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Encouragement to Hope

Expectation of His Aid

7 O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8 And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.

Oh Church! Hope in the LORD! He is kind and loving. Redemption is in Him, and He will redeem His Church from ALL its iniquities!

The Father of mercies is a merciful God to His Church! He is all-wise and all-powerful, and His will He has declared. That unopposable will is to redeem His people. "He possesses in the richest measure the willingness, the power, and the wisdom, which are needed to procure redemption." (Delitzch) The Redeemer that God chose is all-sufficient. In His merit and grace, there is a fullness that requires no additional merit or grace on our part. What He has bought for us can require no additional payments on our part. Jesus paid it all. Our hope is built on nothing less!

Isa 43:25

Mt 1:21
And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.

Tit 2:13-14
[Christ Jesus] who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Conclusion

God promised, and what He promised, He fulfilled. What no man could do for Himself, God did for him. For His own glory, He has moved to save us. By His own power, He has saved us. It is accomplished. It cannot be undone. He has done it. What God has joined, let no man put asunder! For no man can. But He has saved us with for a purpose: that we might be zealous for good deeds.

He has prepared those good deeds in advance for us to do, and He has prepared us to do those good deeds. Have we learned to take His forgiveness for granted? I think we can find the answer in looking at how we respond to those deeds He has called us to do. How do we respond to the honor of having been called by Him to fulfill a purpose? How do we respond to being chosen to work for our God and Savior? Are we honored, or are we bothered? Do we rejoice to do His will, or do we complain about the inconvenience? Do we seek out ways to serve Him, or do we seek out ways to satisfy ourselves? The answers to all these are related.

But, I find our hope remains a thing to hold to as securely as we would hold to a life preserver, for that's what it is for us; a life preserver. Look again at those verses: He will not even remember our sins. No! In His Son, He has already saved us from our sins. He saved us from EVERY lawless deed. Not just those we committed before we met Him. Every one of them. From now until we meet Him, and find our perfection in Him! That's a promise! That is life and breath to we who know and believe!

Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the vale.
His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

(William B. Bradbury)