Colossians 1:5
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.
This is a portion of the apostle Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving for the Colossian believers. He was thankful to God for the hope that was laid up for them in heaven. He was assured of their hope of heaven because it was evidenced by their faith in Christ Jesus and love to all saints (v. 4).
They were once sinners, “without Christ” and “having no hope”, as Paul highlighted to the Ephesians in Ephesians 2:12. Oh, what a great act of grace it is that God has given hopeless sinners a well-founded hope through faith in Christ! Their hearts were once filled with many a false hope that led them astray into misery and meaningless pursuits in life. But now in Christ, their lives are directed towards a blessed hope that is laid up in heaven for them. Christian hope is not some sort of wishful thinking. It is a blessed assurance, a confident anticipation, and a patient waiting for the fulfilment of God’s promises guaranteed by Christ.
How marvellous it is that every Christian’s hope is associated with heaven! He is no more a hell-bound sinner, but a heavenward saint of Christ! Concerning the Christian’s hope, the apostle assuredly says that it is “laid up for you in heaven”. No earthly calamity or attack would destroy the hope of Christians. There is no cause for anxiety about the certainty of our hope. It is laid up in heaven, “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20), as our Saviour has said. No process of decay will cause the Christians’ hope to become stale or corrupt. In the apostle Peter’s language, the Christians’ hope is a “lively hope” and it is “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3, 4).
The hope in Christ is extraordinary, for it gives us eternal and unparalleled prospects, such as triumph over every enemy (even Satan); perfection that will cause us to be like Christ; full freedom from sin, sorrow and death; perfect rest from earthly labour; joy beyond compare; everlasting fellowship with Christ; eternal rewards; etc.
Such a glorious hope is not an invention of any human mind. It is, as Paul said, that which “ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel”. It is revealed by God in His Word and received through the hearing of the God-ordained Gospel of Christ, even the truth of His Word.