Biblical Hope

Today the word hope can be included in the same bracket as luck. The definition of the word in its modern sense is a desire. There is no basis in a hope today. It is mostly empty. When people say ‘I hope this happens’, the odds may be fifty fifty. The person may not have any control over the situation they are referring to, therefore all that is left for them to do is sit tight and ‘hope’ that the outcome is in their favour.

Sometimes when you ask people if they think they are going to heaven after they die they reply ‘I hope so’; the word hope being used in the same context as when they hope some situation they’re in will turn out for their good, or when they hope that their favorite sports team will win.

We only get one chance at this life. Hebrews 9:27 states that we have all been appointed a time to die once. This is literally a life and death situation. I don’t know about you but I do not want my destination after I die to be based upon a fleeting hope. It is too important for that. I want to be safely secure in the knowledge of where I will be going. I want to be certain, not just have a hope.

I have put my trust in Christ, therefore I do have a hope that I am going to heaven, but this hope is not the same hope that people use day in and day out in whatever sticky situation they may be in. This hope is a certainty and a confidence. This is Biblical hope.

Hebrews 11:1 states “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Our faith in Christ is a hope, however not in the modern sense of the word. The word for hope used in Hebrews 11:1 here is ‘elipzo’ and it means ‘to wait for salvation with joy and full confidence.’

Full confidence, in other words is an expectance. The promises of Christ have been fulfilled upon the cross. When we are hoping in the Lord, we are not hoping that He delivers for us because we know that He already has delivered, rather we are waiting in expectation! Biblical hope is not hope (as we know it) at all; it is a certain thing, almost like a trust fund that we know will mature on a certain date. It might not of happened yet, but we confidently expect it to, because we know that it will.

Romans 12:12  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 8:24-25 For in this hope we were saved. 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.

The greek word for hope in these passages is Elpis. The definition of this is similar to that in Hebrews. It means a confident expectation of eternal salvation. 

Isaiah 40:31 states “But those who wait on the Lord
 Shall renew their strength;
 They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
 They shall run and not be weary, 
They shall walk and not faint.”

The word for wait in this verse, is qavah. Qavah means to expect and look eagerly for. It is Biblical hope.

The meaning of hope has been watered down so that today it has no basis. When the Bible tells us to hope upon the Lord and when I hope upon the Lord, I am not waiting for something with my fingers crossed, I am confidently expecting something that I know is going to happen without a shred of doubt in my mind.

In some things we can hope one way or the other. Maybe the situation we are in will turn out for the best and everyone will be happy. But in a situation as serious as what will happen after we die, mere hope, in our sense of the word, is not enough. We need to be certain over such things. We need Biblical hope. Blind faith is foolishness. Study God's Word and you will see that there is no vague hope concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and their is nothing blind about a faith in Him.

-BACChristian