In everyday speech, hope is a weak word. We say we hope it does not rain, meaning we wish it but do not know. The hope the Bible speaks of is nothing so flimsy. It is confident expectation, a settled assurance resting not on our wishing but on the promise of God who cannot lie. It is one of the things that holds a Christian steady when everything else gives way. Let us see what it rests on and what it does.
A Living Hope Through the Resurrection
Christian hope is not built on positive thinking. It is built on an empty tomb. Peter wrote that God "hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). Because Christ rose, our hope is alive and not wishful. The same power that raised Him stands behind every promise He made. A dead hope rests on a dead teacher. A living hope rests on a living Lord.
The Hope of Eternal Life
The great object of this hope is the life to come. It is the "hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2). We are made "heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:7), and this hope is described as something already secured for us, "the hope which is laid up for you in heaven" (Colossians 1:5). The Christian looks past the troubles of this short life to a home that is kept and waiting.
An Anchor for the Soul
Hope does for the soul what an anchor does for a ship in a storm. It holds. The Hebrew writer called it "an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast" (Hebrews 6:19). When the winds of grief, fear, and doubt blow hard, hope keeps a believer from being driven onto the rocks. And it will not disappoint, for "hope maketh not ashamed" (Romans 5:5). No one who anchored his soul in Christ has ever been let down in the end.
The World's Hopelessness, and Ours
To see how great this hope is, look at life without it. Paul described those outside of Christ as "having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). And when he comforted Christians grieving at the grave, he did not tell them not to weep. He told them not to grieve "even as others which have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). That is the difference Christ makes. The world meets death either with despair or with empty pretending. The Christian meets it with sorrow, yes, but a sorrow shot through with hope, because he knows the dead in Christ will rise. The same hope that anchors us in life does not let go of us at the grave.
Hope and Patience in Suffering
Hope is also what lets a Christian wait. "For we are saved by hope... if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (Romans 8:24-25). When the answer has not come and the trial drags on, hope steadies the hands and keeps the feet moving. Paul said the Scriptures themselves were given so "that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4). The more we know God's word, the stronger our hope grows.
Be Ready to Give a Reason
A hope this strong does not stay hidden. It shows, and people notice. So Peter charged Christians to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15). The greatest hope of all is still ahead, what Paul called "that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). So anchor your hope there, in the risen Christ and His sure promise, and not in a world that cannot keep its own. The world's hopes will fail you. His will not.