Introduction

In Ephesians 1:16-18 we are given insight into the prayer life of an apostle. Writing to the church in that region Paul informs them that he was praying for them, but also gives them the content of those prayers:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

So, Paul’s greatest desire for these Christians is that they would know something; or rather, that God would help them to see a truth/greater reality. Particularly that they would know the “hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Another translation puts it this way:

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called.”

 Paul believed it was deeply important for Christians to have a greater understanding of the hope God has given them through Jesus Christ—so important in fact that it was at the center of his prayers.

It is with that same belief that we started a series on the Christian hope titled, “The Weight of Glory” (taken from 2 Cor. 4:17). My desire for our church is the same as Paul’s: that we would have a greater comprehension of our hope as Christians. So far, we’ve seen that this hope grants us daily renewal; that in the midst of the “wasting away” that comes from this life, we can stare death in the face and refuse to blink because of the glory we are promised (If you’re interested you can find these sermons at our website www.dschurchofchrist.com). This allows us to live with confidence and courage as we know that, if we die, we will be with Jesus, and ultimately, he will resurrect us to live with him in a New Heavens and a New Earth (2 Pet. 3:13).

But, is this hope simply for our benefit? Does it not require anything of us other than to passively sit and wait for God to make everything right in the end? Certainly not. Of course, God will put everything right in the end, but he calls us to partner with him in a grand mission to reach others and to share what we have received. Often, we refer to this as evangelism; today we will refer to it as “mission” as we examine how our hope is “A Hope with a Mission.”

This missional aspect of our hope is seen as we continue in 2 Cor. 5:10-11

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

What does this short statement about the judgment teach us about our hope?

A Future, Universal Judgment

In Acts 17:31 Paul spoke to the Athenians in Greece and informed them that God, “Has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.” This “appointed” day is like a gravitational force of, pulling all of creation closer and closer to the righteous judgment of God. This concept of divine judgment was central to the preaching of Jesus and the early church.

“Unless you repent you will all likewise perish”—Luke 13:3, 5

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”—Matt. 10:28

“After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment”—Acts 24:25

“On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”—Col. 3:6

This is a message often unheard of in modern Christianity. In the past, Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” set the tone