Thinking Like a Christian

pastor peteA series of Scripture meditations on what the Bible teaches about the Christian life.

by Pastor Pete Beck III

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The Power of Hope

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NET1)

Over the years, the meaning of words often change from what the author originally intended to communicate to the reader to what is generally understand by those same words today. That is one reason I prefer to use translations that are more current than the revered KJV, which is one of the most beautiful of all English versions. So many of the meanings of words used in the sixteen hundreds have changed radically so that preachers and teachers using the King James Version must spend a great deal of time updating their hearers on those meanings. But that is another topic for another day.

Today let's look as the meaning of the word "hope." The common understanding today is that this word means a desire or wish for something to happen, but without any certainty that it will. This is very different from the Bible definition which is a confident expectation that something will take place. This confidence is based on God's promises.

Faith is closely related to hope. One of the best definitions of hope is found in Hebrews 11:1.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 (NET1)

Faith receives now what God has promised; whereas, hope is the ability to wait as long as it takes for that promise to come to pass. Some have described hope as "stretched out" faith. I think this is a good way to look at it. Hope is integrally linked to perseverance. The Bible teaches that we receive God's promises through faith and perseverance. We must believe and keep believing and waiting for as long as it takes, and that could be years or even longer than a lifetime.

The church has been waiting for the return of our Lord for over 2000 years. The Second Coming is our hope of redemption. We know it is going to happen, but we don't know when. Millions of believers have lived and died with this hope in their hearts. The resurrection of the body is closely related to Christ's return. This is also something for which we hope. We have not received it yet, but we know it is coming. The resurrection of the body is the last step in our redemption. Paul speaks to this hope in his letter to the church in Rome.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. Romans 8:22-25 (NET1)

This passage does not mean that Christians cannot know whether or not they are saved. Otherwise what John wrote in his first letter would be contradicted.

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 (NET1)

Rather, Paul wants his readers to be confident and persevere in the expectation that Jesus will raise them from the dead, just as he promised.

Now this is the will of the one who sent me — that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father — for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:39-40 (NET1)

This is why Paul blessed the church in Rome with joy and peace as they continued to trust in the God of all hope. Hope is not some wishy-washy thing. It is rock solid and able to weather anything and everything that comes its way because the Holy Spirit is our Helper.

 

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