This post is a summary of ‘nuggets’ from an excellent small book by J.I. Packer entitled: “Weakness is the Way: Life with Christ our Strength,” (c) 2013 by Crossway Publishing.
My interest is certain helpful observations Dr. Packer gives in his Ch 4 on “Hoping,” specifically as to hoping in / during one’s latter / last / final days here in Space-Time.
Below are my notes from Packer’s book. Shown in quotations are his words, or texts from Scripture (the NIV translation). Any typos are mine.
Ch 4: Christ and the Christian’s Hoping
The bible’s Promise
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
• “There comes a point at which the elderly and those who, as we say, are getting on realize that of all the things they wanted to do, they have done all they can, and the rest are now permanently out of reach.”
“What then? “Secular social theory has shown itself unable to answer.”
But the Bible does answer that question:
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
Proverbs 4:18 NIV
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.
Psalm 71:18 NIV
The philosopher Immanuel Kant “observed that the question, what may I hope for? is one of the most important questions one can ever ask, but he did not claim that he could answer it.”
What the Bible gives us, that secular theory cannot is… HOPE.
But such HOPE is not a wish, or dream, or aspiration; nor is it an invention that we ascribe to as a pretend just to make life, especially older life and final days, tolerable. HOPE is not “the weak sense of optimistic whistling in the dark, but in the strong sense of certainty about what is coming because God Himself has promised it.”
“The Bible…speaks directly to [HOPE]…setting before those who are Christ’s a destiny that reaches beyond this world to a kaleidoscope of wonders, enrichments, and delights to which it gives the generic name ‘glory.’ This destiny is big and exciting, and the New Testament writers show that they felt it to be so. As having something big and exciting to look forward to…”
5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”[b] Since we have that same spirit of[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:5 – 5:8 NIV
The word “comfort” as it translates the Greek original word of the NT is something far stronger than we usually ascribe to the translated word used here. It is better understood here as “renewal of strength through encouragement.”
•“God-taught hoping leads to God-given strengthening. When humanly, we are weak, then in the Lord we are strong.
Glory? The Bible has three uses of the word “glory.”
1. Glory designates what God shows, reveals to us, such as His work and presence, through His revealed Word.
2. Glory also is used for the praise that we offer to God in recognition of Who He is, as The One Who is uniquely Praise worthy.
3. Glory also is used to point to “God’s continue transforming work in us,” consisting of the fruit of the Spirit of God: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). “The Spirit imparts in the heart, as a matter of purpose, the desire for and habit of thus realizing the moral profile of Jesus which Christlikeness in the most significant sense fo the word.”
Hope Fulfilled
“…from the moment of our death we shall be at home with our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“While we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” 2 Cor 5:6-8
“All believers should feel that way, for no matter how old or sick we are, thoughts of our future with Jesus will bring fortitude and joy into our hearts. Jesus Himself from His throne, will see to that.”
“Our new body, we may be sure, will match and perfectly express our perfected new heart, that is, our renewed moral and spiritual nature and character. That body will reflect us as we were at our best, rather than as we are physically at the time of leaving this world; indeed, we should expect it to be better than our physical best ever was. The new body will never deteriorate , but will keep its newness for all eternity. It will know no inner tensions between one desire and another each pulling against the other, nor will desire to do something ever outrun energy and ability to do it. Now, when we are in glory, shall we ever lack, or fail to show, love to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to all the brothers and sisters in Christ who are with us there.”
“Look Forward and Look to Christ”
“Christians plan paths of faithfulness to Christ knowing that these involve both apparent and real weakness. And they settle for this on the understanding that journeyings of faithfulness, which please their Lord as of now, lead to final glories.”
“…it is wonderful to know that somewhere in the process of transition out of the body into the next world, Christ Himself will meet us, so that we may expect His face to be the first thing we become aware of in that new order of life into which we will have moved.”