Q2. The Christian Hope

[Pastor Ralph]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

[pickledilly]

I can honestly attest to the fact that my faith in Christ has empowered me with hope because I believe in and expect the power and goodness of God to be active in my life on my behalf. That hope, that assured expectation, gives me confidence and strength to face disappointments, hurts, failures, and fears because I try to continually remember that this imperfect life isn't all there is!! (Hallelujah and Amen!) While these kinds of things certainly can/do knock me down at times, that hope always helps me refocus, regroup, and get back up to go on. He will complete His good work in me. (Phil.1:6) I want all that Christ desires for me!

Knowing how much the precious hope born of faith has seen me through, I feel so sorry for people who have a meager, vague, spineless kind of hope. So often they get negative and pessimistic, expecting the worst instead of God's best. There's no overcoming power, no "Victory In Jesus"! They just settle in to endure failure. Defeat becomes a comfort zone. Loss becomes the norm. They have narrow tunnel vision that can't see past the next problem or crisis. They're saved, but they don't move forward in kingdom living, and the work of the kingdom suffers for it.

I can't improve on Paul's comprehensive plea. I should pray that believers without strong hope would have the eyes of their hearts enlightened so that they may experience a confident expectation of all that God has called them to. May they get dissatisfied with the lack of joy, peace, and power in their lives and be ready for the light to come on!

[RonS]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living?

For me hope is the assurance of things I can

[Nancy Decker]

The hope we have in Christ Jesus through the Word of God reveals to us how GREAT IS OUR HOPE IN HIM. We cannot lose, if we continue in our faith in OBEDIENCE to His commands....in LOVE. The fulfillment of our Hope in Him may not be here on earth, but while I am here, I am encouraged to persevere and grow in faith and KNOWLEDGE OF WHO HE IS IN MY LIFE. I yearn to know HIm as I am known by Him, and to have that great Agape Love for Him as He reveals it to me and I am able to capture its essence in this life...in our relationship together. That oneness of His presence is coveted, for it creates inside me a hunger and thirsting for MORE OF HIM.

Since my words may not be accepted by others, all I know to do is to let the love of God shine through my own life, in hopes they will SEE HIM AND WANT WHAT I HAVE. The JOY OF MY SALVATION is wonderful inside me, and I pray it is seen by others also, for without it, I would be like those who do not have His Joy...and though they have belief, somehow have not visualized the greatness of their deliverance from sin's grip upon their hearts. As to praying for these, I believe only God can disperse the smoke from their eyes and plugs in their ears, and pray for Him to deliver them from their own deceptive hearts and understanding and to enlighten them with Himself. I do pray for God's protection also from evil influences and lies from Satan to distract them from searching for His TRUTH.. for the Truth will set them free from their lack of hope or trust or joy....and bring them His love into their hearts.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living?

MY CHRISTIAN HOPE HAS CHANGED MY WAY OF LIVING BY GIVING IT PURPOSE. IT IS THE DRIVING FORCE TO WHICH I DO EVERYTHING.

What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope?

THE RESULT OF A CHRISTIAN WHO ONLY HAS A MINUTE OF HOPE IS DOOM. A LIFE WITHOUT SUBSTANCE. WITH OUT A DEFINED PURPOSE. SORROW AND DESPAIR.

How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

JUST AS PAUL PRAYS FOR HOPE IN OTHERS. PRAY FOR AN ACTIVE FAITH WITHIN BELEIVERS. PRAY FOR HOPE IN THE COMING DAYS THAT WE HAVE WITH JESUS CHRIST, FOR SUBSTANCE, FOR PURPOSE, FOR JOY AND ENLIGHTMENT.

[Lorraine Wright]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

I was lost in a world of depression and despair. Hope allowed the person who was insde me to come back to life. There is now happiness were theire was none. There is joy where there was sadness. There are resources where before I had none. My God, my Father has given this to me - this precious gift.

Without hope there is not much to cling to. No reason to hold on. But you become alive with Christ.

[ekila]

How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? I was living in a world with no sense of direction, hope has led me to find purpose and a sense of direction, responsibility towards family and those around. Appreciate the loved ones.

What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? They panic when sittuations arise. And also arent sure of what to do in times of sittuations.

How would you pray for hope to be borne in others? Lord given to them that hope, peace and love within you so that you children may find peace and purpose in life.

