Hope

Once we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved (Rom. 10:9).  God then pours parts of His character into us, love, grace, and hope.  Hope will be the focus of this discussion.

Because hope, as a word, is used so frequently it has lost some of its meeting.  Therefore, a basic definition is in order.  Hope can be simply defined as assurance of expectation, meaning that one who is hopeful is sure of the current situation and is expecting a future end.  A cancer patient who is hopeful recognizes their current state of disease with an expectation that the future will find him/her cancer free.

In reference to Christ, hope refers to an unflappable confidence not only in a present state of salvation but more so in the future state of redemption.   In other words, we are saved, being saved, and will ultimately be saved.  There are many verses that discuss hope and its role in the life of believers.  Paul talks about hope in nearly all of his writings (Rom. 5:1-5; Eph. 1:18-19; Col. 1:4-5, 27; Tit. 2:13).  That being said, the first place to look for the importance and gravity of hope is Hebrews 6.

For the writer of Hebrews, hope is not a nice Christian word, but it is full of theological import dealing with the certainty of God's fulfillment of His promises.  This is the major point of hope: we have certainty that God has and will fulfill His promises.  Because hope's source is found in God's character of fulfillment, our hope is secure.

For Paul, hope is a certain attitude and a particular wisdom that Christians are striving towards.  In this sense, hope is not only something that is given, it is also made complete by the transformation of character that is directed by the Word of God and achieved by the work of the Holy Spirit.  Simply put, hope is now and to be.

There is a distinct usage of hope.  Hope is that character trait to be relied upon when doubt creeps and when life throws challenge.  It is hope and its source that is to be our strength because it is God who watches over those who hope in Him (Psa. 38:15, 43:5, 71:5).  Our hope is sure not as a result of any strength held within a person but is kept secure by the Lord Himself.  Hope is then most accurately to be seen as our utter reliance on the Lord.  The most accurate understanding of hope is worship.  Because hope is trusting in the Lord, His faithfulness and His steadfast character, hope is ultimately praise.  Praise God and hope in Him.