Held
Captive to Hope
.
“We Christians must be prisoners of
hope, held captive to hope,
never to be held by despair”
Advent
Reflections by Dave Quintana
Hope as an anchor for the
soul
I don’t know how one could
survive without hope. It seems to me
that despair is one of the saddest of
conditions (though I suppose hoping in the
wrong thing might be even worse). Now, I’m not
talking about vain hope – “hope” that in
actual fact is just “wishing,” or “really
wanting” something to be the case. I’m
talking about Christian hope, the hope of
Christ. The hope of Christ coming again, of
God fulfilling his promises, of God’s kingdom
being fully and finally established. I
am talking about placing your trust in a sure
and certain promise – about hope as an “anchor
for your soul” anchoring us to heaven itself
(where Christ our hope has gone ahead and
where he prepares a place for us).
We
Christians must be prisoners of hope, held
captive to hope, never to be held by despair.
We live therefore in confident expectation of
a hope that is imperishable, undefiled and
unfading. May we set our hope more fully on
God and his coming kingdom during this season,
and may this hope be as a weapon in our hand,
fending off any despair or doubt that would
ever array itself against us!
We
have this hope as an anchor for the soul,
firm and secure. It enters the inner
sanctuary behind the curtain, where our
forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our
behalf. He has become a high priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV
The King and his kingdom
We focus during this season on the King
and his kingdom. We know that with Jesus’
invasion of this earth 2000+ years ago that
the kingdom has come – but we also know that
it is also clear that it is not yet present
fully. So we Christians, we believers in this
Jesus who came once and will come again, long
for the full establishment of his reign. And
we long for the day for righteousness to be
established and for wickedness to be cut off.
The King will come in righteousness to judge
and to make war – and that will be a good
thing, a very good thing. In his kingdom he
will reign sovereignly, all will bow before
him, and his will alone will be done. Lord,
let your kingdom come! And let your will be
done – in all the earth and in all my life!
Who
is this King of glory? The LORD
strong and mighty, the LORD
mighty in battle. Lift up your heads,
you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. Who is
he, this King of glory? The LORD
Almighty – he is the King of
glory.
Psalm 24:8-10 NIV
Not made for here
I love the way a Kiwi musician
paraphrased C. S. Lewis, "If I find in myself
desires nothing in this world can satisfy, I can
only conclude that I was not made for here." Do
you ever feel "not quite at home", or "not quite
where you belong"? I hope so! I certainly do.
I've come to believe that this, in fact, is the
proper state for all true Christians—all full
Christians. We were made to dwell eternally in
the presence of God. Through sin, we have
separated ourselves from our God and from his
presence. This life is about turning away from
all that hinders us from being in his presence,
and preparing ourselves to dwell with him
forever in heaven. You see, you and I were not
made for here.
Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy—think about such
things.
Philippians 4:8 NIV
Just
Imagine
And it
goes on. Just imagine a day
when every tear will be wiped from
your eyes-a day when there will be
no more pain, no more crying, no
more death anymore!! All that
is dark will be made light.
All sadness will be turned to
joy. All discouragement and
despair will be transformed into
hope. This is heaven.
This is the place for which we were
created. This is the place
that God has prepared for us from
the beginning. Do you believe
that? This is the place that
God has prepared us for from the
beginning. Everything that is
torn, divided, confused, strayed ...
will be restored, once and for
all. May the Lord use this
season as a winnowing fork in his
hand, separating that which will
pass away from that which will abide
forever. And may our longing
for this glorious day drive us to
live in such a way so as to hasten
its coming.
Then the angel
showed me the river of the water
of life, as clear as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God
and of the Lamb down the middle
of the great street of the city.
On each side of the river stood
the tree of life, bearing twelve
crops of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month. And the
leaves of the tree are for the
healing of the nations. No
longer will there be any curse.
The throne of God and of the
Lamb will be in the city, and
his servants will serve him.
They will see his face, and his
name will be on their foreheads.
There will be no more night.
They will not need the light of
a lamp or the light of the sun,
for the Lord God will then
light. And they will reign
forever and ever. Revelation
22:1-5 NIV
The
Glory that awaits
If our hope and our eyes are truly set
on heaven, on that kingdom which is to come,
then we too can say with Paul that "these
present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that awaits us". As a
friend of mine put to song, "Brief life is
here our portion, brief sorrow, short lived
care." What a great perspective for the
true believer in Jesus to have and to
live. Life here really is short.
Life here really is temporary and passing
away. Life here is "in part" and
"incomplete" and profoundly lacking. It
is filled with pains and sorrows and
sufferings. But I’ve got good news for
you-this is all nothing compared to the glory
that awaits! Do you believe that? Does
that all-important truth invade your daily
existence? Are this life’s pains and
sufferings transformed for you by the glory
that awaits?
I consider
that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be
revealed in us. For the creation waits in
eager expectation for the children of God
to be revealed. For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself will deliberated from its bondage
to decay and brought into the freedom and
glory of the children of God. Romans
8:18-21 NIV
Excerpt
from Daily Meds from the Q Source ©
2012 by Dave Quintana.
Dave Quintana is the presiding
elder of the Servants
of
the Word, a missionary brotherhood of
men living single for the Lord. He currently
lives in Detroit, Michigan, USA
top Image credit: Prince
of Peace painting, cropped, (c) by
Akiane Kramarik
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