5-minute read
A Hope Reserved for You…
When my oldest son, Noah, turned ten years old, he received tickets to see his first professional football game. The game was a few weeks out, but the time leading up to it was almost as memorable as the event itself. When the day finally arrived, Noah could barely sit still during the car ride much less while we waited in line to enter the stadium.
Undergirding all that excitement was his sense of assurance. To a ten-year-old, a few weeks might as well be an eternity. Yet, not once did Noah doubt that he would see the game. Not once did he worry that he wouldn’t be allowed into the stadium. He trusted me when I told him we would go, and he had a ticket in hand that clearly showed there was a specific seat reserved for him. That assurance removed any doubt and let him focus on the excitement that awaited him on game day.
In Colossians 1:5, the Apostle Paul tells his Christian readers that they have a hope reserved1 for them in heaven.
Reflect on that for a moment.
God, the Creator and Sustainer of everything, the One who knows all things, the One who has existed from eternity past and will exist for eternity future, has reserved a hope for you in heaven.
What is that hope?
Let’s start with what it is not. In this passage, hope is not a mere feeling or wish like when we “hope” that our favorite team wins or when we “hope” that we don’t get stuck in traffic. No, the hope that Paul describes is a reality that exists in time and space. It is something—and also someone—that we can point to, cling to, and count on.
Knowledge breeds assurance. If we do not know Jesus, we cannot expect our faith to be deep or our hope to be certain.
While Paul doesn’t specifically define this hope in verse 5, other parts of the letter make it clear that the hope reserved for us in heaven is Jesus Christ himself (1:27) and all the truths and promises proclaimed in the gospel (1:23). These include forgiveness of sins, salvation from the power of Satan, and deliverance into God’s Kingdom (1:13-14) among other glorious victories and rewards that Christ secures for us. Moreover, it is in Jesus that all the promises of God find their “Yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
The hope that we have in Jesus is also an empowering hope. Re-read verses 4 and 5. Paul says that Christians have faith in Jesus Christ and love for other Christians because of the hope reserved for them in heaven. Faith, hope, and love are common themes in Paul’s writings, and they are essential qualities of the Christian life. Here, Paul explains that our hope—namely, Jesus and the gospel—empowers us to have faith and love.
Application: Know the Source of Your Hope
Think of the power of this assurance. Since the source of our hope is Jesus Christ himself, our hope is perfect and infallible. Moreover, our hope is reserved for us in heaven, which means nothing in this world can take it away. Regardless of our circumstances, regardless of our emotional state, our hope is real, unwavering, and eternal. It also propels us to love others, and it is the foundation of our faith.
Why then do we often feel hopeless?
One reason is because we don’t know the object of our hope well enough. Knowledge breeds assurance. If we do not know Jesus, we cannot expect our faith to be deep or our hope to be certain. In his Word, however, God has given us everything we need to know and trust Jesus.
If we want to have the faith in Jesus and the love for others that Paul describes, we must know the source of our hope. That can only come from studying Scripture.
Many resources are available to help you understand the Bible. The first step, however, is to read it and read it regularly. I recommended using a study Bible like the ESV2 or NIV3 versions. They provide concise notes that help you understand challenging passages without disrupting the flow of your reading. For deeper study, you can pick up a commentary on the specific book that you are reading. Tremper Longman’s Old Testament Commentary Survey and D.A. Carson’s New Testament Commentary Survey are excellent resources to help you decide which commentary fits your needs.
Passages like Colossians 1:1-8 are rich with language about the hope we have as Christians. One of the reasons we can rejoice in that hope is because it is sealed by God himself.
When I think back on my son’s tenth birthday, I don’t remember much about the football game. I remember perfectly, however, how excited he was even when the game was weeks away. We’ve all experienced that feeling as we eagerly waited for a day that we knew was coming. Whether it was our wedding day, a big trip, the birth of our child, or some other event, we’ve all felt the excitement that flows from assured anticipation. How much more should we rejoice in anticipation of what our Savior has promised us? And how much more should we rejoice right now because of what he has already done for us?
Questions for Discussion and Further Study
- Re-read Colossians 1:1-8. How do you know that Paul is writing to Christians? What difference does this make?
- What is the relationship between faith, hope, and love in verses 4 and 5?
- Verse 5 says, “…the hope reserved for you in heaven.”
- Who is the subject of the verb “reserved”? In other words, who is doing the reserving? Why is this important, and how does it impact Christians’ assurance?
- Why does the location (i.e. heaven) of our hope matter?
- Re-read verses 5-7. By what means has the gospel spread? What do these verses (especially vv. 6-7) suggest about a Christian’s role in spreading the gospel?
1 Some Bible translations say that the hope is “laid up” or “stored up.” The point is the same: there is a hope that is being kept for them in heaven.
2 You can read the ESV Global Study Bible version for free here.
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