Hebrews 6:17-20 (ESV)
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, [18] so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. [19] We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Hope – a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. Where there is no hope there is the welcoming of death as the only solution to a difficult problem. Where there is no hope we will have despair and failure and a sense of not even wanting to try.
The athlete who knows that he cannot beat his opponent will become a self fulfilling prophecy. Since he knows he cannot win he will not play as well as his opponent. But listen carefully to sports interviews. As the athlete is questioned about his or his team’s chances against all the odds the response will be that nothing is certain. “If we really manage to control the big star” or the yet to be defeated defence or manage to break free and get that pass down the line. If the opponent has a bad day or takes his eye off the ball. If it rains or snows or gets too hot. There is no end to the scenarios that the one being interviewed can project as helping them to beat even a seemingly unbeatable foe. If those scenarios are not run through the mind then the play will be lethargic and poor and lacking any attempt to win. Why bother? The end is decided anyway.
Hope in Jesus Christ is an anchor for the soul. The Christian is never without hope. We despair when we take our eyes off Him and look around at the situation.
God promises Israel a Messiah. Years go by, centuries go by. Millennia go by and Israel still waits and still hopes. And more than four thousand years after the first promise of a Saviour was made He is born. Hope is realized. Jesus came as promised. He lived and died as promised. He rose as promised. He left as promised.
He has promised to come again and bring in a new order where there will be no more death or pain or suffering or tears. It has been over two thousand years. But the God who was faithful to His first promise and sent Him after four thousand years plus, is the same God who will honour this promise as well.
If we have no hope of it happening then we will abandon God and go our own way. If there is no hope of God keeping His long awaited promise then that is what we should do. But God is faithful. He will keep His promise. He is not bound by our timetable. We have this hope that God will do for His children as He said He would. This keeps us from drifting away from Him. It secures us. It keeps our souls from drifting away from Him. It is an anchor for the soul.
Our security is based upon the truthfulness of the One who gives it. If God cannot be trusted then we have no anchor for the soul. But God is faithful and by two immutable things – the promise of God and the oath He made to Abraham – we have certainty that He will save us. Look nowhere else. Know the promises of God and find great hope.
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