 this way: "Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us." Furthermore, most of the verses in the New Testament about the believer’s hope refer to one of three things which are really connected to each other. They are:
1. The return of Christ in the clouds in glory - e.g. Titus 2:13, or 1 Peter 1:13.
2. The glorified body that all true believers will have someday - e.g. 1 Thess. 4:13-17 with 1 Cor. 15:50-52.
and
3. To be with God in heaven for the rest of eternity e. g. Rom. 5:2 and 1 Thess. 4:17
There then is a sense in which Christian hope looks to the final stage of salvation that cannot fail to come to pass for the believer in the future. Even though according to verses like John 5:24, a believer HAS ETERNAL LIFE FROM THE MOMENT OF THEIR TRUE FAITH IN CHRIST, there is yet a greater sense of enjoying that eternal life IN THE FUTURE. This is why verses like Titus 1:2 say:
"In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began."
The Apostle Peter meant the same thing when by the Holy Spirit he wrote in 1 Pet.1:3-5 .
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith FOR SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME."
Paul echoed the same thought in Romans 13:11 when he said: "For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed." This is why believers, even though incarcerated, have a joy that cannot be explained naturally. Through the hope given them by God, they KNOW FOR SURE THEY HAVE A BETTER FUTURE.
The same Apostle, speaking for true Christians said: "... I consider (meaning, I have weighed it all together and calculated everything and come to the conclusion) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)
That adequately describes the Christian’s future outlook and hope. Note the certainty in those words - "which SHALL BE revealed in us." That’s in their better future. To help you teach inmates and residents about the Christian’s hope, I want to show you two passages.
I will only deal with the first passage in this Chaplain’s Corner, and then next month, Lord willing, I will unpack the other. So, you can hope to hear more of what God’s word teaches on hope! The first passage is Romans 8:16-25. The context in that chapter of Romans is about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Picking up in verse 16, we read:
16 the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
The Holy Spirit produces results in the lives of those He indwells. So much so that they can objectively point to them and then know for sure they have been brought into God’s family. The idea in verse 16 from the two preceding verses is that they can be assured that God has "ADOPTED" them. That means God has PLACED THEM as sons or daughters into His eternal family. Verse 17 then continues:
17 and if children (meaning children of God), then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
The logic here is inescapable, and wonderful. IF you are a son or a daughter of God, THEN you are also an HEIR of God. An HEIR HAS A FUTURE INHERITANCE to look forward to. True Christians will one day inherit Christ’s inheritance - which is GLORY. Note it at the end of verse 17, and in verse 18.
... if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (with Him).
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
And the point is - IN HOPE, believers should long for the day of their glorification and the reception of their inheritance. To stress that point, God reveals something wonderful to think about in verses 19-22. The earth itself will be delivered from the curse He placed on it - in the future, when the saved enjoy their eternal glorified state.
In this part of our passage, creation, or what is called "nature" today, is given personality. The first century readers would be used to this rhetorical device, especially those with an Old Testament background. Here are a few examples:
Isaiah 55 looks forward prophetically to the time of Messiah’s reign, and says in 55:12,
12 The mountains and the hills SHALL BRAK FORTH INTO SINGING before you, and all the trees of the field SHALL CLAP THEIR HANDS.
Similarly, Isaiah 35:1,2 says:
1 The wilderness and the wasteland SHALL BE GLAD for them, and the desert SHALL REJOICE and blossom as a rose;
2 It shall blossom abundantly AND REJOICE, EVEN WITH JOY AND SINGING.
With that understanding, look at the text in Romans 8:19-22 -
19 For the earnest expectation (ardent desire) of the creation (here a reference to the inanimate earth and the plants and animal life) eagerly waits for the revealing (the unveiling) of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility (this word means that it could not be what it was supposed to be, or it has not been successful), not willingly, but because of Him (God) who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption (due to the curse God brought on it because of mankind’s sin, see Genesis 3:17) into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
From this thought of creation having emotion and hoping for deliverance from its curse the passage turns back to true believers in verses 23-25.
23 Not only that (or, ‘it’ meaning the creation), but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, EVEN WE OURSELVES GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Just like possessing eternal life and true salvation, adoption into God’s family has a FUTURE AND FULLER ASPECT TO IT. Believers are right now God’s adopted children, BUT in the future they’ll look like it - even physically - in their new glorified bodies. This is what 1 John 3:2 is talking about. Note it:
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that WHEN He is revealed, (at His appearing) WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is.
Now our passage in Romans 8 continues in verses 24 and 25:
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
The act of faith includes the idea of hope. Hope is faith that looks forward. Our believing God means we trust Him for the present AND FOR THE FUTURE.
John MacArthur had this to say about verse 24 in his excellent commentary: "HOPE is inseparable from salvation. Our salvation was planned by God in ages past, bestowed in the present, and is now characterized by HOPE for its future completion. ... The believers HOPE is not based on wishful thinking or probability, but on the integrity of the clear promises of the Lord. ... Our HOPE is not that we might not lose our salvation but that, by our Lord’s own guarantee, we CANNOT and WILL NOT lose it."
Teach the believers you are discipling that they need to EAGERLY WAIT and long for their GLORIFIED BODY. That’s Christian hope. Verse 25 teaches believers are to wait for it with PERSEVERANCE.
That means to wait for their glorification with patient longsuffering, with endurance through the tough times here below. Remind them that Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33, "In the world you will* have tribulation; BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD." (* the earliest manuscripts simply read: ‘in the world you have tribulation.’)
May we who truly know and trust Christ, REJOICE in the SURE HOPE He has given each one of us. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Rich Hines
Minister To Chaplains – Aurora Ministries
