The Hope of the Righteous

Call To Prayer

Title: The Hope of the Righteous

By: Daniel Peter

Date: May 6, 2024

 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God.”  Job 19:25-26 (NKJV)

In Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he mentioned three virtues that will last forever: Faith, Hope, and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Many things have been said about faith, and in recent times, we have seen the rise of the faith movement, which has been a blessing to the Church.

Again, the importance of love cannot be overemphasized: mentioned as the greatest by Apostle Paul himself (1 Corinthians 13:13), the love revolution is the greatest impact of the Christian faith in society. Now, despite the obvious importance of faith and love, hope has a crucial role in our walk with God, as the life of faith and love exhibited by a Christian is a direct result of the hope we have.

Apostle Paul called God the God of hope (Romans 15:13), For His promises encourages us to believe in a better future. Apart from specific promises, there is a great hope that purifies – the second coming of Jesus (1 John 3:2-3).

Saints who have lived righteous and pure lives since the fall of Adam had this hope in them. For example, Enoch, who walked with God (Genesis 5:22-26), announced that the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone… (Jude 1:14-15), inferring the second coming of Jesus Christ. Abraham, who attained perfection (Genesis 17:1), looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10), which is new Jerusalem, descending from above at the renewal of things (Revelation 21:2).

Furthermore, Job, who feared God more than all in his generation and was described as perfect by God (Job 1:8), mentioned in the midst of his trial, “…He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26 NKJV), indicating that he had the great hope (the second coming of Christ, when the dead will resurrect).

Finally, Hezekiah expected the Lord’s coming at his time on earth, for when the prophecy of his death came, he exclaimed, “I will not again see the LORD himself in the land of the living” (Isaiah 38:11). From the above, we can see that many people whose lives pleased the Lord in scripture had a common hope – the coming of the Lord. This is the hope of the righteous; the hope that purifies.

Prayer Point

Let us thank God for His word today. Let’s ask Him to help us not to lose the hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ.