Romans 15:13

Friends of God in Christ,

This evening’s short Bible passage is Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Right now, we’d all love to be filled with joy, peace, faith, and hope. It’s important, therefore, to remember where the power to accomplish this resides. We can’t generate these blessings all by ourselves; nor does God expect us to. It’s not a question of our will power. It’s a matter of God’s power graciously working in us. It’s the “God of hope” who fills us “with all joy and pieace in believing.” The same God, “by the power of the Holy Spirit,” enables us, too—like him!—to “abound in hope.”

The first of these blessings is faith (“believing”). Faith is given to us at the moment of our rebirth: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). The gift of faith leads to further blessings. As the God of hope strengthens our faith, we experience a measure of peace, knowing that we are fully reconciled to God in Christ and that this same God is with us and cares for us in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves. We also experience a measure of true joy over the many ways in which God shows his loving kindness to us. To be sure, our peace and joy may waver and we may sometimes feel quite the opposite. This is why Paul’s prayer is that “the God of hope may fill [us] with all joy and peace in believing.” We may feel almost empty at times, but it is the gracious work of the God of hope, over time, to fill us.

As God continues his work of filling us with joy and peace in believing, his Holy Spirit powerfully uses this growth in us to enable us to “abound in hope” as well. The God of hope isn’t blind. He knows how broken the world is, and yet he abounds in a fully justified hope that the world will finally be as he intends it to be: a creation truly filled with perfect and uninterrupted joy and peace. Our fully justified hope, as believers, is that, because of all that God has done for us in Christ, we will share in that joy and peace. In the meantime, we share in God’s good love and his full and unwavering commitment to us in Christ, which is itself a source of joy and peace. This is our faith. This is our hope.

Your brother in Christ,

Max