Hope
Christians are people of the future. In other words, our future governs our present life. This is because we have a hope and a future (Prv 23:18; Jer 29:11). While the hopeless cope, Christians live with a better hope (Heb 7:19). J.I. Packer said, “I cope with hope.” Where does our hope come from? How does hope manifest in a Christian’s life? Why is hope necessary? Who or what warrants our hope? Key elements essential for our better hope, include: truth, faith, promise, future, and someone else. We will answer these questions and weave together these elements to hopefully gain more understanding of the hope that is in us.
First, hope is from God. He is called, “God of hope (Rom 15:13).” David confessed, “My hope is from Him (Ps 62:5),” and elsewhere, “You have made me hope (Ps 119:49).” Paul said, it is, “good hope by grace (2 Thess 2:16).” God is the source of hope because He is eternal, omniscient, all-powerful, and because He has made promises. God’s promises are written in the Bible. Paul wrote to the church at Rome, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope (Rom 15:4).” The promises of the Bible are our source of hope, “I will wait on the Lord, and in His word do I hope (Ps 130:5).” This is good news, the hope of the Gospel (Col 1:23).
God is an invisible Spirit; therefore, hope is not seen (Rom 8:24). If we cannot see what we hope for, we must wait patiently for it to manifest (Rom 8:25). What are we waiting for? The fulfillment of the promises made to us by someone else. What hope is there in someone who does not keep his word of promise? The psalmist wrote, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man (Ps 118:8).” Jesus charged the Jews with placing their trust in Moses (Jn 5:45). Jesus is the mediator of a covenant, in which resides God’s promises to His covenant people (Heb 8:6).
Because heaven is the source of hope, we must be very careful to never place our hope in anything originating in this world. We remember how Satan blinds the minds of men, and he is ever the deceiver as the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). The devil’s promises come to nothing. Hope must be based on truth, and there is no truth in our adversary. There is no hope in this world, especially since God has revealed His future plan of destruction for this world (2 Pet 3:10–12).
Second, man is hopeless without God in the world (Eph 2:12). He has been subjected to vanity (Rom 8:20). Job lamented, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to an end without hope (Job 7:6).” Or, “What is the hope of the godless, when his life is cut off, when God requires his life (Job 27:6)?” The people on Paul’s ship to Rome had lost all hope of being saved (Acts 27:20).
Without faith, today, the ungodly have no hope for tomorrow. This is evident in the way they occupy their time in this life. Natural man subjects himself to distraction and then self-medicates because of his despair. Life in this world is a painful precursor for hell. There is trouble in the world. In hell, there is more. The godless grieve death and the death of others without hope (1 Thess 4:13). Who can fault them?
Solomon knew Israel was without hope if they were without Yahweh (1 Chron 29:15). Later, when Israel did lose faith in Yahweh, he sent the prophets to call them back, but they said, “It is hopeless (Jer 18:11–12).” Therefore, God brought them calamity. Unbelief breeds hopelessness. Herod hoped to see a miracle from Jesus (Lk 23:8). He did not get one. The masters of the slave-girl diviner at Philippi hoped to gain more profit (Acts 16:19). Their hope was bankrupted by Paul and Silas purifying her. We are to warn the rich not to place their hope in the uncertainty of riches (1 Tim 6:17). It is not easy for them to hope for anything better than their best life now.
Third, hope in God alone (Is 42:5, 11; 1 Pet 1:21). This is our one hope (Eph 4:4). David said, “My hope is in You (Ps 39:7).” Isaiah prophesied the Gentiles would place their trust in Jesus Christ (Is 43:3; Mt 12:21), in whom we have set our hope (2 Cor 1:10; 1 Tim 4:10), because He is our only hope (1 Tim 1:1).
We should be pitied if our hope in Christ is only for this world (1 Cor 15:19). We have the hope of eternal life, too (Tit 1:2), for Christ is seated in the heavens (Eph 2:6), and therefore, our hope is in heaven (Col 1:5). He will not put us to shame on account of our hope (Ps 119:116).
Christ is also in us, the hope of glory (Col 1:27). This makes us steadfast in hope (1 Thess 1:3). Each Christian dons armor for spiritual battle, and the hope of salvation is a helmet for his head (1 Thess 5:8). Hope guards the mind of Christ and protects our thoughts from the lies of the enemy. Like the women of old, who submitted themselves to their husbands, we wait in hope for Christ to come (1 Pet 3:5).
Fourth, hope is necessary. Christians have the hope of His calling (Eph 1:18). He has caused us to be born against to a living hope (1 Pet 1:3). Despite our trouble in the world, patience and experience are leading us to hope (Rom 5:3–5). Abraham hoped against hope (Rom 4:18). He was looking for a better country, a heavenly one. He believed in the One who promised it to him (Heb 11:6).
People with hope are people of prayer (1 Tim 5:5), who take hold of the hope set before them (Heb 6:18). God shows His faithfulness to see us through diverse tribulations. We are to “abound in hope” (Rom 15:13), especially ministers of God Word, who plow, plant, and thresh in hope (1 Cor 9:10). Paul was hoping to abound along with the Corinthians (2 Cor 10:15). Because of our hope in Christ, we speak boldly (2 Cor 3:12), and the confession of our hope is an encouragement to strengthen others in their hope (Heb 10:23). Thus, hope is shared. It will be fulfilled for all believers at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 2:19). His second advent is called, “the blessed hope” (Tit 2:13).
Our hope in Christ is to the praise of His glory (Eph 1:12). We must have confidence in Him and boast in our hope until the end (Heb 3:6). We do this in full assurance because He is faithful and true (Heb 6:11; 10:23; Rev 19:11). Hope is an anchor held fast in the holiest place of heaven, which stabilizes the soul and makes us steadfast and immoveable (Heb 6:19). Christians, who live in hope, purify themselves in preparation for the coming of the bride groom (1 Jn 3:13).
Fifth, there are certain aspects of God in which we hope. There is lovingkindness and redemption with Him, who is our hope (Ps 130:7). Love hopes all things (1 Cor 13:7). If we do not have love, we do not have hope. Faith, hope, and love abide together in Spirit-filled believers. Joy is a product from the hope given to us by God. The hope of the righteous makes them glad (Prv 10:28). We rejoice in hope (Rom 5:2; 12:12). As heirs of God, we have much to look forward to (Tit 3:7).
Paul held the hope of the resurrection (Acts 23:6), which will be the fulfillment of our hope of righteousness (Gal 5:5). All of these mean we have fixed our hope completely on the grace of God that will fulfill all things at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:13). The psalmist said, “I hope for Your salvation (Ps 119:166).” This is my account of the hope within me (1 Pet 3:15), and this is His and my encouragement to you, “O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore (Ps 131:3).” Hope, this helps.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 16, 2021
