“who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
and gave Him glory
“Gave Him glory” means the Father raised and ascended Jesus to heaven (John 17:5; Hebrews 1:3). “Glory” is the essential characteristic of the risen Jesus (Acts 3:13; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Romans 6:4).
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [the God of the resurrection], the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go,” (Acts 13:13).
“Glory” here is the exaltation of the Lord Jesus (Acts 5:31; Ephesians 1:18-23). God, the Father, seats the humanity of Christ at His right hand.
so that your faith and hope are in God
“Faith” and “hope” closely braid together so we can orient ourselves to God. “Faith” is resting on God’s promises. Christians who know God’s essence (what He is like) rest in His plan (decree). “Hope” is the exercise of appropriating the things of eternity into time.
“Faith” has to do with coping with life in time; “hope” deals with bringing the blessings of eternity into our experience. God manages every aspect of our lives. He demonstrates His faithfulness in time by bringing His glorious plan of redemption to us. He shows His faithfulness by providing resources for the Christian life.
“Faith” allows us to appropriate the promises to our experience. As we claim God’s promises to us, He empowers us to meet whatever may challenge our faith.
“Hope” is a synonym for faith. However, there is a difference. “Hope” carries the idea of confidence in God’s promises. Our English word does not nearly convey the concept of the Greek language, which brings the idea of confidence attending with something in the future. God gives us confidence in the future.
God made good His promise to us by sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins. God is utterly faithful to those promises. He proves this through the resurrection of Christ. God’s faithfulness strengthens our faith that He is totally trustworthy.
“In God” — God is the supreme object of our faith. The Bible does not value faith in faith. The object of faith gives quality to faith. Therefore, God does not value the process as much as the objective of one’s faith.
PRINCIPLE:
God gives resources for coping with trials.
APPLICATION:
Many Christians today shipwreck their faith. They throw in the towel. They become disillusioned with God due to some crisis in their lives. Then they fall to the philosophies of the present age.
These Christians float through life like so much flotsam and jetsam. The philosophies of this age toss them back and forth by different waves of conjecture. They watch the floating debris of the shipwreck of other lives, but it makes no impact upon them.
As we watch all this flotsam, we may become discouraged from taking the risk of sailing anymore. We lose heart.
The sea is not a safe place. Trials can discourage us or make us stronger. God’s faithfulness keeps us sailing through the storms until the day when we see him on the distant shore.
