Suffering has a way of washing out the road. One moment your feet are set on a path that feels firm and fixed, and the next moment you find yourself in uncharted waters, unsure which way to steer. Trials and afflictions typically take us by surprise, thunderstorms that angrily glower out of what we thought were sunny skies. As sunshine is replaced by darkness, it is easy for our hearts to fall into a state of hopelessness and despair. The first stanza of “The Solid Rock” reminds us where hope is built in the midst of trials.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
The apostle Paul writes of this hope in Romans 5:1-5:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Christ brings us into new relationship with God. Justification by faith brings us peace, access to grace, and hope. Because of our hope of future glory, we are able to bear the hardships of this life. As we consider what it means to build our hope on Jesus’ blood and righteousness, let’s unpack three blessings of justification and then explore how those blessings fill us with hope as we endure suffering.
But before we begin exploring these blessings, let’s answer an important question: What is justification? Wayne Grudem defines it in this way: “An instantaneous legal act of God in which he thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness belonging to us, and declares us to be righteous in his sight.” When we come to faith in Christ, God—the righteous judge—legally declares our sins forgiven and bestows all of Christ’s righteousness upon us. Because he has made us righteous, we now enjoy right standing in his eyes. It is the finished work of Christ Jesus that justifies us, not anything that we could ever hope to accomplish for ourselves. Those who have trusted in Christ can rest assured that their faith has been credited to them as righteousness. Because we have obtained the righteousness of Christ, we experience rich spiritual blessings.
Peace
Christ has made peace between man and God through the completed work of the cross. A few verses down in Romans 5:10, we see that before we came to know Christ we were considered enemies of God, at enmity with him and his ways. Because sin has entered into the world, peace has been broken. Things are no longer as they should be. The right order that this world enjoyed at its inception has been broken by the insidious war brought by the serpent in the garden (Genesis 3). Cornelius Plantinga describes sin as the “vandalism of shalom.” That which was supposed to be beautiful is marred, that which was made to sing in harmony is discordant, that which was intended to live now dies. Peace has been vandalized.
But through Christ we begin to see glimpses of the day when the graffiti that is smeared across the facade of shalom will be removed, when things will once again be restored to what they should be. Christ reconciles us to God. Christ grants us peace with God. Divine wrath has been satisfied through Christ because all of God’s wrath was poured out upon him on the cross. The hostility of God against sin has been removed because of the work of Jesus Christ.
So even when the storms rage and the howl of trials will not cease, yet I have peace with God. I do not experience trials and hardships because God is angry at me or displeased with me. His wrath has been fully and forever satisfied on my behalf through Christ. In its place is peace. And in this knowledge I can find rest for my soul.
Access to Grace
The second blessing of justification is access. Because Christ has made us righteous, we have full access to God the Father. Unlike the Israelites who were separated by a veil and depended on others to offer sacrifices on their behalf, we have obtained an all-access pass to the very throne room of grace (Hebrews 4:16). We are invited into God’s presence and called his children. This access is given to us on the basis of our faith in Christ.
As those who have been brought near, we also have full access to the grace of God that is freely bestowed upon us through Christ. This grace is a place where we can stand. It is firm ground beneath our feet. When all else falls away, the grace of God will rise up to meet you. When all others desert you, the grace of God will rise up to comfort you. When the trials of life swirl around you, the grace of God is bedrock beneath your feet. On this you can stand. Plant your feet firmly upon this grace, for it will never be shaken.
Hope
Those who are justified by faith, who are now at peace, who are given access to God, and who stand in grace have ample cause for a hope that rejoices. We rejoice because we understand the promise of future glory. This life, this place that is vandalized, is not our final destination. This world is not our home. Because we have been made right with God, we understand that he is preparing a place for us (John 14:1-7). We rejoice in hope because the riches of God’s grace have been poured out upon us in Christ now, and we look forward to the final consummation that is to come. We rejoice in the full assurance of hope as we look forward to the day when the earth will be made anew, when all wrongs will be made right, when our faith will become sight, and when we will dwell forever in the city of God (Revelation 21).
Knowledge of Christ’s return and the glory that awaits me should impact the way I live my life today. Elyse Fitzpatrick puts it this way, “We must continue to preach this truth to our hearts: a day will come when because he is so near to us, all our doubt, unbelief, and sin will be burned away by the light of his presence. With that day in view, we can persevere in our struggle on this day.” Today, even in the midst of hardship and trouble, I can rejoice in the hope of future glory. I can rejoice because I recognize that this struggle is temporary and will one day be consumed by the very presence of Christ himself. I can rejoice because the hope of future glory is solid ground beneath my feet.
We Can Rejoice
When our hope is firmly fixed upon Christ and his righteousness, we find the strength to stand firm in the midst of trials. Not only that, but the assurance of our hope allows us to rejoice even in the midst of hardship as our hearts yearn for the glory that is coming. Suffering produces endurance. When we rely on the hope of God in times of trouble, our faith is nourished. The language used here carries the idea of bearing up under a burden. As the pressures of life build around us, we press into God and hold fast to him. We look to him in hope knowing that our suffering is not pointless or wasted. God is forming Christ in us through our suffering. He is teaching us to lay aside the weight that hinders and run hard after Jesus (Hebrews 12:1).
Endurance produces character. God proves and refines his children through suffering. Job speaks of this when he says, “When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10). Character carries the idea of tested value or proven worth. Suffering reveals sin. As the fire of suffering shines light upon our sin, the dross is burned away and the gold of sanctification is produced. Times of suffering will grow our faith in ways that days of plenty could never produce. The lives of those refined by trials bear witness to the power of the gospel. As Christ’s power upholds and sustains us, godly character is formed within us.
Character produces hope. As our hearts grow more and more to look like Christ, we should desire more and more to be with him. Hearts that are refined through the fire of suffering are hearts that look forward to future glory. When all else is consumed, the hope of the life that is to come remains. An eternal weight of glory is yet to come (2 Corinthians 4:17). Suffering trains us to take our eyes off the here and now and fix our hope firmly on the glory that is yet to come.
This is hope that will not put us to shame. Hope in God does not disappoint because God is unchanging. Because we understand that God’s character is firmly fixed, we find a solid place upon which to build our hope. We have hope because we are at peace with God. We have hope because we have access through faith to God’s grace. We have hope because future glory awaits us. This is hope that is build on a solid foundation. This is hope that will not disappoint.
We also have hope because the Holy Spirit is at work within us. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. He has been given to us as our helper and comforter (John 14:15-31). This idea of being “poured into our hearts” speaks of the fact that this supply of love is abundant and never runs out. It bubbles up within our hearts like a fountain, a well that will never run dry. Those who are in Christ can have full assurance and hope knowing that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, empowers us, strengthens us, and provides a never ending source of God’s love.
So praise God today, brothers and sisters. Praise God for bringing you near through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Praise Jesus for giving his life as a ransom for many. Praise the Holy Spirit for being your helper who pours forth the love of God into your heart with an abundance that will never run dry.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- Are you trusting in Christ’s accomplished work? In what ways are you tempted to try to make yourself righteous?
- How have you experienced Christ’s peace in your life?
- What sufferings are you going through right now? How does the hope of future glory change the way you view your suffering?
- What kind of character is being formed in you through suffering? How has suffering shaped your character in the past?
Works Referenced:
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994), p. 1246.
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Eerdmans, 1995), p. 7-27.
Elyse Fitzpatrick, Because He Loves Me (Crossway, 2008), p. 84-85.