Thank you Lord. Amen

[sunilbernard]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

Christian Hope is the best a person can have. If a person doesn't have hope, then there is no use living. If he lives for the present only without any inkling of what there is in the future for him, there is no purpose in living. I have changed for the better. I know there is lot to be accomplished while living now. I know that my future is very well taken care of. I know there is a crown waiting for me at the end of my life here and I know what lies there for my next 'future'. What a wonderful hope.

Christians without this hope are the ' living dead'. People who don't expect much accomplish nothing. Thier life is a sham, humbug, a caricature for the real one. They scrape through their skin of their teeth, so to speak. What a hopeless life !! Instead living like prince and princesses, they live like paupers, living on the crumbs that fall from the Kings table. What a miserable life. In fact they should be the most pitied people.

Praying that thier spiritual eyes may be opened and that would see and experience the riches and glory of Christ right here so that they will have the hope of better than this to come. Praying that their spiritual ambience will broaden to take a peek of the vision of the Glory of Jesus that they will be sharing in future with Him.

[June]

That I may have power through God Whom strengthens me. My hope is in the Lord! I'm looking forward to seeing Him face to face on that Glorious Day and all earthly things will pass away. I'm watching and praying for that day.. Hallelujah!!!

Without hope the everyday living is very drab and joyless. They have very little faith and have the "why me" attitude. Life without the expectation of Jesus coming back to earth to rule & reign is a very dull life and they have nothing to look forward to.

That just as the song says the the eyes of their hearts will be opened and they will accept Jesus and all of His Fullness. That they will allow the Holy Spirit to work in them and through them.

[Roberta]

Q2 How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be bore in others?

It turned my life from ashes to beauty! They live a life of depair, and no hope. I would pray that the Lord will open the eyes of one's heart to see the world we live in turn from ashes to beauty. We need to be praying for a broken and fallen world all around us, in the lives of those around us no matter where they are from.

[MannyVelarde]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

WOW - have I changed - - my wife teasingly asks who I am because I am so different from the man she first knew. We have a whole new way of looking at things once we have the hope of our Savior in us. THere is nothing I fear, nothing I cannot do, and a love that I have never experienced since I came to faith. God has brought me from darkness into His marvelous light - - I can only be humble and shine that light to others for His kingdom.

If Christians have only a meager hope - then are they really believers. If they knew the God I know then they would have abundant hope.

I would pray for humbleness for others to see God at His fullest - - for them to be more in the Word - to find out the greatness of God

[Alicea]

How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

I have much more joy and peace in my life. For one with meager or minute hope the opposite is true, there is listlessness, apathy and sadness in their life. That they receive a revealtion of the magnitude of the love of Christ for each and every one of us.

[lee trainor]

My christian hope is not as strong as it should be. I did change some of the ways that I live, and I believe that is the Holy Spirit changing our hearts, but I still struggle everyday with making more changes. It is not easy to make changes in our lives, even if we know that it is the best thing for us to do. All we can do is spend time with our father and ask him for his help with what we are struggling with.

I ask God to break the bond or bonds that is holding that person or people down. I also ask him to give that individual a yearning to want something better for themselves.

[Elder9]

I've become more "expectant" of God and His manifold blessings. At first, all teaching was that you really shouldn't expect anything from God, then I find that God expects me to expect great things from Him. My "hope" shot through the roof. I'm here now and need now things for daily living. And I've not taken a vow of poverty. If what I've asked God for today doesn't arrive, hope says there's always tomorrow.

Downcast, hopeless, listless (lifeless) et al. If there's no hope of a tomorrow, why live today. Since God holds my future (Jer. 29:11) He's promised me that its a good one. I still continue to look beyond the hill's from whence cometh my help.

I guess I'd have to take a page out of the Apostle's book. By asking God to please open their eyes. I'm reminded of the Prophet who asked God to open his servants eyes that he might see, that they were surrounded by the help that they needed. What Christians always need, is always there, we just can't see it without hope. So I'd start by asking too, for revelatory insight.

[winevine03]

I am so looking forward to that day, except, for my lost family members. I need Jesus to wait until their future is secure too. But I am joyful and feel so loved, and special. I just want them to be too. My hope has changed everything about my living. I have a future beyond what I can imagine. I am very blessed.

