As it seems we are beginning to go back to normal life a bit with school opening, we are troubled with worries but filled with hope. 

Hope does not put to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we are still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:5-6). 

How does God communicate this confident hope to our hearts? This sounds like a supernatural work, but it is grounded in historical reality. 

First, note that the confident hope we have because of God’s love is shed in our hearts through the death and resurrection of Christ. This is a real verifiable event. Jesus really did die and he really was raised. Virtually no serious scholar denies that Jesus died. There is simply too much evidence. The only question is that of the resurrection of the crucified Lord. 1 Corinthians 15 points us to the evidence of continued faith (15:1-2); Scriptural evidence (15:3-4); and the appearances of the resurrected Christ (15:5-11). These are real historical events and they crystalize our hope in God and our confession of God’s love for us. 

Second, Paul said we should be confident in God’s love because of the “Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” The Holy Spirit is given to us as a downpayment (Acts 2:38; 5:32; Eph. 1:14; 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19). The Holy Spirit continues to speak to us through the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16). In the words of the Scriptures, God’s love continues to shine through the darkness in the world and in our own hearts. The Spirit said, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). 

Christians, God is pouring his love into our hearts. We should have confidence. We should be joyful. We should look beyond suffering to the joys of Heaven. We should rejoice now, even in trials, because we are saved and God loves us.