WHAT IS HOPE? Part 1

“Now abideth faith, hope and love.”

Hope is a doctrine that we don’t hear preached about very much these days. We hear a lot of sermons on faith, a lot on love, but next-to-nothing on hope.

The Greek word for hope is “elpis” and means “to anticipate, expectation, confidence” .

West’s Word Studies from the Greek new Testament explains hope as . . .
“ACTIVELY LIVE,
an ENERGIZING PRINCIPLE of divine life in the believer,
a Christian HOPEFULNESS AND OPTIMISM produced in the believer yielded to the indwelling Holy Spirit.
It is both an attitude of EXPECTANCY as the Christian looks forward to the inheritance awaiting him in heaven, and a HOPEFULNESS OF PRESENT BLESSING from God in this life in view of the eternal blessedness of the believer in the next life.
A child of god has no right to look on the dark side of things, and to look for the worst to happen to him. As the object of God’s care and love, he has THE RIGHT TO LOOK FOR THE BEST to come to him and to LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS.”

Hope is similar to faith but not the same. Hope is more futuristic than faith. Faith takes the promises of God that are meant to be experienced by the believer in the here and now and claims them for his benefit. Faith believes that miracles can be claimed from God for our present trials, sicknesses, and catastrophes.

Jesus said in Matthew 21, 22: “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

Speaking of Abraham in Romans 4:17, 18 it says: “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and CALLETH THOSE THINGS WHICH BE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.”

Abraham believed in the docrtine of hope. He believed in hope because God had spoken this promise to him. He still had to wait 25 years for Isaac to be born. Therefore, during those 25 years of waiting he employed faith that believed in a 25-year future hope. This hope was not based on uncertainty, but on the integrity of God’s spoken word.

The phrase, “who against hope believed in hope” can be difficult to get one’s mind around. However, when we consider the obstacles to this future hope of the birth of Isaac, we can understand.

Abraham was about 100 years old when “he considered not his own body now dead . . . neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” All of this, his old age and the deadness both in himself and in Sarah, worked as a natural law against his God-given hope.

Burt God had spoken this promise to him (Genesis 15;2-6 ; 17:1-10; and 18:9-19). Although there were major obstacles against his hope, he still believed in this hope. Therefore we see that hope and faith, founded on God’s Word work together.

Romans 4:20: “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” He became strong in faith as he gave glory to God.

Romans 4:21: “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.“ Some people say that hope is the enemy of faith. However, I think that interpretation is not correct.

Romans 8:19-21 (NET): For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – IN HOPE that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.”

We see that God has subjected his creature (man) to vanity (decay, futility, death, suffering), but at the end of this subjection is the realization of glorious hope.

More next week.

Be encouraged. Colin Campbell