Hope based in hope

Romans 5 starts out, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
[2] By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
[3] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
[4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
[5] And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

“It appears as though Paul does a 180-degree digression when he starts talking about tribulations,” explains Alex Kurz. “We kind of want to stay on the mountaintop here, you know. Paul isn’t just grabbing us by our coattails and sort of yanking us back to some kind of reality check.

“What we’re going to find out is there’s a direct correlation and connection between the hope of the glory of God, that is going to be manifested in and through us, and tribulation. You cannot divorce the two, hence this is a very natural progression of thought and of sound doctrine for our growth and development. So there’s a deliberate focus now on tribulation.

“He says, ‘Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.’ Notice Paul says we glory IN it, not in spite of it! There are natural consequence that you and I face from living in a broken, sin-cursed world; the bondage of corruption that touches each and every one of us.

“Whatever the troubles are, I know how we think and I know what culture teaches. All of the sugar-coated psychological gimmicks: ‘Here’s the problem over there but what I will do over here is maintain this positive outlook in life. I’m just going to dig in, grin and bear it, and I won’t let those problems . . . ’

“It’s almost like were schizophrenic here. We’re going to divorce the problem and we’re just going to have this happy outlook in spite of the problems. That’s not what the verse is saying. We glory IN them. You see the difference?

“The idea of glorying in something . . .  I glory in my wife. I value her, I love her, she’s remarkable in so many ways. She possesses characteristics and attributes and I honor her. The idea of glorying in something means we have this particular point of view that recognizes the worth and the high honor.

“First of all, Paul’s saying we’ve got to KNOW something. This does not come natural. How many of you, when there is a dilemma, tribulation or persecution, naturally see any value in it?”
 

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“Our joy, hope, patience--they’re not found in freedom from trouble; they’re found in the midst of the difficulties,” says Jordan.

“Tribulation works patience. So the tribulation has done its work. It’s taught you that there’s no other place to go but the truth of God’s Word. Patience is something that sustains you; keeps you there.

“Paul doesn’t just tolerate tribulation; he says God takes this tribulation and makes it serve you. First, you’re rejoicing in hope. It’s important to understand what the hope is. The verse is telling you your hope is based in hope. Hope is the rock in which joy is rooted. It’s the soil out of which the rejoicing comes. The ground of our hope and the goal of our hope are all in Christ.”

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 “Many years ago I discovered that when I was in need of a guidance and instruction about what to do in areas of life, I could sit down and read Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 and find specific instructions that were specific to the point and to the issue I was dealing with.

“Romans 12 is always enough. I can’t think of an issue that I’ve faced in my memory that I didn’t find the clear instructions about attitudes and actions that I should take in this specific arena that I didn’t find in Romans 12.

“Romans 12 is Paul’s gathering together of the issue of, ‘Here’s the description of what the impact of God’s grace is designed to look like in the lives of Believers,’ and if you wanted to have a profile of what it is that the ministry of grace is seeking to produce in the lives of people . . . not just in doctrinal statements but what is it supposed to look like, it’s in Romans 12.

“Romans 12:12 (‘Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer’) is really, in a lot of ways, one of those encapsulized statements, right in the middle of a passage, that sort of gathers together a description of the Christian life.

“The details of your service for Christ don’t really begin until you come to Chapter 12. It’s the idea of, ‘Okay, let’s get busy being who we are in the details of life.’

“Verse 12 is in the context of how we relate to other Believers. Verse 9 says, ‘Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.’ In other words, the focus in our relationship with others is going to be on love. Let love be the real thing. Don’t ‘diss’ somebody when it comes to love. Be genuine.

“I John 4 is very clear: ‘If God so loved us we ought to love one another.’ Your love for others HAS to be based upon an understanding of God’s love for you. The reason the world can never love their fellow man . . . you see the world thinks if they can get rid of the differences between people you can get rid of conflicts. Consequently, you have an egalitarian society where everything’s equal. We call it ‘multi-culturalism’ and all that kind of stuff.

“The only way you get rid of conflict is to get rid of sin. The only way you deal with the sin issue is the Cross. The world thinks the Cross is foolishness so they reject the only answer that’s really there.

“That’s why I’ve said to you for years that you can’t abandon the world that you live in. If you want to have some impact and influence in the culture you live in, go out and preach the gospel, the truth of God’s grace, get them saved and then they’ll know and understand how to love people. Otherwise they never will.

“Abhorring evil and cleaving to that which is good is essential to love. Love doesn’t mean you just think everybody and everything’s the same. Love takes divine viewpoint and says, ‘This is good and that’s evil.’ God told Israel, ‘Woe to them that call good evil and evil good.’

“You come to verse 12 and you’ve got this dominant theme now in love just kind of echoing in your mind when you get there. That’s why it’s essential, by the way, that you go back to verse 2 and ‘be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’

“Verse 12, under that banner of love, Paul says, ‘rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.’ So while I’m serving my brother and brethren, while I’m not being slothful in business, my attitude in it is I’m going to be rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation and I’m going to be instant in prayer.

“I’m going to be continually, constantly in prayer, all for the sake of loving others, loving our enemies as we ought. This is how Christ is designed to become visible and more real, and frankly more convincing to those who are about us. His life becomes a tangible reality.”