Christian Hope…A Gift from God

There are times in our lives when we need to put a special attention to have our eyes fixed on Christ. Times when sorrow, pain, loss, uncertainty, difficulties and problems come to our life, or the life of those around us. I want to encourage you to think about one of the most important truths in the Bible, which can help you to overcome those times, or can help you to encourage people near to you such as: Family members, brothers and sisters in Christ, friends, etc. As believers in Christ we must to know it very well… I am talking about hope.

Rom. 15:13 says “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This verse establishes that God is the source of hope and the object of our hope. Matthew Henry once wrote “it is good in prayer to fasten upon those names, titles, and attributes of God, which are most suitable to the errand we come upon, and will best serve to encourage our faith concerning it… God is the God of hope. He is the foundation on which our hope is built, and he is the builder that doth himself raise it: he is both the object of our hope, and the author of it.”^[1] We must know Him to rest in Him with confidence.

According to the above, a true understanding of God’s character is very important to have hope. Why? Because we can see how God is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do, as well we can know His faithfulness, His goodness, His grace, His mercy, His love, His sovereignty, His power, His immutability, etc.

Through His faithfulness we can know that none of His promises have failed and we can rest in His promise of eternal life (Tit. 1:1–2), as well as in the guarantee of His presence because He says ‘“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5b-6). His presence is an invaluable gift when we are far away from home or family. When we are facing difficulties or our beloved ones are suffering in the other side of the globe. What a blessing to have a hope based on the secure Word of God and the character of God Himself (Matt. 5:18).

Moreover, when we understand the faithfulness of God we can know that due to His faithfulness He is able to accomplish in us whatever He says. Arthur W. Pink once wrote “God is true. His Word of promise is sure. In all His relations with His people God is faithful. He may be safely relied upon. No one ever yet really trusted Him in vain…His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the Divine character.”^[2]

Hope by the mercy of God is found in 1 Pet 1:3 “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” A definition of mercy is “God shields sinners from what they deserve and gives gifts that they do not deserve.”^[3] We can have hope in a God that is merciful toward us giving us a “living hope” that is eternal life through Christ Jesus. If our Heavenly Father has given us His own Son, we have so many reasons to believe that there is hope for us in times of trouble, in times of trial, in times of need when we are facing difficulties, because God’s provision for us in Christ satisfied the greatest need that we have…salvation, as Romans 8:32 says.

Ps. 119:116 says “sustain me according to your Word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.” In the Word of God we have the means that God uses to give us hope, and when we put our trust in what He says we can have certainty that whatever He has promised us will be done: In His time, according to His purpose, and for His glory and our good. Because our hope comes from the Lord Himself (Psalm 43:5), He is willing to help us and protects us as we read in (Jer. 14:22; Lam. 3:21; Ps. 39:7, 147:11).

Hope is important because of the joy and peace that it brings us in our Christian life, to be able to deal with all our trials, troubles, and difficulties with confidence in whom we have believed. Hope leads us to purity, gives us patience to endure difficult times with the conviction that God is in control and that He has a plan for us through our situation, helps us to be ready to respond to others about our faith, encourages us, enables us to be a living testimony of faith to others around us, produces happiness and peace in times of sorrow and uncertainty.

This hope also helps us to have an eternal perspective of this life so we can have our eyes fixed on eternity rather than in the things of this earth. Through this hope we can gain a big picture of life (Ps. 73:28) and one of the most wonderful results is that this biblical hope comforts us when we are close to death giving us confidence in the power of God to raise us up in glory (Ps 16:9-10, Job 19:25-27, 1 Cor. 6:14, 2 Cor. 4:14).

Focusing on Christ, having our eyes fixed on Him is the best remedy against hopelessness.