Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– John Calvin
God’s Promises
Our hope is only as strong as the Person we have hope in and that is Jesus Christ and that is enough. The Apostle Peter wrote that it is by “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2nd Pet 1:3-4). God cannot break His promises. Believe them and then lean upon them.
Our Salvation
The Apostle John never spoke about our being the children of God in a future sense. In fact, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, there are almost 70 “knows” as in 1st John 3:2 where he writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” so John says we can know, right now, and that our hope in Him is the constancy of our faith in Him.
Nothing but Hope
If all you have is hope, you have all you need because as the Apostle Paul wrote that it is, “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom 5:2) “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5).
Conclusion
John Calvin is exactly right by saying that “hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith” and that hope of ours is in God’s precious promises, our salvation, and our hope in a future glory where we can’t even imagine how glorious that will be (Rom 8:18).