I think we lose sight of Jesus, and the world captures us back for a minute until we realize that we have lost our hope, and quickly get back on the path. It's like the shadows, if you step out of the light just a step, you are in the shadows; not completely dark, although you can see the dark.

I pray that God will bind the darkness that surrounds someone, and opens their eyes to experience true love, and the realization of what they are really in need of. If they understand that they need Jesus, and then are able to feel the real love He has to offer, that will give them hope, especially if they've never been truly loved before.

[lindaparadise]

How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living?

i'm not as angry any more. most things don't seem to be as important as before (minimal). anything that's important for me to live will be provided and so i don't streee over it as i use to. i get along better with some that i didn't before.

What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope?

you get what you put out. min for min.

How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

i pray by asking GOD if he sees it in thier future to give them salavation.

[revking88]

Recently I found myself as being one with "no hope" and was ready to call it quits. Hopelessness is probably the worst feeling that one could ever have. I was reminded by a dear friend that God still loves me even though I was ready to kill myself and that she and her mother were praying for me to find hope. I suddenly found myself remembering scriptures and cried to God to give me hope in my lost world. He opened my eyes to see that my task is not finished and that my hope lies in Him. He reminded me to believe in the work He is doing in and through me and to not let go of the hope He has given me. I go on everyday, with the faith and hope that God will use me in whatever manner He see's fit so that I may be a good witness for others and help bring hope to them also.

I believe that they can lose hope altogether. I also believe that with intercession, someone standing in the gap, they can come to have great hope in all things.

I would pour my heart out to God for them. I know how hopelessness feels and I would stand in the gap for as long as it takes to help them get through and find hope in something.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

[Helenmm]

My Christian Hope has given me a way of living that has meaning and truth to it. I am not floundering around in a dark and lonely world where relationships are thin and scarce, but relationships in God's house are loving, forgiving and truthful. I am valued as a person and encouraged. Jesus loves me and will never leave me or abandon me. His blood was not too dear a price to pay for me and nothing is too much for me to give to Him. This is a world where love reigns in the present. Even if there were no Heaven to look forward to it would be worth giving all to Jesus to live in Truth. But there is Heaven to place my treasures in, and life is more abundant than I could ever dream. There is purpose to my life, and that is to take others with me to that Holy place. There is revelation by the grace of the Holy Spirit which gives life to every day. My joy is rich - the joy of the Lord is my strength in very truth!What more can I possibly ask than to serve Him as He has served me.

If Christians are ignorant of all the possibilities of living life with Jesus, and live without that hope, in that ignorance, then faith will not blossom and fuitfulness will be lost. Joy will not be measured, and they will not affect people around them for the Gospel. No -one wants a message without hope.

This is my lifetime's work - to pray that the Living Hope may be born in others. There is nothing of greater importance on the face of this earth than that people should rejoice in the hope which is in Christ Jesus. Wealth, success, friends, travel, nothing can replace the Living Hope we have in Jesus. No-one can teach us the wisdom that He does. There is no Truth outside of Him. No-one and nothing can satisfy as does the body and blood of Jesus taken in holiness and faith, in spirit and in truth.

[godsanointed523]

My christian hope is that i have complete trust and obedience towards God all the days of my life. It is knowing that i have the light in my life and that i can able better to express that light in others.To know that im not lost but iam found in christ who substains me. It changed me from the inside out and i have this greater belief

[Candygoo58]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living?

It give me something to look forward to. Without hope in Christ we have no hope. It gives me a new way to think about things.

What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope?

They have nothing to look forward to. I would not want to be without Christ. They see things from the negative side. Where we look to Jesus for our hope.

How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

I would pray for them to be saved. And to learn to trust him. If we don't trust him we have no hope.

[TennLady01]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living?

It changed the way I look at the world the way I think about life and the way I trust in the Lord Jesus to meet all of my needs. It has removed the fear of death and let me see that it is only a step over for me to be with Jesus.

What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope?

They have a negative attitude toward all things in their lives. There is no reason to go on living in this world and there is no hope for the one that is too come. This is so sad it makes you want to tell them they have so much to look forward too and they should not feel sorry for themselves but to look up for their redemption draws closer each day.

How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

We must pray daily that they will open the eyes of their hearts and minds to let the truth come in. The meaning of loving the Lord Jesus and his love for them. Hope is what keeps us going and what makes us grow in faith and love. We must stand in the gap for those that do not have this hope praying they will find it and live in it. Jesus told us to love one another as he loves us so our love will reach out to them and lift them up if we just keep praying and telling the truth to them. God is so good and his love and mercy is what we depend upon. Lord Jesus we praise you and thank you for hope and love.

[Katzen]

My Christian "hope" has kept me alive...literally! Not too long ago, I was suicidal. Now I have hope and excitement for the future. I would pray for others, by praying that they feel God's comforting hand in the midst of the storms in their lives.

[linda bass]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living? What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope? How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

My Christian "hope" has changed my way of living by making me realize that no matter what trials or tribulation I am currently going thru, God is in control.

Christian who have only a minute or meager hope have no really expectation that God will answer their prayers.

For hope to be borne in others, I would pray that they would look to the Lord.

[alisicia]

Ephesians 2

"Objects of Paul's Ministry."

Ephesians 2:1 "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"

"Quickened" means "made alive spiritually". Any time someone is in this flesh body, and without Christ, they will sin. That is the way of the world.

Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"

"Ye" are all those not called, and predestined in that first earth age, discussed in Verses 1:4, 13. The "world" is this "Cosmos" or world age; and the "prince of the power of the air" is Satan. The "Children of disobedience" are not only the Kenites [the offspring of Satan through their father "Cain"], but all those who hate or deny Christ. However, "children" used in the Greek text here is "Hebraism", not disobedient children, but "physical sons of Satan". It is also in an adoptive sense, those who allow Satan to parent them, and do the work of Satan.

These "sons of disobedience" are the same persons as the tares of Matthew 13, that Jesus spoke about. In fact Jesus stated that if you don't understand the parable of the sower and the tares, you will not understand any of His parables. That means, by Jesus' explanation, that after that good seed was sown, in the night [secret] the evil one [satan] came and sowed his seed also. Both the good seed and the bad seed looked about the same, and grew up together; However, at harvest time, the tares were poisonous and had to be separated.

Then in Matthew 13:35-41 Jesus explains to His disciples this parable. The good seed were placed in the field [world] by God. These seed are people. Satan [who is the devil or evil one] planted the tares, or evil seed through Eve, and the final product of that union [sexual] was "Cain". The "Kenites" are the physical offspring of Cain. This is identified in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary #7014, and #7017. Thus Paul's reference to them in Ephesians 2:2 as the "Children of disobedience".

This second verse is talking about walking in the world with these sons of Cain, the Kenites, and allowing them to lead you. They control the perversions, lies, and deceit controlling through this evil "spirit" of Satan [the prince of the power of the air.]

Ephesians 2:3 "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

Here Paul points out that all, even Paul was born in the flesh, and converted out of it. When you are in the flesh, your drives, your mind, and even your nature was to fill all the desires and drives of the flesh. Paul is saying, your nature was even as the "Kenites", the offspring of Satan; until the Holy Spirit touched you and opened your mind, and you were incapable of understanding spiritual matters. Then the Holy Spirit replaced your evil drives with righteousness. Your work for God is essential to fulfill the acts of righteousness for God.

Ephesians 2:4 "But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,"

We can understand a parents love for their children and grandchildren; However, God's love is far beyond the human mind. A love so great that our Father, allowed His Son to be degraded to the fleshly form; then to suffer the insult and pain, as well as the degradation, and die. He did all this just so you and I would have that choice to choose Jesus Christ, and receive the gift, absolutely free that our eternal Father offers to each of us.

If you can start to understand that love, then you will have a glimpse of the mercy He is showing to you and I. This is a personal thing, for in the eternity, you will either be part of God's plan, and have accepted God's mercy; or friend, you just will not exist in any form, not even in the memory of your loved ones.

Ephesians 2:5 "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"

God's great love and mercy so loved us, even when we were dead to His true Spirit; God still loved us. When He had no reason to, or we had any value to Him, He still loved His own so much that He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ to "quicken us", and make us alive and give our soul a new eternal life. This is exactly how a parent reaches out to his son [daughter], regardless how troubled the child is, or even when that child knows right from wrong.

Why? Because that parent loves and corrects his child in the ways he knows are right. Our Heavenly Father reaches out also in like manner to His children, because His love is constant towards us.

Ephesians 2:6 "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"

At your conversion, Christ had already prepared the way so that when Jesus Christ went to the right hand of the Father, you were given the connection right to the throne of God. Our connection is through the working of the Holy Spirit of God working in and through each of God's children. That, my friend, is clout in the highest place.

Remember back in verse 1:18 where it said; When you believe in Christ, He will give you the understanding of the hope [salvation] that we have in Christ. You become part of Jesus Christ's inheritance, given by the Father, when you become an active part of God's plan of salvation.

Ephesians 2:7 "That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus:"

This is to say; "in the world age to come"; in the millennium age and on into eternity ; the Heavenly Father is going to give His children riches far beyond your mind could ever imagine.

Friend, this love, riches, and kindness you are in fact going to receive, is going to happen only because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you, and I. Have you thanked Him for that grace. Grace is God's riches at Christ's expense. It's a gift.

Our purpose is to worship and love God the creator; the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

Grace is the source, and faith is the means by which we obtain the grace of God. It is through our faith that we believe. Faith is the action that causes us to do what we do, and comes by our acting on our belief. That action we take, because of our belief, is sustained by our confidence in God, that when we do what we are asked to do, He will fulfill His promises to us.

Faith needs a focal point to activate, and Jesus Christ and the Word of God is that focal point. With God's promises, and teachings in our mind, we have the firm foundation to act upon. Faith is not stagnate, it is action. We do not act blindly, but our actions are based on a solid foundation: the Word of God.

The "confidence" we have has no hesitation, for because of God's commitment to us, through His Word, we in turn have that same sure commitment to our "faith" in God. That faith in God then takes us to God's "grace", His unmerited favor, and forgiveness to each of us. Even though we fall short.

Ephesians 2:9 "Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Many people take this verse and say "works will not save you". That is true. It is God's grace that brings about salvation. By yourself, you simply are not able to do anything to earn God's salvation from sin, and it's penalty.

This Ephesians 2 stresses, as Christians, we are fellow servants, and workers in Christ, and that our works will not save us, salvation just doesn't come that way. It is God that gives us all that we have, such as the gift of teaching, or as prayer warriors, or singing, or even laboring and planting seeds of God's word in the minds of others. Even being helpful with the "kind attitude" and a smile to lift others, is a gift. What ever that gift might be, we can't take credit for it, for all the credit and glory goes to the Father, and to His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you don't belief that, why would you spend any time in His work, or even call yourself a Christian. For, to you, your faith would be in a dead man. So any works you perform are all part of God's overall plan, and what ever gifts and works you do must fit into that plan. You do the works because you are saved, and not to be saved. Get it? Then in performing those works, God rewards His children for being faithful.

As we do our work, it is the Holy Spirit that directs and develops our working gifts that they can be used effectively.

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

There are those who say; "grace is all I need". The warning to us, is to stay clear of them. Their "faith" is dead, as there is no action in their belief, and definitely no confidence in the work or words of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is not pleased with "lazy Christians". He doesn't have much use for their unfruitfulness.

"Workmanship" means God's "handiwork". God made each of us for a purpose, and that purpose is to do good works. This isn't something that happened overnight, but God "before ordained", before you were even conceived, God had plans for your good works to be used in His overall plan.

Ephesians 2:11 "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;"

In the time prior to Christ's death on the cross, there was no hope for the uncircumcised. Those of the circumcision were those of the "whole house of Israel", all the tribes or offspring of Jacob. When Christ died on the cross, the veil at the "holy of holies" in the Temple was rent [split] in two, and all peoples and races in the world, Jew and Gentile alike were offered God's gift of salvation. The door is open to you today.

The other side of this is the fact that many of the Israelites, scattered in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians, were lost, and didn't even know they were Israel, with the promises God gave to Abraham. Now, thousands of years later, their offspring are just as lost as their forefathers. The only trace these ten tribes have of their past is the fact they call themselves "Caucasians", after the event of escaping captivity through the Caucasus mountains, and migrating to the west under many different names. Today these offspring of Israel even call themselves "Gentile", and they attribute the name Caucasian to be a race, instead of the recording of an event.

Ephesians 2:12 "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."

