The Foundation Of Our “Hope In God.”
“Hope In God.” Three little words but packed.., they are personal, powerful and with perspective.
The word “Hope,” is powerful! In a world that is full of despair, anxieties, and fears, what we need is “Hope.” God given Hope not the false hopes in a world “Having no hope and without God in the world. “-{Eph 2;12}. The “hope” of this world has no eternal substance because it has no right relationship with God and therefore without the hope of certainty. The word “Hope” means “confident expectation,” of trust. The Greek verb elpizo , means to look forward to that which is good and beneficial. The expressing of a desire for something good and the confident expectation of receiving it, because of God, His character, Word, Promises which He always keeps! Hope describes “the happy anticipation of the good which is coming for the believer.” It comes from the Greek word {elpis} here, means “anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation, confidence…”
There is the “hope,” which the world offers, but it is a hope of uncertainty, the crossing of the fingers, the hope of a gambler, which is the hope of “chance,” not certainty. And with such “hope” there are some aspects, such as the hope of the pessimist whom the world describes as seeing “the glass half empty.” Like the little boy describing hope said “it was hoping for things knowing you will never get them.” Then the world speaks of the optimist. The hope of the optimist, who sees “the glass half full.” The belief that “if it has to be it’s up to me.” The self reliance, trust, that they are in charge of their hope and the bringing about of it. Or the “hope” that it will all “work out for the best,” not taking into account that they are not in charge of circumstances, or people, and that they often change. The”hope”of the world is false as it is based on uncertainty, no assurance that is firm, because there is no hope that is anchored in the person of Jesus Christ, because they do not know Him personally!
True Biblical Hope means confident expectation, to trust. It has been described as “THE ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE OF A FUTURE GOOD.”
Biblical Hope, is “‘confident expectation,” In God. The strength of hope is in God’s ability and RELIABILITY To fulfill All Of His Promises!
1. Hope Of Christ’s Righteousness The Foundation Of Our Justification;
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”-{Rom 5:1-2}.”But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. “-{Romans 5;8-9}. Because He has declared us right with Him, we have peace with Him which comes about through the Person and work of our LORD Jesus. We have Access, acceptance with God in which we now “stand,” in full acceptance and assurance, eternally so. We boast, exult in the glory of God. We are recipients of the Love of God demonstrated by the cross of Jesus Christ and having been justified by his blood, His death, we shall be saved from His wrath which is upon sinners. As Noah was safe and secure from God’s wrath in the ark, so we “In Christ” under His protection are delivered, safe and secure from God’s wrath. This is His promise! Our Hope is based on The Righteousness of Christ as our sole means of justification! Not our”works of righteousness,” our ‘good deeds,” our “merit’s” for they are as Isaiah wrote, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.“-{Isaiah 64;6}. “Filthy rags is ‘a garment of menstruation’; bodily discharges were considered a defilement because they were the ‘outflow’ of a sinful, fallen human nature. So, even what we might consider to be in our favour, righteous acts, partake of the defilement of fallenness.” (Motyer). Our “righteousness” is compared to a woman’s menstrual cloth, being offered to God as something He should accept as worthy! It is atrocious, sinful, unacceptable. “But God…” has provided His Son and His righteousness alone is our grounds of Justification! “He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. “-{Titus 3;5 NLT}. This is the Ground of our Hope, The Righteousness Of Christ our Justification!
2. Hope Is Found In A Person;
For the follower of Christ, Hope is found in a Person,”… Christ Jesus who is our Hope.”-{1 Tim 1:1}. The Greek literal reads “Christ Jesus our hope.”
“Our.” Paul is emphasizing this “hope” speaks of our possession. The believers HOPE is in Jesus Christ. He is the Object of our Hope. Our hope is in Him. Paul wrote, “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”-{Col 1:27}. He is our Hope of salvation, forgiveness, access to God, acceptance with God and it is entirely and exclusively through the LORD Jesus. Our Hope of seeing Him. Our Hope of being with Him. Our Hope of His return. He is our Hope!
