Pastor Bola Bello
[biblegateway passage=”Colossians 1 v 22-26″ display=”Colossians 1 v 22-26″]
The work of reconciliation that Jesus did through his death, burial and resurrection was a very quantum work. The essence of this work is for Jesus to present us holy, unblameable and unreproveable in the sight of the Father. We are urged to continue in the faith and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel that was preached to us.
There is a difference between the hope of the gospel and our individual hopes for the gospel. Our inabilities to separate these two is what frustrates us in our christian walk. The hope is the gospel is simply the expectation and desire of God for the church to come into through the gospel.
A proper understanding of this hope would help us run our christian race well. Unfortunately, we have a lot of people running from mountains to churches in a hope for some other things they assume to be the hope of the gospel.
[biblegateway passage=”Colossians 1:22″ display=”Colossians 1:22″]
Jesus need not to die for us to get a car or become financially blessed. Some of us even think that the hope for the gospel is a mansion in heaven. The hope of the gospel is not materialistic. Jesus explained that these are the thing that Gentiles seek: prosperity, breakthrough etc.
Scriptures urges us to seek first the kingdom of God. That is the ultimate. Our ultimate is to know him and become changed, this is the hope. If we fail to know what the hope is as we gradually grow in the faith, we do not do well.
[biblegateway passage=”Acts 26:6-7″ display=”Acts 26:6-7″]; [biblegateway passage=”Hebrews 11″ display=”Hebrews 11″]
The patriarchal Fathers themselves even had a hope for the promise of God. As pilgrims, they were all looking for a city whose builder and maker is the Lord. In fact, when God declared his blessings on Abraham that through his seed, all men would be blessed, He was actually speaking about Jesus.
In the days of Jesus walk on earth, the Jews did not know the hope of the promise. Even though they were not material conscious as Gentiles are, but yet they had another hope that was different from what the hope Christ brought about. The hope was what the Apostles lived their lives for.
In fact, many people do not even need God to have all these other things that we believers run vigorously after. We could see how that the magicians of Pharaoh could also get the serpent to come out from a rod, they did not need God.
Signs and Wonders is also not the hope of the gospel. The hope of the gospel is the transformation of men. We hope that we will run with an accurate understanding and clear picture of the gospel and its hope for men.