In Colossians 1:4 – 5 we read that the Colossian believer’s hope that is laid up in heaven is the foundation for their faith in Christ and their love for the saints. Think about that for a minute.
Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is the assurance of thing hoped for. It requires hope to have faith.
Love, as we see it in the Bible – and this is agape here not one of the others – requires a selfless emptying of ourselves, as modeled by Christ (Philippians 2:5 – 8). There has to be a reason for us to think beyond ourselves, to think and act beyond the satisfaction of our temporal physical needs and pleasure. Christ again is our model here, in Hebrews 12:2 we find He endured because of the joy set before Him. Not something that was here, now, but in the future.
We are essentially a self centered folk. We operate to get the best advantage for us. Christ calls us to something different. Based on what He has accomplished through His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we are to look past this life, where we are now, and like Him, pour our lives out for and into others, so that as we have been drawn to Him through the faithful pursuit of those who poured out their lives for and into us, so others may be drawn to Him as well.
That is the hope and promise of this week. He is betrayed tonight, crucified tomorrow, but risen Sunday.
Love, as we see it in the Bible – and this is agape here not one of the others – requires a selfless emptying of ourselves, as modeled by Christ (Philippians 2:5 – 8). There has to be a reason for us to think beyond ourselves, to think and act beyond the satisfaction of our temporal physical needs and pleasure. Christ again is our model here, in Hebrews 12:2 we find He endured because of the joy set before Him. Not something that was here, now, but in the future.
We are essentially a self centered folk. We operate to get the best advantage for us. Christ calls us to something different. Based on what He has accomplished through His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we are to look past this life, where we are now, and like Him, pour our lives out for and into others, so that as we have been drawn to Him through the faithful pursuit of those who poured out their lives for and into us, so others may be drawn to Him as well.
That is the hope and promise of this week. He is betrayed tonight, crucified tomorrow, but risen Sunday.
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