Life Is Hopeful

We have been called to have the life of Jesus manifested through us and in us. As Paul writes: “. . . it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” .

When a person has become a disciple and wants to do good, they will still experience the same as Paul: that evil is present with them. Then the situation can seem hopeless. But in the midst of this, God’s promises stand firm. What God has said in His word, He will also perform. Abraham experienced this when his faith was tested. It is written about him in : “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” And further, in , it says that he was “fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” In the same way, we should also hold fast the confession of our hope. We can even glory in our tribulations, as Paul writes: “. . . we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 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.” . We could ask: How can we know that tribulations produce perseverance? The answer is simple: Because the word of God says so.

By faith in the word of God, we thus follow the exhortation in : “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” What matters, then, is to endure patiently in the tribulations. Because we know that when we suffer in the flesh, we will cease from sin. Even if we do not always understand it or feel it, holding fast to what is good in each situation does produce something. But then we can be like Abraham: he was fully convinced that what God had promised He was also able to perform. God sees to it that the life of Jesus comes forth in us when we patiently fulfill the condition. Therefore, life is hopeful—not because everything always feels easy, but because God’s promises stand firm, and because He is completing the work He has begun in us.

Oliver Schmidt