"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (NIV)
This week another episode in the popular Star Wars series is being released in theaters, earning even before the movie is shown over $100M in sales. (I can’t even grasp how much that is.) Movie goers are flocking in droves, not only to see the movie once, but to see it several times. Why? Because they enjoy the characters and want to see what happens next. People want their favorite characters to live on and on and on and on. That was proven with the latest Star Trek sagas which "resurrected" characters that had previously been killed off (and, subsequently, a number of the actors actually dying off). "Let’s keep Star Trek going forever by now introducing it as an alternate reality. Those characters killed off in the original series are now living again, in different adventures."
We are obsessed with living "happily ever after" with the emphasis on living forever. We invent video games where the characters are "killed off" only to resurrect moments later. Cinema embraces stories where characters live on. In the world of fantasy, very few die (and we’re guaranteed that few of the "main" characters will be in that category as their actors, in contract with the producers, will appear like clockwork the following week).
The problem with all this? It’s fantasy, not reality. In reality, people die every day, every week, every month. Death is a reality that only a very few (Enoch?) will escape. So, it’s not whether or not we will die, but what happens when we die that we must face, and hopefully, face it sooner rather than later.
As Christians, we are guaranteed "a living hope . . . for an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade." What does that mean exactly? The Greek word for "hope" is elpis (Strong’s G1680) and means "good, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation." Within this word is also the idea that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the hope. He is the guarantee as well as the creator of the hope. In other words, our expectation isn’t simply an emotion or a wish; it is grounded in the idea that because the Lord Jesus Himself was resurrected from the dead that, as believers, we will absolutely and without doubt follow Him in being also resurrected.
The word "living" is zao (Strong’s G2198) and has a double meaning here. First, this passage could be translated "We have a hope for life" for the word means "to have true life, active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God." It also means "active, powerful, and efficacious." So, the meaning becomes "He has given us new birth into an active, powerful and efficacious, good, joy and confident expectation of eternal salvation which is true life, active, blessed, and endless in the kingdom of God."
In other words, we are guaranteed forever! And this is a guarantee that will never be revoked and is absolutely dependable. We will live forever in heaven with the Lord. We will see and be with our believing loved ones who have gone on before. We will have perfected bodies and an amazing experience that will never end.
Why wouldn’t everyone want this? Because they are deceived.
The Bible talks over and over again about deceit. Those who refuse to accept God’s gracious gift are deceived and continue to be deceived as they continue to turn away from God.
Matthew 22:4: "Take heed that no one deceives you."
Mark 12:24: "Take heed that no one deceives you."
Luke 21:8: "Take heed that you not be deceived."
1 Corinthians 3:18: "Let no one deceive himself."
1 Corinthians 6:9: "Do not be deceived."
1 Corinthians 15:33: "Do not be deceived."
Galatians 6:7: "Do not be deceived."
Ephesians 5:6: "Let no one deceive you with empty words."
Colossians 2:4: "Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words."
2 Thessalonians 2:3: "Let no one deceive you by any means."
We are, as a race, easily deceived. Our senses, our minds, and our emotions fail us and cause us to believe that which isn’t real. (Been to an amusement park lately? They are designed to have us believe that which isn’t real as being real.) Scripture is, as we can see by this list (which isn’t complete), replete with warnings to believers to not be deceived. And we live with the Holy Spirit residing in us! If we can be deceived, how much more easily are those who don’t have the Holy Spirit?
What are we, then, to do?
Paul Billheimer, who wrote Destined for the Throne, is convinced that our only hope is prayer. I agree. The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians:
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." (Ephesians 6:12-18 NIV).
We are to put on the full armor of God and then . . . what? Once we are clothed in the armor, what are we to do? We are to pray! We are to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers! We are to pray that we aren’t deceived, that other believers aren’t deceived, and that those who are lost around us are saved from their deceit through salvation.
We are to pray!
Prayer takes us into the Holy of Holies where the truth of life is the purest, where the deceit of this world can’t exist. Prayer takes us to the Father who is the Father of Truth and who is ready and willing to act on our behalf. Prayer activates the powers of heaven on our behalf and on behalf of those for whom we pray.
We are to pray. Why? Because we have a living hope, the power of the resurrection, which guarantees us eternal life. We are to pray because we have the only hope in this world.
We need to pray if we truly believe this!
© 2015 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.
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