Hope

I was surprised to find that, in the 6+ years I’ve been posting these reflections, apparently I’ve never done one titled “Hope”. I haven’t ignored hope of course—it has been talked about in many postings. But still.

Checking English versions of the Bible, two had 153 uses of “hope” in various forms. Another one had 176. Clearly hope is a big thing, and in fact it’s cited by Paul as one of the Big Three: “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13*)

So this is important—no apologies for giving attention here to something we might think of as very basic.

One thing we need to clarify right at the start. In modern English, we say we hope something will turn out, we hope it won’t rain, and so on. Mostly we use the word to convey wishful thinking. This is emphatically NOT what the Bible means by the word. The Greek word translated “hope” actually means “anticipation, expectation, confidence”. It’s the difference between “I hope it won’t rain,” and, “I confidently expect the sun to come up tomorrow.” Big difference! Whenever we see “hope” in the Bible, we need to read it as “expect”, “confidently anticipate”, or something similar.

With this in mind, the next thing to notice is that the Christian hope is firmly declared to be the same hope of Israel held by the faithful of the Old Testament. It is the hope of resurrection from the dead, as Paul repeatedly declares when he’s on trial.

I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead! (Acts 23:6)

I worship the God of my ancestors according to the Way, which they call a sect, believing everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets. I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous. (Acts 24:14-15)

I stand on trial because of the hope in what God promised to our ancestors, the promise our twelve tribes hope to reach as they earnestly serve him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope. Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? (Acts 26:6-8)

I remember seeing a sign years ago that read something like, “If faith were against the law, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” The same question could be posed about hope. Paul stands in court and vigorously confesses to having the hope of resurrection, the hope of Israel. The Bible hope.

In chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians there’s an extended discussion of the hope of resurrection. Not only being raised, but then being given eternal life. The timing for this is “at his (Jesus’s) coming”. It’s something we expect, we anticipate, still in the future—the very definition of “hope”. As Paul writes to the Romans:

We also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:23-25)

Salvation is a process, beginning with baptism and running all the way to the return of Christ and the Kingdom of God.

He saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)

Familiarity with all of this might lead us to shrug it off, but we mustn’t. Hope needs to be nurtured. Listen:

Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance. (Hebrews 6:11-12)

Diligence. Full assurance. Until the end—then, inherit.

Basic, yes. No apology. This is the foundation on which we can build a life, a life that endures no matter what, our confident expectation.

Love, Paul

(* all scripture quotations from CSB)