Until Jesus Christ died on the cross, that is exactly how we were. That was the purpose of Christ's death, He went immediately to those who were prisoners in the grave, who had no hope, or any way to free themselves. There He preached the same message of salvation to them that we now have today, and salvation was made available all the way back to Noah.

Ephesians 2:13 "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

If anyone should love Jesus Christ, it would be the Gentiles in the flesh. Now through the blood of Jesus Christ we can all enter into that heavenly place.

Ephesians 2:14 "For he is our peace, Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;"

The partition in the old Temple separated the Israelites [Jews] from the Gentile. At Christ's death on the cross, the earth shook, and the vial in the Temple was split in two, as recorded in Matthew 27:51. All barriers came down that blocked any person from approaching God through His Son, Jesus Christ. That wall of separation, separated the outer court from the inner court, and a Gentile could not walk past that wall. God's approach was through the holy of Holies, in the inner court, and the forgiveness of sins was only possible through the blood sacrifices offered there.

When Jesus shed His blood, all the blood sacrifices ended. Jesus Christ was the only sacrifice necessary to cover all sin, both then and now. Jesus is now the Temple, and when we are in Christ we become part of that body of Christ, or Temple.

Ephesians 2:15 "Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace;"

In other words; there is only one temple, one family, one way through Jesus Christ. If you think it means "the law doesn't matter anymore", your wrong. The key to the understanding of this verse is stated," contained in ordinances". There is a difference between "the law", and "ordinances within the law".

This verse is directed to the ordinances of "blood sacrifice", also called "the daily sacrifices" that are within the law. These blood sacrifices are not required anymore. ever, because Jesus Christ's blood sacrificed on the cross satisfied completely that part of the law, before our Heavenly Father. Jesus was, and is the perfect sacrifice. See Hebrews 10.

Ephesians 2:16 "And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:"

All that believe and follow Christ now have this access to their creator.

Ephesians 2:17 "And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh."

Jesus preached His message to all flesh, Israelite and Gentile alike. Paul's ministry was directed wholly to the Gentile nations, and the lost "House of Israel", not the Jews [Acts 9:15].

Ephesians 2:18 "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."

This "one Spirit" is the "Holy Spirit", through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:19 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;"

Because of Jesus Christ's shed blood, we are fellow citizens in Christ's kingdom, His body, with all the other saints.

Ephesians 2:20 "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone;"

The Apostles are those of the New Testament; while the Prophets were the teachers in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the foundation, and the "fit Temple" for all of God's children who seek after Him, in any age.

The "Chief corner stone" is the stone which all dimensions of the entire structure are measured to, and now in the Temple of God, Christ is that "chief corner stone". When we partition to the Father now, we must ask in the name of Jesus Christ, for there is none other.

Ephesians 2:21 "In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord:"

In both the Old and New Testament Christ is named the center of the structure, the cap-stone of the Temple. The Temple of today is in two parts; one is false, and one is true. The "false temple" will be built shortly in Jerusalem, and it will be from that temple that Satan will rule as the Antichrist, over his world religious system. The way many Christians are taught today, when the Antichrist sits there they will actually believe and worship him as Jesus Christ. However, the Antichrist is a fake and a counterfeit.

When Jesus Christ came out of the tomb, He became our "True Temple", and His word is that Temple "fitly framed together". You need no other Temple than Jesus Christ, and in the Millennium age another Temple will be constructed from where Christ will rule and teach the world.

If your part of Christ's Temple in this flesh age, then your work, salvation, and very mind will fit into the Temple of Christ, through your study, and following His Word.

Ephesians 2:22 "In Whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

This building is a spiritual building, or Temple; and as we fit into the Christ's Temple, we also become part of another habitation; that being of the plan of God the Father. It is through God's Spirit that we are led to the positions and work we are to fulfill.

How well do you fit with the Word of God?

[LisaZ]

Q2. (1:18) How has your Christian "hope" changed your way of living?

It has given me purpose and a sense of belonging. I know I can turn to God at anytime and He is there for me.

What is the result of Christians with only a meager or minute hope?

They do not live in the full victory available to them through Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross. They do not live in freedom, they often live in fear and discouragement.

How would you pray for hope to be borne in others?

Paul's prayer is inspired by the Holy Spirit and praying that prayer for others, for them to be enlightened and to know the fulness of their inheritance would result in hope being borne in others.