Hope In Christ Always

Christian, where does your hope lie? Is it in the perishable things of this dying world, or in the one true living and active God? This is the main word I want to look at today. Hope.  I’ve got several verses I want to look at on hope.

What is hope?

The words expect and look are common synonyms of hope. While hope, expect, and look, means “to await some occurrence or outcome.” Hope implies little certainty but suggests confidence or assurance in the possibility that what one desires, or longs for, will happen. This is different for a believer in Jesus Christ. Our hope is sure. There is no uncertainty, and we have confidence and assurance that we will be raised up on the last day with Christ. 

Psalm 33:18-19  Behold, the eye of the LORD [is] upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Some people scoff when we say you’re supposed to fear the Lord. We should. He knows all that we do.  So, when we say we fear the Lord, it means we have a reverent fear of the Lord. We give him honor and glory because we know without Him and Christ’s work on the Cross, we are dead in our sins. 

Our hope here lies in Christ’s work on the Cross. This is what delivers our souls from death. God’s love for us who are in Christ is steadfast. It is a firm unwavering love that is with us until the end. 

Like the old hymn written by Edward Mote says:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

It is well known that the writer of this hymn, Edward, had these verses in Matthew in mind. 

Matthew 7:24-27  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

So, when our hope is built on the Word of God it is the firmest foundation we can have. It can withstand any trials that come our way. 

True hope can be found in Christ alone. Put your hope in Him and the work he accomplished on the cross And this hope should give us courage and strength. 

2Corinthians 3:12  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 

We say this word hope a lot when it comes to things we want. We hope the crops do well this year. We hope for our favorite team to win. My son when he prays always says I hope everyone has a good day. Hoping for things is common but sometimes in vain. But when our hope is grounded in Jesus Christ and the words of God, we can be sure of that hope. It is a hope we can trust because it’s a hope in the living and true God. 

Hope in Christ

1Peter 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

The first word of this verse is packed with meaning. It is translated wherefore in the KJV and therefore in other translations. When you see this word, there are generally commands that follow. Some things we should do in our lives. The word also means “because of.” It’s good to look at it like this. Because of the things said before the therefore we should do this or take this action. 

What action is that?

Read again. Preparing our minds for action. So, I like to think Peter here is teaching us to pray. As Christians, before we do anything prayer is key. Thanking God for the things He has given us and asking for help in any situation.

Paul also says to be sober minded. What does it mean to be sober minded? In a sense it means not having anything else influencing our minds. Anything. Drugs, alcohol, or just evil-minded people. These things influence our ways of thinking and are not compatible with living like Christ. 

So, with a sober mind focused on Christ the verse says set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Set our hopes fully or completely on grace.

Here’s the word hope. Hope not in man. Hope in grace. Grace is unmerited favor from God. We don’t deserve it but it’s freely given. This grace as it says in the text is brought to you by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Here when it says the revelation- it’s referring to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news is that Jesus died for my sins and yours as well. When we repent of those sins and believe in Jesus and that good news, we are forgiven.

So, since we are under Grace we are new creatures. New creatures with a sure hope in a perfect savior.