Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5 NIVUK
Hope is a greatly misunderstood word. It's regular uses include 'I hope it won't rain' or 'I hope my team will win the championship' or 'I hope my test results are good' or 'I hope the pandemic will be over soon'.
Generally, it's used to describe situations that we anticipate with joy, but over which we have zero control. And that type of hope is in the Bible. Paul hoped to see the Roman church on his way go Spain (Romans 15:23-24). He made it to Rome, but as a prisoner.
He did not make it to Spain.
We need to understand about what hope is and what it isn't. Because a Christian is a hopeful person. Not optimistic. Not unrealistic. Not unrelentingly and unflinchingly, but irritatingly, positive. But hopeful.
In fact, I would go as far as to say that someone who has lost hope has lost faith in God and is no longer following Jesus.
I realise that's a really tough thing to say, but I believe that the Bible gives me strong reasons to say it.
But before we understand why I can say this, we need to understand what hope is.
Hope is a longing that is not fulfilled yet. We do not hope for what we already have (Romans 8:24).
Hope is what we need to get out of bed in the morning. If we have no hope, our life becomes a dull, robotic drudgery with no meaning or purpose at all. We exist. We do not live. We certainly don't thrive.
For us to truly live, we need to be constantly yearning for something better. We need to keep wanting to improve our lot. The second we give up, we cease to live.
This yearning is not wrong and is not sinful. Paul talks about it in Romans 8:18-25. It's in the middle of the famous heroes chapter in Hebrews 11 (Hebrews 11:13-16).
The constant yearning for 'something more' that drives us to hope is hardwired into us. It just needs to be directed towards God and not towards the temporary things of this world.
But there is a second Biblical, theological definition of hope that is absolutely unknown in our world. That it is because it's a hope that is built on cast-iron, one hundred percent, rock solid certainty that will not, any time whatsoever, cause us to be let down or ashamed.
That hope is hope in the fulfilment of God's promises. As Paul states:
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NIVUK
Let me give you an example. When I was younger, I was part of a boys' football team. I couldn't play one Sunday because I had to go to church. They were playing in a park nearby and won 21-0. Once they were five or six nil to the good, I'm pretty sure they would have known that victory was sure. But it hadn't happened yet. They just needed to keep playing by the rules.
That is what life is like for a Christian. The victory is ours in Christ. The promises are secure. We just need to keep playing by the rules and they will be ours.
So hope is a longing that hasn't been fulfilled yet. And there are two types of those longings. There are those that might be fulfilled, but we can't be sure, because between those hopes and their fulfilment lie the uncertainties of life. There are also hopes that will be fulfilled, because God is the One who has promised that they will be fulfilled.
But what does hope do?
As we saw earlier, hope gives us a reason for living rather than just existing. Hope describes the feeling that something good is coming. Without it, we have no reason to keep breathing: instead, we exist because there are no other better options.
Hope shines a light into the very darkest corners of human existence. In fact, one of the single greatest examples of what hope does to a person is found in the darkest book in the Bible. The book of Lamentations, a rarely studied doom-fest, was written to describe in lurid poetry the dramatic and horrifically violent fall of Jerusalem to the marauding Babylonian army. It's definitely not a book to read if you're having a bad day, or late at night.
But in the middle of this abject horror and desperate mourning, we see these words of the prophet Jeremiah:
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:19-23 NIVUK
Jeremiah recalls the character of God and His feelings towards Jerusalem even at a time when the exact opposite would seem to be true, and this gives him hope.
Look again at our passage from Romans:
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:3-4 NIVUK
Do you see this? Believers across the known world were being hounded, deprived, discriminated against, arrested, tried, flogged and murdered for their faith in the most unimaginable ways by Nero and his hordes. Yet in the middle of the abject fear and horror, Paul and the ancient Christians find hope. In fact, Paul is stating something that seems to our ears to be completely unthinkable: persecution is providing them with hope.
How can this be?
It's simply, and really beautifully, this. Suffering and pain loosen our grip on the things of this world. As we flee from the things that are taken from us, we run towards the One from whom we cannot be taken (John 10:28-29). In turning to God, we receive what a hymnwriter called 'Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow'. This gives us the ability to persevere. The wounds inflicted by those who make us suffer serve to make us tougher and stronger, forming our character and perspective. And the stronger our character, the deeper our hope.
So, you see, hard times don't need to be our enemy. They can be used to sharpen our focus and reinforce our hope.
And that's just it. Real Christians don't lose their hope when they suffer. Hard times don't drive them away from God. No, they drive them to God.
Because of this, their hope shines brighter, their purpose is clearer and their devotion to God is closer.
This hope makes Christians absolutely irrepressible.
So we have seen what hope is and what it can do, but what makes the biggest difference for every real Christian is what it is based on, or rather, whom.
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
Psalms 42:5 NIVUK
This simple, self-preaching refrain, repeated three times in two Psalms (42:5,11; 43:5) tells us everything we need to know. The psalmist is battling with difficult circumstances, but he has put his faith in God to deliver him from them. Just like Jeremiah. Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego before the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:16-18). Just like the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews 11. Just like countless believers through the ages.
I was once told by some hard-drinking, drug-smoking, meaninglessly promiscuous teens 'I wish I had your faith'. Faith is not what makes the difference. Hope is not what makes the difference. After all, just because you hope for something doesn't necessarily mean it will happen. As much as I hate to shatter the illusions of our self-obsessed generations, the universe does not owe you a favour. Positive thinking and visualisation are nothing but psychological tricks to keep you concentrated on your goals. Nothing is guaranteed. Nothing is certain. Nothing is for sure.
Except God.
It's God Who makes the difference:
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
1 Chronicles 16:25-26 NIVUK
But why?
This verse might explain it:
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’
Revelation 1:8 NIVUK
The Bible talks of God as being from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2) - not limited by time.
It talks of God as being ever present everywhere we might go (Psalm 139:7-12) - not limited by space.
The Bible talks of God as being Almighty and all powerful (Psalm 46:7,11) - not limited in power.
But the Bible also talks about God being deeply and intimately involved with His creation, intervening at key moments to lead, guide, chide and save - not limited in love and care for His people.
The Bible also talks about God giving of Himself to save us on the cross, and defeating even mortality itself to save us - not limited by death.
As well as these awesome characteristics, we see that this God always works for our good in every situation (Romans 8:28) - not limited by circumstance.
This God is truly worthy of our hope more than any other. This God is able to do what He said He would do. This God, and no other.
And this is the God in whom a real Christian places their hope. Not in the zodiac. Not in omens. Not in good luck charms. Not in rituals or rites. Not in the empty promises of human beings or the meaningless mutterings of fortune tellers. Not in vain optimism or crossed fingers. But in God.
That is why our hope is, by definition, certain. That is why our hope makes us stronger, happier, more resilient. It doesn't mean that we float through life in an anesthetised, pain-free existence. It means that we have the inner strength to make it through the pain to the other side.
Because a real Christian places their hope in God.
So where is your hope?
Questions
What does the word 'hope' mean to you?
What difference would it mean to your life if you hoped for something you absolutely knew, without a shadow of a doubt, would happen?
What do you see in the descriptions of God that would make you want to put your hope in Him? Have you?
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