Hope changes everything. Imagine there are two prisoners of war who are held up in solitary confinement. Both are locked in a 50 square foot cell and only able to see the light of day but a few times a day. Thy have very little human interaction. They are all alone in darkness.
There is a key difference between the two men, however. One of them is given the promise that they will be rescued and reunited to his family. The other has no such promise. The difference between the two prisoners makes all the difference. One will do better than the other. One will probably make it through while the other may go insane.
In other words, one of the prisoners will do better than the other because one of them has hope and the other one does not.
Hope is a crucially important part of God's revelation to us. We see in the almost 190 times throughout Scripture that the word hope is used that it is central to the good news that God reveals in Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, Jesus is the key to biblical hope. It begins with Jesus and it is secured in Jesus. Let me outline some important Scripture:
Hope Is Born When Jesus Is Born
In Isaiah 9:2 we see the Israelites being addressed in what seems to be a hopeless situation. The worst has come upon them. Exile was horrific. Think about it. Your land was invaded by a foreign power. Your friends and family were attacked and scattered. The buildings you build were toppled. The temple where you worshipped your God is no more. Your home is no longer yours. You are displaced, destroyed, and disillusioned. You are in darkness. You have no hope.
Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
Darkness is a picture of hopelessness while light means hope. Even more interesting is the fact that this is a prophecy, and just a few verses later we read that another part of this same prophecy includes a child that will be born unto us:
Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
The great light that Isaiah is telling about is the one God is promising to send in his Son. Jesus is the light. Jesus is the hope. Hope is born when Jesus is born. And it was these merciful prophecies given to God's people hundreds of years prior to give them hope that there would be light at the end of their solitary confinement. Without hope, would Israel have made it? Would they have abandoned God altogether? Would they have rebelled furthermore?
Hope In The Resurrection
The reality of biblical hope gets even deeper and more profound in the New Testament. Jesus is born and the light has dawn upon God's people. However, we learn that biblical hope hasn't been completely fulfilled. After all, Jesus lived and died, rose again and went back to heaven. Jesus' people are still waiting on earth for him. In a sense, believers today find themselves in the same boat as the Israelites did thousands of years ago: looking forward to the arrival of Jesus.
Having said this, the New Testament builds a strong theology of hope and it is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. Consider these verses from the book of Acts:
Acts 23:6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
Acts 24:14-15 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Acts 26:6-8 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
1 Peter 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
There are many more verses that we could point to that connect hope to the resurrection of Jesus. Now, to be clear, these verses imply the resurrection of Jesus but they do something more. Namely, they highlight what is now true for believers in Jesus who was raised from the dead: they will be raised too! Those who have faith in Jesus will be raised to eternal union with God and those who reject Christ will be raised to eternal punishment. This is the hope of salvation and the hope of justice now that the believer has to look forward to.
Biblical Hope Is Characterized By Certainty, Not Possibility
There is a crucially important fact that needs to be pointed. The New Testament speaks of hope in terms of certainty, not possibility. We tend to talk about hope in the realm of possibility (i.e. "I hope the rain holds off"). When Scripture talks about the hope it is talking about the return of Jesus, the salvation of those who trust in Jesus, and eternal life being fully realized.
Interestingly, this is where the connection to the resurrection comes in. The New Testament uses this as the strongest proof that God will accomplish what he said he will. In other words, just as the resurrection is't a possibility, neither is the return of Jesus a possibility but a certainty. Just as Jesus defeated all of his enemies through the cross, so will he defeat them upon his return. Completely. This isn't a possibility any more than Jesus rose from the dead is. It is a done deal. Its an irreversible fact.
How Hope Changes Everything
Hope changes everything in so many ways. For Old Testament Israel it kept them trusting in God, looking forward to the day when the light would dawn in the birth of Christ. For the New Testament Church, it hope keeps us looking, waiting expectedly, eagerly waiting for Christ and devoted to the work of Christ.
And this is true against great opposition. What is interesting is how Paul in Acts tells us that he faces trial and chains for the sake of the gospel (Acts 23:6, 28:20). Why? Because he has hope. The certainty of Christ's return and the glory of the believer's future state culminate in biblical hope and it allows God's people to overcome any adversity that God entrust us with. In hope, believers enjoy the freedom to willingly endure suffering for the sake of something so much greater and glorious. What a freedom this is indeed.
Hope even changes the way one grieves. Consider 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
By the way, did you see the connection to the resurrection? Anyway, grief is completely transformed through hope. Paul is telling us that grief is a completely different experience for the one who does and does not have the certainty of Christ's return.
Without hope grief is unbearable. It is disillusioning, forcing us to question the purpose of life and the meaning of our existence? Is there any justice in this world? is there any real reason to endure the onslaught of darkness? Grieving is difficult as it is. With no hope all of these mentioned questions are salt in an open wound, making something heavy feel unbearable and maybe even worse, pointless.
However, in the certainty of Jesus' return, when wrong will be made right and all sin will be accounted for and evil will be punished and good will be rewarded, grief finds its place. It is temporary. It is light. It has a purpose. It isn't pointless. It will make us more like Christ in the short term and enrich the glory of our eternal state when we fully become holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:17).
Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room
This Christmas we celebrate the birthplace of hope. Not the hope of possibility but biblical hope that is characterized by certainty. And in celebrating the birth of hope in the birth of Christ, we celebrate the very real fact that our lives are changed forever for the good. In the short term while we wait for Jesus and especially in the long term post his return.
Let's fix our hearts on this amazing God in this wonderful time of year.
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