3. Hope Is The Foundation Of A Future Inheritance;
This is a “Living Hope” as opposed to what? “A Dead Hope!” Peter wrote “…he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,“-{1 Peter 1;3-4}. This living hope has a future look, namely a future inheritance, that is reserved in Heaven for us and is “kept,” guarded, protected, a military term is what the word means, and who is it who “keeps” our soul safe? “by the power of God.”-{1 Peter 1;5}. We have a future hope, the confident assurance of the good that is ahead for us. This living hope allows us to look forward with pleasure, to the good God has promised to come. This was written to people who were going through “fiery trials” and He calls them to look at the greatness of God and the greatness of their hope as seen in a future inheritance. Hope in God!
4. Hope is The Foundation Of Our Joy;
“Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,”-{Romans 12:12}. Hope is the foundation of Joy, and tribulations cannot dampen or destroy this joy because of the Hope that the believer has. We may “give away” our joy to circumstances, people, but no one can take it from us. Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”-{John 15:11 NLT}. Note the beauty and sufficiency of this joy. It is Christ’s joy. It is Fullness of Joy. It is an Overflowing Joy. This joy is rooted in the hope of the confident expectation of the absolute assurance of God to fulfill His promises. Neither Sickness, sorrow, afflictions, trials, can quench the believers joy which is rooted deep in CONFIDENT hope in God to fulfill His Word.
How do we endure? Consider the LORD Jesus “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”-{Hebrews 12;2}. He endured the cross…How?” “…For the joy set before Him.” The sustained, endurance of the cross through rejoicing in hope! ” Joy in the NT is virtually always used to signify a feeling of “happiness” that is based on spiritual realities (and independent of what “happens”).Joy is a feeling of inner gladness, delight or gladness;… a deep seated pleasure. It is a depth of assurance and confidence that ignites a cheerful heart. It is a cheerful heart that leads to cheerful behavior. Joy is not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances but is God’s gift to believers…
The “joy set before” Jesus includes His perfection completion of His Father’s will, His being seated on the throne at the Father’s right hand, and the joy of presenting believers to the Father in glory.”-{preceptaustin.} “The joy set before the Lord was the anticipation of His glory with the Father and all that was to be the outcome of His finished work on the Cross, both in the present age and the ages to come. Because of the value He set upon all this He endured the Cross.”- {W.E. Vine}.
It does not mean we are untouched by sorrows or deny them or try and present to others that we are untouched by troubles, trials pain or sorrows. Jesus was called a”Man of sorrows acquainted with grief.” He was not and is not untouched by our troubles. Paul said, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing…” -{2 Cor 6:10}. Note sorrow and joy side by side. We need to let people know of our sorrows to, we can identify, we are not untouched by the pains, difficulties, heartaches of life just like those who do not know Him. Also there is the sorrows we experience as believers over the lost, the dishonoring of His Name, sin. Paul said ,”I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.”-{Rom 9;2}. Note “unceasing,” he knew this sorrow habitually, consistently yet in sorrow he also knew joy in the midst! “The joy of the LORD that strengthens“-{Neh 8;10}. The Joy of the LORD that is a Safety to us.-{Phil 3:1}
5. Hope Is The Foundation For Perseverance;
“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. “-{1 Thess 1:3}. The persistent endurance, perseverance, steadfastness of the believer amidst life’s difficulties is fixed, not on a “feeling” an “idea” a gritting of the teeth, on some psychology, self reliance but on a Person, the LORD Jesus Christ! Our hope in Christ inspires us to persistently persevere, endure life’s difficulties, not somehow but with confident expectation of a future good grounded in the goodness of God, to fulfill His Word. Our endurance is inspired by hope, which is the confident expectation, “Hope” is to anticipate with pleasure. Our Hope in our troubles is to look ahead to our future, being with Him, the anticipation of such a time, is not one of dread but delight, to see Him as He is and be with Him-{Read 1 John 3:2}.
