What is Biblical Hope?
If, in this life, we have power that gets us through the days, I would not be wrong to say that this power is HOPE. Hope gets us to get out and work with the assurance that our work will pay off. Hope gets us to take action with the assurance that our actions will lead us to the desired result. And hope gets us to trust that where we have put our faith is a secure place, and we can rely on it.
True hope has three defining characteristics;
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First, true hope is enduring. Because of the fluid nature of life, which is ever-changing and moving, we need hope every day. With each day that comes, there is renewed hope – that our work will pay off, our actions will breed results, and our faith will be reliable. Hope that is lost is no hope at all. It is desperation. Hope that is seen is no hope at all. It is evidence.
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Secondly, true hope is assured. Our world today has many false assurances. Spouses promise to love one another only to break each other’s hearts because they found love elsewhere. Politicians promise to improve our lives, but they fail us because all they care about is accumulating wealth. We often fail to keep our promises when we make them because we are flawed people. True hope, however, can be measured by constantly assuring.
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Finally, true hope is anchored on someone outside of ourselves who is greater (and all-powerful) than we are. True hope is anchored in God. Hope in God is not merely hollow positive thinking – the silver lining in every dark cloud; no, it is a solid anchor on the one who is both reliable and able. As the good hymn says, we have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll.
Knowing the true anchor of hope brings me to the bedrock of this hope series: Christian hope is different. I will show, in several parts, that our hope as believers is radically different from that of the world. For the world, hope is but a wish that has no guarantee. It is like grappling in the dark, trying to find a door that does not exist and that opens up to a world of uncertainty. Christian hope, on the other hand, is looking forward to something that we know will happen. We know that we will be comforted when we mourn (Matthew 5:4). We know that our Saviour will not only keep us but will also safely deliver us to God the Father (Jude 24). We know that we will be forgiven when we repent (1 John 1:9).
When we sing, “My hope is built on nothing less…” what we are saying is not that the blood of Jesus and his righteousness are the least. We are saying there is nothing lesser, but that His blood and righteousness are the utmost, and there is nothing greater.
Hope In Dark Times
The reality of pain and suffering is one that we cannot wish away. Ranging from terrible experiences like terminal illness to having to deal with missing a piece of chicken at a wedding, we all go through undesirable experiences. Prolific author and longtime missionary Elizabeth Elliot defined suffering as the spectrum between having what you do not want and not having what you want.
Some preachers have grossly misrepresented the gospel message and made it look like believing in God and in Jesus Christ is the end of all your suffering here on earth. But is this the Christian message? In Mark 8:34, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” What does it mean to “deny yourself” and “take up your cross”? I submit to you that to be a Christian is not an to be exempt from suffering but rather an invitation to suffer well, to suffer with hope.
The biggest dilemma with pain and suffering is the concept of theodicy. Theodicy is the dilemma of God’s goodness versus all the evil in the world. Who is to blame for evil? If God is good and all-powerful, why doesn’t he deal with suffering? But is this a valid question to ask? If God annihilated all suffering now, would you still stand one minute from now? Remember the words of God in Exodus 3:7, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. Friends, God sees, He hears, and He is concerned.
So, what hope do we have when we go through dark times? We have hope in Him who redeemed Himself by going through suffering Himself. Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53:4-5 is described as the one who bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. We are then invited to share in His sufferings, to become like Him in His death and therefore live even to eternity (Philippians 3:10-11).
We have hope because this world is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20). When going through a difficult time, it is good to remember that our ultimate hope is away from this life. We have no comfort on earth. Our temporary joys and beautiful moments are but a reprieve from a life often punctuated by trouble and sorrow. These sorrows and troubles are “momentary afflictions” preparing for us an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all comparison (1 Corinthians 4:17).
Finally, we have hope because pain and suffering produce in us the nature of Christ. As we share in his suffering (Philippians 3:10), we become like him. Before digital cameras became a thing, we had cameras with film strips. These strips were called “negatives”. The negatives would be processed in a dark room in order to produce clear photos with the correct light and colour balance. If a negative got exposed to light before being processed, the photo would literally “burn” – becoming unclear and ugly, and this is the value of the dark times. It is in them that the negatives in our lives are processed to produce the right image – that of Christlikeness. Amen.
