Greetings!
Of what does our Christian hope consist? What do we understand it to be and to do? How can we share it with others?
John Calvin wrote:
Hope is nothing else than the expectation of those things which faith has believed to have been truly promised by God. Thus, faith believes God to be true, hope awaits the time when his truth shall be manifested; faith believes that he is our Father; hope anticipates that he will ever show himself to be a Father toward us; faith believes that eternal life has been given to us, hope anticipates that it will some time be revealed; faith is the foundation upon which hope rests, hope nourishes and sustains faith.
[Institutes of the Christian Religion (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), Book III, Chap. 2, sect. 42, p. 590]
So let us thankfully expect God's promises to be fulfilled, let us gladly await the manifestation of his truth, let us gratefully anticipate his eternal Fatherliness, and let us joyfully anticipate our eternal life. Thus are we made alive and even brave to face today.
For further reading, see:
Topic 1. The Christian Hope in Eternal Life
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 Grace and Peace,
Dr. James C. Goodloe IV, Executive
Director
Foundation for Reformed Theology
4103 Monument Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23230
Better Preaching, Teaching, and Pastoral Care
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