“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound (overflow) in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I don’t know how many hundreds of times I have read this verse throughout my years of Bible reading and Bible study, but today it really caught my attention. It is loaded with gospel truth. Paul had just dealt with the inclusion of the Gentiles as the people of God, which had been prophesied in the Old Testament. This verse serves as a kind of doxology on that truth. The hope of God is for Jews and gentiles alike. Through Jesus Christ the world is literally overflowing with hope. Paul, then, gives the substance of this overflowing hope. I’m going to begin at the bottom of the verse to point out the reason that we have this hope. Paul wrote that it was “through the power of the Holy Spirit.” In John’s gospel, the promise of the Holy Spirit was given, and at the end of the gospels and at the first of Acts we see the fulfillment of that promise. We have this great hope in the Lord because of the Holy Spirit that God has given to believers. The Holy Spirit who convicted us, confirmed us and entered into our lives brought this great overflowing hope into our lives. (Remember that hope as used in the New Testament does not mean “maybe so” as we use it today, it means that through the Holy Spirit we have certain hope.) The hope that we are given overflows with joy: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy…” In John 15:11, Jesus said, “My joy I give you that your joy might be full.” Jesus gives us His joy through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we will always be happy, but it does mean that we will have the Joy of Christ no matter what is occuring our lives. It is up to us to claim this joy when we are going through difficult times. The Bible nowhere promises God’s people that their lives will be trouble free. All you have to do is read about all of the Bible’s prominent characters and see the troubles that they went through – all the way from Moses to Paul. But all believers have an overflowing hope that brings Christ’s joy into their lives. The hope that we are given overflows with peace: “Now the God of hope fill you with…peace in believing.” Just as Jesus promised us His joy, He also promised us His peace in John 16:33: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world…” Hundreds, maybe thousands, of books have been written advising people how they can find peace. Jesus promised us overflowing peace. The Holy Spirit brings peace into our lives. Like it is with joy, this promise of peace does not mean that we will not have anything negative happen in our lives to unsettle our peace. After all, Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble.” He offers us overflowing peace in spite of the troubles that we meet with in life. I personally know this, for I have had to claim this peace many times. The hope of overflowing hope with joy and peace comes about by believing: “Now the God hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing…” “Believing” is an important word in the New Testament. The promise given throughout the New Testament is that we can have salvation through believing in Jesus Christ. This means more than believing about, or just believing Jesus. To believe in Jesus means to give your life to Him. Believe in Jesus and claim the overflowing hope, joy and peace that we can have only in Christ. If you have it today, claim it!!! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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