6. Hope’s Confidence Comes Forth From God’s Word.
“Remember the word to Your servant, In which You have made me hope.” – {Psalm 119:49}. God’s Word to Him caused hope to be birthed in him. Paul would write later ,”For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”-{Romans 15:4-5}. One reason God has given and preserved His Word is to encourage us “SO THAT”… we might have… HOPE! Note, that this verse gives three truths,namely, A.- All Scripture has been given for our instruction. B.-The Scriptures have been given for our perseverance and encouragement.C.-The Scriptures have been given with the intent to produce and sustain hope within us! It is present tense which emphasizes that “we might keep on having hope.” We are to continually have hope, as the practice, pattern, lifestyle. The Holy Spirit Through The Scriptures, enlightens, energizes us, inspires hope in us. The Scriptures bring about transformation. -{Read Rom 12:2}. This hope, “confident expectation,” of some good will be obtained. Hope in Scripture is the absolute certainty of future good. His “hope” in this verse is associated with the intake of God’s Word. Hope for us in times of hurt, trials, suffering, through hearing, submitting, applying His Word.
“The Christian is always a realist, but never a pessimist. The Christian hope is not a cheap hope. It is not the immature hope which is optimistic because it does not see the difficulties and has not encountered the experiences of life. It might be thought that hope is the prerogative of the young; but the great artists did not think that. When Watts drew “Hope” he drew her as a battered and bowed figure with one string left upon her lyre. The Christian hope has seen everything and endured everything, and still has not despaired, because it believes in God. It is not hope in the human spirit, in human goodness, in human achievement; it is hope in the power of God.”-{Barclay}. The God of Hope-(Rom 15:13} has given us His Word to inspire, cultivate, sustain hope within us. Hope sustains us in trials, keeps from despondency and a future hope, a forward look of the good of being with Him forever! So you can see why the evil one, the flesh and the world’s value system would tempt us to stay away or divert from his Word as it is God’s means to encourage us that we may have… Hope. Paul said ‘Let the WORD OF CHRIST Richly dwell in you…”-{Col 3:16}. The Psalmist says of the “blessed” one is characterized by “his delight is in the Law of the LORD and in it meditates day and night.{Psalm 1:2}. He or she occupies their thought life by feeding their thought life on HIS WORD so as to renew their mind, influencing their choices. Paul said, “whatever is true…let your mind dwell on these things.”-{Phil 4:8}… and in verse 9 he says to “practice” what you have seen and heard! God’s Word is His gift of love to encourage you that you may have confident assurance of His Hope!
7. Hope’s Goal Is The Glory Of God.
“And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”- {Rom 5:2}. Paul said we are justified through our LORD Jesus, we have access to God , we are fully accepted by God and stand not in condemnation, delusion or in sin but we stand in grace. The word “stand,”histēmi, means to stand firm, stand solid, stand fixed, abide. And we are now living in a continual state of grace, fully accepted, eternally so because of our LORD Jesus. Full favor of God. Fully and irreversibly loved. Fully forgiven. Fully accepted. Fully secured, eternally so, kept by the power of God. Standing in the full favor of Almighty God. And as a result “we boast…” in what? “In the Hope…” of what? “…The Glory of God.”
The word “boast” or “rejoice” is “kauchaomai.” John Mac Arthur writes, “kauchaomai” is a word that basically is a confident boast or an exultant jubilation. It’s very strong word, it refers to rejoicing, I think, at the highest level. We really rejoice in a secure future, don’t we?”
“EXULT {Kauchaomai} means to boast over a privilege or possession. It means to rejoice and so to feel joy or great delight, combining ideas of jubilation and confidence into one word which we might describe as “joyful confidence.” It expresses an unusually high degree of confidence in God and what He has done for as being exceptionally noteworthy.”-{preceptaistin}. It is in the present tense which means it is to continually be the lifestyle, pattern, habit, and doing of the Believer’s life is one of “joyful confidence!”
Think of this the exuberance the results in this confident assurance, this God given “Hope,” Jesus said “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.“-{John 6:39}. This future hope of eternity with Him, He guarantees!
We exult, boast confidently, exuberantly, in the Glory of God, that we will see Him and be with Him forever and He is going to transform our bodies into the likeness of His dear Son. “When we see Him we will be like… Him. -{Read 1 John 3:2}.
And God has placed this “Hope” where ? In us! “…which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory!”-{Col 1;27}.
Hope’s ultimate aim is that God be glorified! The Glory of His Person. God has revealed His Glory in His Person.
Hope is the confident expectation TO LOOK FORWARD TO THE GOOD THAT GOD WILL BRING. The confident expectation, anticipation of that which is pleasurable, that what He promises He will do.