The Christians to whom New Testament letters were addressed lived in a discouraging, frustrating, confusing world. That first century Mediterranean world was controlled and dominated by the Roman Empire. Under Roman control there were many improvements: a more unified Mediterranean world under a dominating legal code; better roads; better trade; improved suppression of pirates and thieves; more freedom and security in travel; etc.
Yet, it also was an existence that produced despair for many. Those in power positions often inflicted injustice on the powerless. Roman citizenship with its rights and advantages was withheld from many. Slavery openly existed (for some a stepping stone to opportunity; for others an oppressive degradation ending in death). For many, poverty produced a horrible existence with little opportunity for escape.
All this occurred in a world that was much more religious than today's America. That age abounded with gods who had an obvious presence in every level of life. There were primary relationships between government and gods, the economy and gods, daily life and gods, and even personal pleasure and gods.
Commonly (though not with every god) the gods were viewed as indifferent superhuman beings more prone to cause hurt than extend assistance. Followers had to gain the gods' favor and keep them happy. The gods' actions often were determined by human situations at the moment, not by eternal values expressed in moral behavior. The gods were fickle--knowing "why they smile on us" or "why they do not hear us" was unknowable and unpredictable.
One result of this view of the god's self-centered preoccupation was human despair. Some saw no source of help in the gods. Some in fear felt compelled to keep the gods happy to reduce troubles. Some faced life with the resignation of "what will happen, will happen." Many found life an existence without hope.
The living God Who raised Jesus from the dead had distinguishing marks. Included in the characteristics that distinguished God from the gods were His motives in Jesus' resurrection. (1) In that resurrection He kept a promise made centuries earlier. (2) Since physical death was humanity's ever-present enemy, He resurrected Jesus to provide people hope. Being God the Promise Keeper who extended hope placed God in genuine contrast to the gods. To see the contrast, read Acts 17:22-31.
To grasp the hope that sustains the "called out" and reflects God in their lives, Christians must include some basic understandings in their self-definition as God's people. (1) Evil perverted God's "very good" creation (see Genesis 1:31 and 3:8-19). (2) This perversion prevented the creation from achieving God's intent (see Romans 8:18-25). (3) The hope Jesus' resurrection provides to responsive believers will become full reality in God's home/world, not this physical world. [Understanding # 3 seriously impacts the Christian's purposes in this life.]
So much emphasis is given this hope that not every relevant scripture can be considered in one lesson. So fundamental is this hope to the existence of the "called out" that Paul used it to defend himself when charged by Israel in the Roman court system. Consider Acts 26:6-8. (1) Paul declared he was on trial because of the hope God gave Israel's ancestors. (2) That hope was the reason the twelve tribes of Israel served God. (3) The people who existed in that hope accused him of defying the hope. (4) God verified that hope in a resurrection. It was impossible to understand the Christian Paul as a person or his actions if this hope was not understood.
Consider Romans 4:16-25. (1) Access to God's promise is achieved by having Abraham's faith [not through ancestry or some special dispensation from God]. (2) Access to God's promise is based on God's grace [His goodness!], not human worthiness or achievements. (3) Abraham is the Christian's model of hope because he trusted God when God's promise seemed impossible. (4) Abraham's faith was expressed in maintaining hope! (5) For our sake, God credited Abraham as being a righteous person so that we would find the hope of faith in Jesus' resurrection just as Abraham found the hope of faith in Isaac's promised birth. The same hope that sustained Abraham sustains the Christian as he/she trusts God!
Consider Romans 5:1,2. (1) Confidence in God's promise seen in Jesus' resurrection justifies the Christian. (2) God's justification enables the Christian to be at peace with God because he/she is in Christ. (3) Justification and peace allow the Christian to stand in God's grace. (4) The result: the Christian experiences a sense of exultation in God's glory because he/she exists in hope of the eternal. He/she praises God!
Consider Romans 15:4. Scripture was written to encourage us to persevere in a sense of encouragement that enables us to live in hope. In a real sense, our hope to exist in God's presence verifies Scripture's purpose.
Consider Romans 15:13. This is the impact of eternal hope on physical existence: it fills the Christian with joy and peace through the expectation of living with God. The power that makes that hope possible in this hostile world is supplied by God's Spirit.
The impact of this hope on physical existence takes many forms. (1) Steadfastness (Colossians 1:23; I Thessalonians 1:2,3); (2) a refusal to grieve as the hopeless (1 Thessalonians 4:13); (3) salvation's helmet (1 Thessalonians 5:8); (4) the soul's anchor (Hebrews 6:18, 19); and (5) an explainable reason for enduring when circumstances are horrible (1 Peter 3:15) are some impacts. Note the frequency that hope is mentioned in numerous letters. This verifies it to be an obvious quality of life in the "called out." Why can we exist in a hope deprived world as a people of hope? The resurrected Jesus the Christ makes that possible (Colossians 1:27; 1 Timothy 1:1)!
This must be clearly understood by Christians: physical life can never achieve the ultimate form of existence. God's sovereignty cannot be fully restored in this physical world. We can allow God's sovereignty to be restored in our lives. However, our desire to be a part of a world that willingly surrenders to God's sovereignty will be realized in His world, not this world.
If we are to represent God as a people who are "called out" of a rebellious, evil world as a kingdom of people who belong exclusively to God, we must be a people whose lives are characterized by genuine hope. This hope is genuine expectation, not "pie-in-the-sky" wishing.
Thought Questions:
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Lesson 6