Hope

And Hope does not disappoint.
Prov 23:17-18
Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the Lord.
You will be rewarded for this, your hope will not be disappointed.

Romans 5:3-5
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

What is hope?
What do we mean when we say we are hoping for something and how does that differ from Biblical Hope?
We usually think of hope as something fleeting, or a reward for something we have done. E.g. I hope I get paid on time? It is not necessarily a sure thing. In the time of the ancients, hope was considered transitory, and a temporary illusion. It was nothing strong, nothing certain.This is often how we view hope today, it’s temporary, it’s uncertain and it’s rarely a sure thing. In racing, they talk about a “sure thing”, but it is never certain. Therefor I hope my “sure bet” wins today!!
Biblical Hope is different. Biblical hope is about a sure thing. Biblical hope is possible because of God.
Paul says that those that don’t know God are without hope and without God. Eph 2:12. Hope is inseparable from faith in God. Faith is complete trust in God, Hope is an eager expectation based on who God is and what he has done, is doing and will do. It is a sure and certain hope.
There are two words used for hope in the New Testament. One is a noun and refers to the hope we have. This hope is what Jesus has done. The other is the verb form of the word and relates to our response to what God has done and is doing. The Hope we have is not based in prevailing circumstance but it is based in the reality of God.
In other words our hope for the future is based not in what I see today, but in what God has done, is doing and will do.
Hope:
1. Is based on who God is, not on meOur Hope is based on who Christ is and my relationship to him. It is not based on anything I can do myself.
It is based on who I am in Christ

Titus 3:6-8
He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.”

This is the hope we have. Eternal life through Christ, through relationship with him.

Col 1:27
For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
The NIV says "Christ in you the Hope of Glory."
The hope Paul is talking about is the hope we have based on what Jesus has done for us, it is based in the saving power of Christ and our response to him.

Col 1:21-23
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
In everything Paul writes, he discusses the hope we have through Christ, through his shed blood and through God’s saving Power for those who believe. In Christ and through Christ, are common phrases.
1 Tim 1:1
This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.

Hope is based on what God has already done, is doing and promises to do in the future. Our future, in the hands of a loving Father, who cares about us and wants relationship with us.

Eph 1:18
I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

There is so much about hope in the new Testament. A hope that is strong, a hope that is confident.

1 Peter 1:21-22
Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

Our hope, our confident assurance and expectation, is in God, because Jesus was raised from the dead, and it is based in my faith and trust in God.

2. Is about the eternal not the temporalThe hope we have, is not based on present circumstance or even future circumstances. The hope we have is based on the eternal promise of God, on his faithfulness and on what he is doing according to his eternal purpose.

Heb 6:13-20
For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:
 “I will certainly bless you,
    and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”[c]
 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.
Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.  This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.
The hope, that keeps us secure in the here and now, is the same hope that allows us to come confidently into God’s presence.

It is hope that brings joy with it. When we hope in God, when we trust in him, this brings joy.
We will never be put to shame if we place our hope in God. When we go past circumstance to our amazing God who cares, he is our helper, he is our joygiver.

Ps 146:5
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

God has given us his promises and they are eternal promises. They give us hope now and they give us hope in the age to come. God is unchangeable and we can be sure that he will not change his mind.When we trust him, this hope (in an unchanging God, faithful and true), becomes an anchor for our soul.We will not be tossed around by circumstance, but we will stay strong and true with our hope placed in our eternal God and his love for us and not swayed by everything that comes around.

Want to know how to stand strong in the storms of life? Place your hope in God and who he is and not in the circumstance or in any other person.The prophet Jeremiah gives us a great example of this. He was around in the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. He was living in horrible days. We would say, like a holocaust, where many of his own people were destroyed, the city he loved was destroyed, the country came under despotic foreign rule and his friends were killed. This is not pretty. This is not just a nice story, this happened to this man.

Lam 3:19-24
The thought of my suffering and homelessness
    is bitter beyond words.[a]
I will never forget this awful time,
    as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]
    His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.
 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
    therefore, I will hope in him!”

There is a change from the temporal (all that is happening) to the eternal (Who God is and his faithfulness and his promises.) This man does not deny his situation, he is lamenting his loss, but he focusses his thoughts and his mind onto God. In the circumstance he looks past today, past the here and now to the future and to the eternal. We can do the same, because we trust in the same unchanging God

Ps 42:5 expresses a similar sentiment.
Why am I discouraged?
    Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
    I will praise him again—
    my Saviour and my God!

Again this is a change from the temporal to the eternal.This is a choice we make daily in every decision. It doesn’t just happen. This hope comes from an understanding of who God is, but it has to be applied every day in every circumstance. It is a choice. WE choose, by our thoughts and actions either the temporal, the here and now, or the eternal.
Which one will we choose??

Romans 5:3-5
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

The circumstances have a place. The question is what will our attitude be? Problems and trials are about producing something in us of eternal value. Endurance develops our strength of character which strengthens our hope.  In other words, our understanding of who God is and what he has done and will do should become more confident and stronger if we will let it.And we will not be disappointed, because God loves us, has given us his Spirit. We can have patient endurance, because we hope in God.

3. Leads to right livingThe hope, the eager expectation, the waiting patiently is meant to manifest itself in right living before God because of what he has done for us.

1 Peter 1:13
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.  But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Right living, clear thinking, self control and obedience are meant to be results of this hope we have. Because of everything Jesus has done for us, because of his great love, we are to live differently. We are to become more and more like Christ. This is choosing to be holy. It clearly says “do not slip back into your old way to satisfy your own desires”. Our own desires are about our present circumstances not about God’s purposes.
Since the hope we have is about eternal purposes, then we are to reflect that by right and holy living, not living that reflects selfish desire.

1 John 3:2-3
Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.  And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

Right living and purity are meant to be a result of our faith in God (His love and gracious forgiveness) and our hope, our eager expectation. (Let’s not confuse justification – saved by grace with sanctification, the ongoing becoming like Christ which is about changed lifestyle and right living).

Hebrews 6:10-12
For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

Colossians 1:3-5
We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,  which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

Faith Hope and Love are inextricably tied together. Faith in God brings hope for the future. It outworks itself in right living and in love for others. The best thing we can do is to love others enough to help them to hear and know the good news of salvation through Christ. Our lives are the example.

Conclusion
So hope is the eager expectation, based on who God is and what he has done. It is:
● About who God is and who we are in him
● About the eternal, not the here and now
● Is expressed in right living