by: Darrell G. Young
Focus on The Bible
Many people are feeling hopeless today. There are many reasons for this sense of hopelessness. The chaos in the world, the anxiety over the economy, and a deep seated sense of foreboding over the perplexity of today’s conflicts.
It seems that even the usually most faithful and optimistic people today are struggling with seeing any reason for being hopeful. Even the ever faithful Job in the OT found himself battling with a personal loss of hope!
Job 17:15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
Even for us as Christians, as we observe the calamitous clouds of trouble on the horizon in these Last Days, we too can lose our sense of a very present hope! Yet, even as evil men wax worse and worse, and the traditional morals about right versus wrong are being reversed in our society, we do well to remember these words from the prophet Jeremiah, who also lived in troubling times.
Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Nonetheless, Most people understand the word hope as being a type of wishful thinking, as in "I hope something will happen." This is not what the Bible means by its usage of the word hope.
1 Peter 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a “lively hope” by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
The Greek term for “hope” in this passage means “an eager, confident expectation.” This hope of the believer is not only “living” but “lively.”
People cannot survive long without hope. Hope keeps us going through painful experiences and fear of what the future may hold. In a fallen world where people face poverty, disease, hunger, injustice, disaster, war, and terrorism, we all need a “lively and living hope.”
No one likes waiting. It feels good to get what we want. But when our expectations are delayed for a long time, we can experience disappointment, disillusionment, and a severe loss of hope. As we eagerly hope for something important, and it keeps being postponed, the longing that we feel in our hopelessness can make our heart sick.
Hope deferred can lead to depression, anxiety, and actual physical sickness. When we wait for a good thing for so long, that desire and expectation can often turn to hopelessness. In situations like this, we can even become spiritually dried up and vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks.
Dashed hopes sickens the heart, and the higher the expectations, the greater the frustration. So much so, that we often blame God for betraying our hopes.
The Bible has quite a lot to say about hope. Biblical hope has as its foundation faith in God. The word hope in English often conveys a doubt in the outcome!
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word batah and its relative use involved the meaning of having confidence, security, and being without concern; therefore, the concept of doubt is not part of this word.
The Biblical concept of hope is a confident expectation or an assurance based upon a sure foundation. That “certainty” of future hopes becoming a reality is grounded upon the word and promises of Almighty God; who of course cannot lie.
So then, the Biblical hope is a reality and not an emotional feeling. Biblical hope carries absolutely no connotations of doubt. Thus Biblical usage of the word hope is built upon a sure foundation upon which we base our lives, believing that God always keeps His promises.
Many people when asked if they think that they will go to heaven when they die; usually respond like this: “I hope so.” That kind of “hope so” response does not infer any foundational certainty about their wishful desires to go to Heaven. It is a vain hope!
In this natural world, when our hopes and desires are fulfilled, we are refreshed. When our prayers are answered, we are immediately encouraged. When we obtain the good things that we desire, we undergo a seeming reviving of genuine hope.
But much too often, when things don’t go our way, when things seem to just never work to our desire, and we desperately try to cling to a sliver of hope, we lose all hope.
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
We are all too often blinded to the fact that our unfulfilled desires and deferred hopes can lead us to rich encounters with our Savior: “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD”. The Lord alone is the true fulfillment of our longings.
Lamentations 3:25-26 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Faith and Hope are distinct from one another and yet they are related. That there is a difference between faith and hope is evident in I Corinthians 3:13 “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Two of the three greatest gifts are faith and hope, listed separately. That faith and hope are related concepts is seen in the old lines from Hebrews 11:1. “Faith is confidence in what we hope for.”
Faith is a complete trust or confidence in something. Faith involves intellectual assent to a set of facts and trust in those facts, and especially to the one faith is expressed in.
And Biblical hope is built on this kind of faith. Hope is the earnest anticipation that comes with believing something good. Hope is a confident expectation that naturally stems from faith. Hope is a peaceful assurance that something that hasn’t happened yet will indeed happen.
Someone has wisely stated that: “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” For Hope to endure and last, it takes a little Faith!
Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25. But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Faith and hope are complementary actors! Faith is grounded in the reality of the past; Hope is looking to the reality of the future. Without faith, there is no Hope, and without Hope there is no true faith.
Christians are people of Faith first and Hope thereafter! We have “the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time”
Christians are people of Faith first and Hope thereafter! We have “the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time”
This type of Faith never leaves one Hopeless! It provided for a Living hope that is anchored in the past; as sure as Jesus rose from the dead. It continues in the present; as sure as Jesus is alive.
And this kind of Hope endures throughout the future; just as surely as Jesus promises concerning eternal Life and resurrection.
This Living Hope also enables us to live without despair as we encounter suffering and trials in this present life: Therefore we do not give up; because we have a Sure Hope! Even though our lives are being destroyed, our inner person can strive on, being supernaturally invigorated day by day, through this Lively Hope we have in Jesus!
Jesus Christ is our Savior, our salvation, and our Living Hope.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in HOPE, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
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