"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;" (Titus 1:2)
Paul's hope was real, substantial and unmovable. The believer's hope, unlike the world's idea of hope, is not an uncertain thing. A child may say, "I hope I get a puppy for Christmas." This type of "hope" is more of a wish. The Christian hope of eternal life is not a wish subject to the whims of people. It does not rest on the rickety framework of life's uncertainty. The Christian's hope has, as its source, the Creator of all things Who finds it impossible to lie. The Bible says, "...with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27) However, the Bible also makes clear that God cannot do anything that is against His holy nature. Since God has promised eternal life to the one who turns to Christ, revocation of that promise is impossible, because lying is impossible for Him with Whom "all things are possible." In explaining God's covenant with Abraham, the book of Hebrews reaffirms this truth about God.
"That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:" (Hebrews 6:18)
This eternal life that I cannot lose in Christ was determined and promised before time began. The Greek word behind world is chronos from which we derive the first part of our English word chronology. Before the world's chronology began, the Godhead had chosen to redeem mankind, knowing that man would fall into sin and hence separation from God. This is Divine love my friends - that God would make me and you, knowing what we would do and providing beforehand a means for our eternal redemption.
When the difficulties come, and weakness seems to be our ever-present companion, we can find encouragement in the fact that we have irrevocable life which has been promised, before the existence of worldly chronology, to the one who places simple faith in the righteousness of God.
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