The Gospel is Important: God Gives Us Hope

By: Kevin Jones

“Rats!” No, not the exclamation you make after you’ve left the house and forgotten the much-needed item for the day’s Sunday School or small group lesson. No, I mean rats. The medium-sized rodents of which, in God’s marvelous mind, He made more than 50 species. Dr. Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, performed a significant experiment using rats. Acknowledging the cruelty of this test, it sheds light on something important: the power of hope.

In short, Richter completed several rounds of experiments. He found that rats immersed in water, but saved before being plunged back in, could survive much longer than rats with no hope of rescue. What do rats, humans, and hope have in common? While acknowledging that humans are not rats and vice versa, and that their experiences cannot be equated, the point is simple: Where there is hope, there is perseverance.

The gospel gives us hope; hope that God can make things better. Perhaps your ministry, marriage, or family feels like it’s drowning. In such moments, we can rejoice, for there is hope. We have hope because there is no situation that God can’t fix. The gospel gives us hope because through it, brokenness can be redeemed. So, whatever the situation, place it under the authority of the gospel and hope, and pray that God will redeem it.

The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1:3-4 CSB, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

We hope and pray for change on this side of heaven while not forgetting that our ultimate hope should be placed in Jesus Christ and the resurrection from the dead. Peter emphasizes God’s mercy on our feeble lives and the inheritance that will not perish. We mourn and grieve the things on earth that perish and cannot be restored, just as Jesus did himself in his time on earth. With joy, we can know that this will not be the case in heaven; the gifts of joy and beauty that await us there are imperishable.

We cannot make it in this life without God. He wins battles without lifting a hand. He wins battles by speaking a word. Today, may the word in your heart and mind be Hope. The Bible tells us in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Observe in this passage that God gives hope. There is nothing outside the bounds of His control. He will do what He says He will do: God, the eternal, magnificent, omnipotent, omniscient Father. A quick glance or deep dive into scripture will provide evidence of His record. The gospel gives hope, and we place our hope in the gospel-giving God. Will He—who has given His Son—not give us hope?

The hope of God fills us with joy and peace. He can give joy and peace even if there is no relief from the situation. How can life be a train wreck, and we still think everything is okay? We know the One who can replace, restore, and renew all things. We know the God of the gospel: The God who puts trains back on track towards the predestined eternality promised before the foundation of the earth was set.

We must believe the gospel is the answer. We must take every thought captive and submit them under God. We believe in Him and the hope He offers. We overflow with joy. That is so countercultural, yet it is the truth.

Dr. Tony Evans said, “Hope is not the absence of fear, it is the presence of God.” Call out for God to come near to you today. Call out to God to be close to the little child or teen in your class who is on your mind all week long. Call out to God to be present in the broken marriage, ministry, or family. If you are drowning, God can save. There is hope for the kid, student, or adult who says they hate church. There is hope for the person who loves pleasures more than God. The gospel provides hope for all. Let’s not allow rats to exhibit more hope than we do.

Kevin M. Jones serves as the Dean of the School of Education and Social Work at Cedarville University. He also serves as the Managing Editor for The Gospel Project with Lifeway. He is a lay pastor at St John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio. He began his career as a first-grade teacher and has taught in various K–12 and post-secondary settings. Some of his recent publications are a chapter in, “Growing With One Another: Social and Emotional Learning in Christian Perspectives”, “Jesse Owens: A Life in American History”, and “Perspectives on Family Ministry, Second Edition”. He and his high school sweetheart, Demica, have three children: Kennedi, Kevin Jr, and Karsynn.