HOPE signifies longing desire, accompanied by confident expectation of gaining the object of desire. The hope of the Christian is the hope of eternal life. There is born in man a desire to live — a desire for long life, eternal life. It was God’s plan, in the beginning, to satisfy this desire. Therefore He made a conditional promise of eternal life. That promise was based upon obedience to God’s command concerning the tree that grew in the midst of the garden. Loyalty to God’s government would keep the way open to the tree of life, and man could continue to eat and live forever. The promise of God, the Creator, who only could bestow the gift of eternal life, was the basis of hope.
NOT WITHDRAWN, NOR HAS IT FAILED
The promise has not failed, nor has it been withdrawn. Man failed to comply with the required conditions; and so far as he was concerned, for the time being, hope was cut off.
Paul, in his salutation to Titus, expressed hope of the fulfillment of the promise of eternal life which God made before the foundation of the world. Note the words: “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” Titus 1:1, 2. Paul was a servant of God. He believed the truth, and that included the promise of God to bestow eternal life.
NOT IN THE OLD COVENANT
Paul did not expect salvation through the old covenant. Man, by transgression, had broken that covenant, and was without hope119until God renewed the promise of life on changed conditions. Paul accepted the conditions. He was also an apostle of Jesus Christ. He had accepted Him as man’s deliverer from the results of transgression.
Paul was in accord with Peter when the latter exclaimed: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope [literally, hope of living] by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3.
Man, by his transgression, lost the life he already had. Any new promise, or covenant, with him, therefore, must include the restoration to him of that life. Through God’s abundant mercy, the divine Son, Jesus Christ, was permitted to take upon Himself a body like man’s, and man’s nature, for the suffering of death, that man might be begotten again to the hope of living by the resurrection.
LIFE ON CONDITION OF LOYALTY
In the beginning, man was made acquainted with the truth that the immortal Creator bestowed life upon His creatures to be perpetuated, but on condition only of loyalty to the government of his Creator. God’s covenant in the beginning to give man eternal life failed because man listened to the voice of the deceiver. But “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
God has not released man from his obligation to render strict obedience to the law of His government. When the Lord delivered the seed of Abraham from Egyptian bondage, He first reminded them of their obligation to obey the law of their Creator and Deliverer. And when, after sixty days, they came in their journeying to Mount Sinai, God repeated with His own voice His law, from the top of the mount. The people were greatly awed by the presence and voice of God. They were impressed with the justice of His demands, and they readily promised obedience on their part. But they failed to realize their own weakness, and therefore did not appeal to the true Source of power, which had been so manifest in their deliverance. Therefore they were soon involved in transgression. Then continued the slaying of beasts and the sprinkling of blood, all of which pointed to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
THE PROMISE OF LIFE IN CHRIST
Notwithstanding their promise, no Israelite was ever saved through the old covenant. The apostle, in his salutation to Timothy, makes mention of the renewed promise of life as follows: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 1:1. Paul could not have occupied the sacred office of an apostle of Jesus Christ except for the renewal to man of the promise of life in Christ at the time of the transgression in the garden. No man has ever had a hope of eternal life since the fall, except according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.
When man came from the hand of God, he was a pure being; and before he can ever appear before God in peace, he must be restored to a state of purity. As we read, “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”
This is accomplished through the Word. The Saviour prayed to the Father for His children, saying, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. Purification must accompany sanctification. Nothing impure is ever sanctified, or set apart for a sacred and holy use. Sin is the transgression of the law. Sin defiles the individual and renders him impure. God sent His word to sinners to reveal a way of escape from past transgressions and deliverance from transgressing; so the apostle writes: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 15:13.
It is, then, God’s purpose that His children should abound in hope, and that hope be “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” Heb. 6:19. But this must come through believing the sure word of promise, coupled with obedience to God’s commands and loyalty to His government. This is the Christian hope of eternal life.