Have you ever felt boxed in by trying circumstances? Have the difficulties and uncertainties of life ever made you feel short of breath—claustrophobic, perhaps? The hardships we encounter in this world—whether they have to do with money, relationships, health, work, peer pressure, or persecution (the list is endless!)—call for a response on our part: Will we waste away in fear? Or will we hope?
For the Christian, hope is the appropriate response. Being a Christian makes a difference in how we live and move and have our being in this world, and our responses to tribulation ought to be distinct as well (John 16:33; Acts 14:22).
The term “hope” gets used a lot in everyday conversation, usually when we’re talking about something we wish or desire. But what does it mean, actually? Or, perhaps the bigger question is: does it matter whether or not the thing hoped for comes to pass, as long as we exercise hope? The Bible has answers to these questions. Here are three biblical truths that ought to shape our definition and experience of hope:
1. Christian hope stands in contrast to possession.
The apostle Paul says, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom. 8:24–25). Hope ultimately looks forward in eager expectation to the fulfillment of God’s promise of resurrection and new creation (Rom. 5:2; Col. 1:5; 2 Pet. 3:13). This is our ultimate hope and joy: We will enjoy the Triune God in glorified bodies along with all the saints and the holy angels in the fully-realized kingdom of God. We may not yet be in possession of this reality, but we can “set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”(1 Pet. 1:13). As Christians, our identities aren’t exhausted by worldly concerns; instead, they are powerfully shaped by the age to come.
2. Christian hope is certain.
The matters about which we hope are by no means uncertain or tentative to us, like the outcome of a football game or the roll of a pair of dice. God himself is the reason why hope is a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Heb. 6:19). Hope looks to and finds its nourishment in God’s promises. And God’s promises are rooted in God’s faithfulness—his steadfast commitment to fulfill those promises. Because God is trustworthy, we can have confidence that not one word of all the good promises that he has made to his church will fail; all will come to pass (cf. Joshua 21:45). Not only that, but God’s infinite power also ensures that his promises will certainly come to pass. We may feel as though our circumstances are fixed and insurmountable, but with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26)!
What’s more, the Scriptures repeatedly identify God as the source of our hope. The prophet Jeremiah speaks of the LORD as “the hope of Israel”; Paul speaks of God as nothing less than “the God of hope”; and we also read of “Christ Jesus our hope” (Jer. 17:13; Rom. 15:13; 1 Tim. 1:1).
3. Christian hope impacts day-to-day life.
Knowing that our future is both bright and secure in Christ, we can hold our heads high in the day of adversity, trusting that our trials, while real, are only temporary. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” the apostle Paul writes (Rom. 8:18). Even when life is shining beautifully upon us, our hope keeps us from setting our hearts on worldly prosperity, as if that were our ultimate good and not the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” that awaits us (2 Cor. 4:17). Hope provides a continual reminder to us that we are but pilgrims on this earth. In Christ, we are making our way to a better country, where our true citizenship lies (Phil. 3:20–21; Heb. 11:13–16).
This heavenly citizenship doesn’t just leave us pining for the future. Our hope in God also teaches us to love our neighbors well, since love “hopes all things” (1 Cor. 13:7). Christian hope, a hope radically informed by love, instructs us to anticipate the best for our neighbor, to never consider them beyond help. If God can rescue hardened sinners like Paul, who previously persecuted the church—or even us, who were once dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1)—then certainly God can save and transform anyone by his grace.
Our hope in the age to come is evidenced by persistent prayer for others, by turning the other cheek when wronged (Matt. 5:39), by compassion and kindness (Col. 3:12), and even by laying down our lives for others (1 John 3:16). Knowing that our final inheritance is secured through the resurrection, that we are destined for the new creation, we can now aim to love God and our neighbors with our days on earth.