What is this hope in which we are to believe? Where does it come from and what difference does it make?
When we talk about human hope, we’re really talking about aspirations and desires. Some might be reasonable, and some might be ridiculously optimistic.
I might hope that I can be a champion sportsperson; that’s fictitious hope! I’ve left my run a bit late (excuse the pun). Whilst I enjoy a daily walk, I simply don’t have the physical ability to achieve professional sport status.
I might hope that tomorrow it will be sunny for our family barbecue celebration; that’s a desire, a wish over which I have no control.
My hope may be for something good but wishing for it doesn’t make it certain.
For most people: Hope is when we REALLY want something. Our human understanding of hope is that good things are desired, and they might happen, but this is an anticipation which is uncertain. As Tom Wright says, “We have . . . a vague and fuzzy optimism that somehow things may work out in the end.”[1]
The hope that we Christians talk about, is not just wishful thinking, or having a positive attitude. It is a certainty. Biblical hope is a confident expectation, a firm assurance.
Simply seeing Jesus as a moral teacher will not bring us future hope. Simply living an “ethical” life will not bring us future hope. The strength of Biblical Christian hope is based on the promises and faithfulness of God.
Believing that God keeps His promises is a key truth and the foundation of faith and hope. It’s why we need to be avid Bible readers, to see again and again the faithfulness of God, the certainty of His promises and the assurance of Hope.
Blessings
Brian
[1] N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, (New York: Zondervan, 2008), 25.