250. Hope Laid Up in Heaven
Colossians 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.
God promises a hope laid up for you in heaven; you heard it in the gospel. It is the word of the truth of the gospel that speaks this promise to you. When you hear this gospel truth it is a hope laid up for you in heaven. Hearing the Gospel receives the sure hope by faith In the Gospel. The Holy Spirit comes along with that Gospel word as a lively thing and works faith in the heart of the hearer.
Many promises are contained in the gospel word: one of them is hope. This hope is something wonderful that you have, but you do not see it yet. If you could see heaven you would not need hope because you would be there. Instead of seeing the reality of heaven by sight, we see the reality of heaven by faith; that is hope. Faith is the substance of things not seen. Hope is the present reality of a future experience. We are not there yet but we have hope now. And that is a substantial reality of what is not yet seen. It is evidence.
Every time we hear and remember and apply the Gospel a little bit more of heaven opens up; faith sees what glories await us. It is that hope that keeps us alive with eager anticipation and joyful with expectation of great blessings. God gives us many promises that we cannot see because they are in the invisible realm, but they are just as real; faith sees and makes the promise real and present. The promise of heaven is that a glorious reality and wonderful life awaits us, and it is guaranteed for us. Heaven is true and real, even more real than that which we see, but it is only revealed to the eyes of faith through the gospel. The present reality of what we do not yet see is called hope. Hope makes it real; hope is an anchor for the soul; hope is the guarantee of more to come; hope is the evidence of the real thing; hope knows what is coming. For now, God says, “Here’s this. Here is Eternal Life.”
Hope does not spring eternal; hope is eternal. Finally One Day, we will not need Hope any longer for we will experience the thing hoped for. Until then we have the gospel, which gives us the hope and the promise.