Hope is the expectation of future good. We have hope because of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The hope we have is described as a living, blessed, good, better, sure and steadfast and one of the great virtues. Hope is for the impossible. We have hope that gives us spiritual assurance. Hope is productive of purity, patience, courage, joy, spiritual salvation, assurance and stability. The ground of our hope is the written Word of God and the Spirit of God in His promises to us. We hope in God, Christ and the Spirit. We hope in spiritual redemption, spiritual salvation, the future resurrection of the quick and the dead, glory and Christ’s Second Coming.
Hopelessness is the condition of the wicked. It is unchangeable unless God sets them free through the living Gospel of God. We are born in original sin. The nature of man is totally depraved. Hopelessness comes natural to us. It is apart of our spiritual condition. But God the Father takes the initiative to draw His people to Christ by His Spirit. Hope is grounded in the Word of God. Apart from the written Word of God there is no hope. Apart from the Triune God there is no hope.
Do you have hope in God? Do you set your hopes on the written Word of God? If you have hopelessness, have you repented? There is a great more then hope in the scheme of redemption presented to us by the Word of God. The Bible teaches us that there is hope in Christ because of His resurrection. There is great hope because we serve a great God. We do not have to worry about the creditability of our hope because it is secure in God. We have full confidence that God through His Son raised Jesus from the dead. No theory will do to explain away the bodily resurrection of Christ. We have assured hope because of His resurrection. There is no greater certainty than Jesus’ resurrection. We have historical evidence of an internal and external nature. We have secular historians that speak of the risen Christ. We have argumentation that sets forth the divine truth of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. We do not rely on the mere empty tomb but we rely on the cosmic victory of Jesus’ resurrection over spiritual darkness that brought fear to His enemies. We do indeed have an empty tomb but His empty tomb means that God raised Jesus from the dead. No one can undo that in cosmic history. We have a cosmic victory in Jesus.
We may have feared because we may worries that are sins are forgiven. We can surely hope in Christ that He has delivered us from the world, the flesh and the devil. We have a guaranteed hope that secures for us the spiritual focus and trust we need to love God. Let us hope with a great certainty that He has delivered us from our sins, transgressions and iniquities. We do not have the same hope as false religion. We do not have the same hope as Roman Catholicism. We have a hope that is everlasting. God’s spiritual kingdom is unseen but He has given us an undying hope. We do not hope in the Virgin Mary. We hope in Christ: He is our hope and strength and high tower. (Psalm 33:22, “Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee”).
