"helmet of hope" ~Helmet of Salvation~

copyrighted by Art4Him Studios 2024

"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."  1 Thessalonians 5:8

 As we continue to look at the different pieces of armor not only used by a soldier but also for us who wear God's armor, we come to the helmet of Salvation. Soldiers wear a helmet during conflict to protect their heads from harm. As Christians, we need to protect our minds from the attack of the enemy, the devil. He likes to fill our minds with LIES to keep our minds off Christ and onto ourselves.
When we get saved, we are to put on the mind of Christ. He equips us with His thinking, plans, concepts, truths and revelations. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 it says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."  We are to bring every thought captive before Christ and His Word.
We are also reminded in Scripture of how we are to think. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are TRUE, whatsoever things are HONEST, whatsoever things are JUST, whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are LOVELY, whatsoever things are of GOOD REPORT; if there be any VIRTUE, and if there be any PRAISE, think of these things."  Whenever the enemy tells his lies, if we have put on the helmet of Salvation, daily, we will think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report, virtuous and praise worthy. This doesn't mean that we get saved every time we put on the helmet of Salvation, but what it does mean is that as a child of God, when we put that helmet on, we are choosing to put on the mind of Christ, which is those qualities mentioned in Philippians 4:8.
As I started to work on this painting, the couple the LORD had laid on my heart to paint and incorporate this theme, were great examples of what the LORD was showing me. I wanted to paint them "real", not in fancy clothes going to church but who they truly are. They both are new believers and each have a servant's heart for the LORD.
The woman works in the medical field so I painted her in her red scrubs with the red representing salvation through Christ's blood, and the man in a green shirt representing each of us growing in Christ. How do we grow in Christ? Well, by reading God's Word daily, praying, going to church and telling others about Him. To represent going to church, I painted the background as if it  was a stain glass window with the seal above their heads signifying salvation with the cross and the crown signifying the final "helmet" we as His children will receive one day, when we are with Him for eternity.
In the crown are different colored jewels. Each color represents something important in the Christian walk. Red represents Christ's blood that was shed for our sins, yellow represents Heaven, white represents the fact that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, blue represents the baptism of the Holy Spirit when we are saved and green represents growing daily in Him.
Just as the light shining down on this couple, represents Christ being the LIGHT; we are to continue to let His light shine through us. Each day, when we put on that helmet of salvation, we are actually putting on our "Helmet of HOPE", because it is through Christ that we have HOPE!