Ephesians 4:4

In Ephesians 4:4, the Apostle Paul wrote that we have “one hope of our calling.” God’s plans for each believer aim towards one ultimate goal, to one final purpose. God never has changed, and never will change His purpose for making man. God was not surprised by the fall of Adam and then suddenly had to think up a ‘Plan B’ for the new situation! No, we can read in Ephesians that we are predestined and chosen before the world was made (see Ephesians 1:11 & 1:4). God has planned one hope or goal for every Christian!

Several scriptures help paint the portrait of what this hope of the Christian is. Colossians 1:27 tells us that it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In Romans 8:29 we are told that we are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His son.” Peter wrote that we are to be “partakers of the divine nature,” 2 Pet. 1:4. The Apostle John was inspired to declare in 1 John 3:2 that “we shall be like Him,” and in Hebrews 2:10 it is also revealed that the Father has purposed to bring “many sons unto glory.” To try to simply state all of this, the hope of the Christian is that Christian us shall grow and transform us to become mature sons of God unto glory!

We need the spirit of revelation to begin to comprehend how great is this hope of glory, that we will be conformed to the image of Christ. Our Christian hope or goal is far greater than just being saved from hell, or going to heaven. Having a successful ministry and being prepared to reign in the millennium are also very wonderful attainments that the Christian can strive for, but we need to see that there is a high call of God that goes far beyond any of these things!

God has not changed His plans for man from when He first said, “Let Us make man in Our image” in Genesis 1:26. It is true that the fall of man has given us each a corrupted adamic human nature. Nevertheless, through Christ’s redemption we can be rescued and changed from “glory to glory” into His image, 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Excerpt taken from Hope of the Christian, Rev. Norman Holmes, © 1998, 2006