I love to tell the story;
\nTis pleasant to repeat
\nWhat seems each time I tell it,
\nMore wonderfully sweet. . . .
\nI love to tell the story;
\nFor those who know it best
\nSeem hungering and thirsting
\nTo hear it like the rest.
\nAnd when, in scenes of glory,
\nI sing the new, new song,
\nTwill be the old, old story,
\nThat I have loved so long.<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u201cI Love to Tell the Story\u201d<\/p>\n
This favorite hymn stylizes the gospel as \u201cthe old, old story.\u201d A message depicted as so \u201cwonderfully sweet\u201d is worth telling again and again.<\/p>\n
What exactly is this gospel story? There are many ways to answer that question. Innumerable books have been written, songs sung, and sermons preached on the subject throughout thousands of years. In short, the gospel is the good news of Jesus, and it is news rooted in hope.<\/p>\n
Hope motivates us to keep supporting that team that never seems to do anything but lose. It urges us on when the gas tank is empty. We hope for something good when we open that wrapped present. More significantly, hope is what we cling to when a loved one is ill or running down the wrong path. A marriage proposal is swimming in hope \u2014 that the man will ask and that the woman will say yes.<\/p>\n
Whatever the circumstances, in matters of hope, our hearts and minds lean forward, yearning for consummation of a desire. In the gospel, our hope finds its deepest desire, its most complete consummation and true soul mate, in our final reunion with our Creator through Jesus Christ. Nothing else will satisfy like being in the presence of God one day, with all creation perfected along with us. Our hope is spurred on toward God in the same way as all the examples above: We hope for what we do not see.<\/p>\n
We have tasted a small measure of the results of hope in this life, and the returns to come are worth the continued investment of hope now.<\/p>\n
We find biblical examples of this truth. The apostle Paul faced the death of his mortal body by execution for the crime of being a Christian. But he leaned forward into what awaited him.<\/p>\n
For\u00a0I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my\u00a0departure has come. I have fought the good fight,\u00a0I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is\u00a0laid up for me\u00a0the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,\u00a0the righteous judge, will award to me on\u00a0that day, and not only to me but also to all\u00a0who have loved his appearing (2\u202fTimothy 4:6-8).<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s hope granted him peace when the same circumstances would cause many to suffer fear. The God he knew, the God he had seen and walked with, waited on the other side of his coming sleep. Paul\u2019s hope was not mere wish but assured fact. His desire was to be with God because he had experienced glimpses of the glory to come throughout his life. He knew the fullness of the kingdom of God awaited, and it was worth all his hope to look to its fulfillment. He may have written these hopeful words from the same prison: \u201cFor to me\u00a0to live is Christ, and to die is gain. . . . My desire is\u00a0to depart and\u00a0be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account\u201d (Philippians 1:21, 23, 24).<\/p>\n
In these intimate passages, Paul shares a heart completely enthralled with the hope of the gospel, desiring to fulfill his longing to spend eternity in God\u2019s presence. His only restraint was to stay and point others toward the same experience of God.<\/p>\n
The same hope that so enamored Paul \u2014 to see God face-to-face and be crowned with righteousness \u2014 was not merely for himself but for \u201call\u00a0<\/em>who have loved his [Jesus\u2019] appearing\u201d (emphasis mine). This hope of the gospel is a promise for all<\/em> who believe it \u2014 all who taste it, all who love the old, old story.<\/p>\n Paul wasn\u2019t the only one who felt this way. Peter had been changed from a hot-headed, foot-in-mouth expert to a refined and thoughtful leader. In glowing terms he wrote to believers of the living hope of the gospel:<\/p>\n Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!\u00a0According to his great mercy,\u00a0he has caused us to be born again to a living hope\u00a0through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to\u00a0an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and\u00a0unfading,\u00a0kept in heaven for you, who by God\u2019s power are being guarded\u00a0through faith for a salvation\u00a0ready to be revealed in the last time (1\u202fPeter 1:3-5).<\/p>\n Peter helps us see that our hope is rooted in the story of Jesus. Our hope is assured because just as Jesus Christ died and rose again, so we will die and rise again (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19; 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14). Peter assures us that the result of our hope is held secure in heaven for us by God himself; it cannot be spoiled. What amazing promises God grants to those who believe and have found this living hope in Him!<\/p>\n The hope of the gospel is one of the most transformational forces in the world. By this hope a headstrong fisherman became the wise Peter. The same force of the gospel took the murderous Saul and transformed him into the apostle Paul.<\/p>\n So many more throughout history have been transformed by this living hope into bearers of the name Christian<\/em>. The hymn \u201cI Love to Tell the Story\u201d traces the thread of hope found in the gospel down through the ages to glory.<\/p>\n That same hope stirs inside our souls today, searching for its source, the only thing that will satisfy our longings: the gospel, that old, old story. Nothing else will do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love to tell the story; Tis pleasant to repeat What seems each time I tell it, More wonderfully sweet. . . . I love to tell the story; For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting To hear it like the rest. And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1570,"featured_media":29280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,2368],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTransformative hope<\/h2>\n