Hope
Every person who has obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ has the hope of Christ within that affords preparedness to defend the gospel:
But even if you
should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear
of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always
being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the
hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are
slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame (1Peter 3:14-16 ESV).
This is also the "hope of glory" whereby we have become the visible image of the invisible God, displaying the character and nature of Jesus Christ:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).
Hope Defined
Vine's Expository Dictionary of the New Testament defines hope as "favourable and confident expectation having to do with the unseen and the future" (Strong's G1680) with three ways that it can be expressed:
- The happy anticipation of good.
- The ground upon which it is based.
- The object upon which it is fixed.
Happy Anticipation of Good
Talk about happy anticipation of good, in my opinion, no scripture expresses this better than what the Apostle Paul wrote about the second coming of Jesus Christ in the Epistle of Titus:
While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13 NIV).
What a glorious event that will be! Here are other verses that speak to the happy anticipation of good:
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1:21).
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began (Titus 1:2).
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope (Acts 2:26).
Obedience to the gospel allows us to have this happy anticipation of seeing Jesus face to face. Hallelujah!
Ground Upon Which it is Based
The use of the word hope in scripture as the ground or reason upon which hope is based is readily seen here:
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13).
When we are born again, God gives us the Holy Ghost power so we abound in hope being full of joy and peace.
Object Upon Which it is Fixed
The object of our hope is only Jesus:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Timothy 1:1 ESV).
Without Jesus, any hope we have is meaningless.
My prayer for anybody reading this page is that through belief and the power of the Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus Christ, that you abound in hope.
From Hope to Christian Beliefs
From Hope to Trust in God
From Hope to Faith
