In our world today hope to many people is wishful thinking and eager anticipation that good things can come about through the positive affairs of man. To many hope, however, is dwindling as our world continues to become more dangerous. And instead, despair is increasing at an alarming rate and many are concerned for the welfare of the next generation.
And when it comes to life after death, the average person on the street hopes that when they die they will go to heaven, even though they don’t really know if heaven exists.
But for the Christian hope is not based on wishful thinking but in the ironclad certainty that Jesus is watching over all of His children and is working out every circumstance for good. In addition, the Christian has absolute certainty that when they die they will spend eternity in heaven because of what Jesus promised in the Word of God – the Bible.
And when your hope is based on Jesus and what He did at Calvary, we can place our trust on the only one in this universe that is perfectly trustworthy – Jesus!
May the following four quotes give you an idea what real hope is all about. Take time to read these quotes slowly and know that Christian hope and absolute certainty are two sides of the same coin.
“Our hope is a certainty based on the truths that God is in complete control of our universe and that He loves us.”1 – Rick Warren
“Our world today desperately hungers for hope, and yet uncounted people have almost given up. There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus!”2 – Billy Graham
“My hope does not rest in the affairs of this world. It rests in Christ who is coming again.”3 – Billy Graham
“Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate.”4 – G. K. Chesterton
1 700 QUOTES BY RICK WARREN [PAGE – 14] | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
2 Inspirational Quotes on Hope (bibleportal.com)
“the Christian has absolute certainty that when they die they will spend eternity in heaven”
There is a famous book entitled “Heaven Misplaced.” The premise of this book is that we have dismissed the believer’s true eternal home when we allude to “eternity in heaven.” You see, the Scriptures are clear on this point when we read such passages as
Isaiah 65:17:
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”
The counterpart being in
Revelation 21:1:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.”
We “inherit the earth” Matt. 5:5.
“I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Rev. 21
“But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.” II Peter 3:13
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” Rev. 11:15. In the world.
“The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Creation is waiting to be “set free from bondage” just like us. He will make all things new in our eternal home.
Here’s our future earth, “ The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11
“The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Ps. 37:29
This is the verse the Lord referred to in The Sermon on the Mount.
“And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Dan. 7:27
“Under the whole heaven,” this is the new earth.
We’re told even kings and nations will bring their glory into the new earth. It will be a transformed place where we can live out a covenant existence of dominion, subduing the earth yet without sin, God’s original plan.