One Goal One Hope

There are many different kinds of hope

Eph 1:17-18 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints

Eph4:6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

All these things are good but God has called us to something better- Perfection Hebrew 6:1-4

1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit

God even made an oath concerning the one hope Hebrew 6:18-20

18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

The Great and Only hope worth mentioning  :Colossians 1:27

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The hope of glory means displaying the nature and character of God and this can only be attained once Christ is in our hearts.

As a fallen creation ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.’ That is, we have fallen short of God’s perfect moral character and nature. Our hope then is not in ourselves, but in Christ. In ourselves and our own strength we will continue to fall short of God’s glory. But through dependence upon Christ, because He dwells in us, we can now break free from the bondage to sin and failure. And remember… our response should be ‘thank you!’ Keep it simple! Face each new challenge thanking Him that He has given you His Spirit and that He is adequate!

An example from the life of Moses  

Let’s look at an example of this in the life of Moses, which combines God’s presence, our inadequacy, and the glory of God.

Exodus 33:12-14 Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’  13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

You can imagine the pressure Moses was under can’t you? Here he has to lead the entire nation of Israel through the wilderness and all the while they have moaning and grumblings within the group…not to mention the enemies in the surrounding nations that want to destroy them. So Moses asks the Lord how it is going to happen… Who is going to help? Look at the Lord’s response… ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Oh what a great assurance to the one who walks by faith. Because of the Lord’s presence is with us, we too can have rest! In fact, rest in the midst of difficulty is the great sign of the Lord’s presence.

The witness depends on the Presence!

Exodus 33:15-17 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

Again we see Moses’ reluctance to move unless the Lord is with him. This is not stubbornness. This is reality! This is Moses knowing fully well that he is not up to the task at hand. This is Moses showing his utter dependency upon the Lord. And look at the Lord’s response – ‘I will do the thing you have asked because I am pleased with you.’ God wants to be wanted. He wants His people to take Him into account. When we do that, we will see what the scripture says above… that we will be distinguished from ‘all the other people on the face of the earth.’ And that is the crux of the matter. God has always wanted a people that, because of His presence in their life, display and reflect His glory… a living testimony to those in the world that God is!

Show me the Glory!

Exodus 33 18-20 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

‘Show me your glory’, Moses asks, and God is happy to oblige. But notice that God says that ‘all my goodness’ will pass in front of you. In Exodus 34:6-7 we read of that goodness when it says – ‘And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

– In response to Moses’ request to see God’s glory, God spoke of His character.
‘Compassionate, gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness… yet just and righteous as well.’
 But that is not all because God’s holy character radiates! The ‘shekinah’ glory of God – the manifest radiance of God’s glory was seen (to a limited extend) by Moses. If you want to shine? Then keep your eyes upon Jesus!

The Glory is seen from the Rock!

Exodus 23:21-23 Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

The final point I want to draw to your attention is that Moses could see the glory of God only while he hid in the cleft of the rock. He had to stand on the rock, and be in the rock, to see such glory! The rock of course, is a picture of Jesus. (1 Cor 10:4) We too have the promise of ‘the hope of glory’ but, like Moses, we need to be standing upon, and dwelling in, our rock – the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only as we learn to reckon upon the Lord Jesus and His presence in our lives, that we can expect to see the same character and nature of God displayed in our lives.

Conclusion

Col 1:28-29 ‘We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

We proclaim, admonish, and teach Him! It is all about the Lord Jesus.
 God has no favourites in terms of who He is willing to work through. He is willing to display His energy, His life and His character through your little life as well. We are all different and it will be displayed in different ways but the key, and the challenge for us all is to get our priorities right. Desire to see the character of God manifest in your life. Is ‘show me your glory’ the cry of your heart? Do you thank the Lord for His presence in your life? I hope so. Amen.