'Caught Off Guard' Concerning Hope

For most people a weekly or monthly paycheck is a good illustration of hope. Often used today as a synonym for wish, hope really means expectation when it appears in the Bible. A person puts in a day’s work and expects to be paid. Yet, most employers make arrangements for workers to be paid on a schedule. So, for example, a worker begins the week working without pay, yet with the hope of being paid at the end of the week. He does not wish for a paycheck; he expects one. His expectation is based on an arrangement, or promise, made by the boss.

In the Bible you might read about believers placing their hope in someone like God or Jesus.

O Israel, hope in the Lord;

For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,

And with Him is abundant redemption.

—Psalm 130:7 (NASB95)

The Psalmist encouraged his people to place their hope in God. He wanted them to depend on God, and with good reason. God is full of lovingkindness. Other translations have expressions like mercy, loyal love, gracious love, or steadfast love instead of lovingkindness. The Hebrew term is an expression of love that is tied to a covenant, and covenant indicates promise.

So, the Psalmist was reminding Israel that they were in a covenant relationship with the God of heaven. For that reason they could depend on Him, or, they could hope in Him. They could depend on the fact that He had made covenant promises to them and that He would keep His word. In Psalm 130 the promises were about Israel’s forgiveness for sin and her redemption. So, Israel could have the expectation that God would keep His covenant promises concerning His forgiveness of their sins and their redemption. Israel could truly hope in God.

Sometimes we read in scripture about a specific hope. The Apostle Paul used the phrases hope of your calling, hope of the gospel, hope of glory, and hope of salvation in the same way he used the phrase hope of eternal life.

Unfortunately, some believers are being caught off guard by voices in religious circles telling them not to worry with questions about eternity. Rather, they should focus on more pressing matters like feeding and clothing the world and serving others. While noble and relevant…

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

—John 3:16 (NASB95)

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

—Titus 3:5–7 (NASB95)

Based on these Scriptures, I must focus on eternal life because...

• Eternal life is real.
• Not everyone is guaranteed eternal life, only those who believe in Jesus.
• Eternal life is an inheritance.
• We are made heirs of this amazing promise by the mercy of God through Jesus Christ.

Don’t let anyone catch you off guard by telling you that eternal life is of lesser importance.

The best news is that if you are true Christian, then your hope IS eternal life.

Expect it because God has promised.

Mark Stinnett

July 25, 2021