Hope is a dynamic power that enables one to do almost unbelievable things. I am thinking of hope as a part of life, not just as religious hope.

Many years ago the pilgrims came across the North Atlantic; they battled the storms of winter in those little ships. They made the journey and settled into this new land. Why did they brave those storms? Why did they risk their lives to come to the new land? It was because of hope for a better life in the new world.

In the early days of our country the pioneers moved westward. They crossed mountains, rivers, and plains. They suffered hardship. Many of them died. Many others reached their objective of arriving in the West. Why did they make those journeys? It was because of hope. They hoped that beyond those mountains, beyond the rivers, beyond the plains they would find a great meaning to their lives.

The same is still true today. A person is sick. Perhaps he may be hospitalized. He may have to undergo surgery. One of the great healing elements in his life will be his hope of getting better. I believe it goes without contradiction that sometimes sick people do not get well when they are sick because they give up hope. When they give up, they cannot win the victory.

As we saw last week, in Romans 8, Paul speaks of hope in the context of the problems of human suffering. In verse 17 he said, “We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him.”

Paul is focusing attention upon the world as it is, a fallen world, a world into which sin has come. As a result of the fall, as a result of sin, there is sickness, heartache, disappointment, and death in this world.

Basically, suffering is in the world because the world has fallen. How is the man in Christ to deal with the world as it is? His disappointments? His physical pain and mental anguish? Death? Paul’s word is “hope.”

Notice what Paul says in verse 18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” God has something better for His people than the suffering and heartache of this world. That something in the future is the object of the Christian’s hope. But no sooner does Paul refer to the sufferings of this present time than he begins to mention what he calls the “whole creation.” Notice what he says:

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pain of childbirth together until now (8:19-22).

He is talking about every creature that makes up the human family. His point is that everyone, regardless of who he is, longs for a better life in another world. Everyone has some concept of life beyond this life. The Indians in the earlier days of our country had their happy hunting grounds in their thoughts. Man longs for a better tomorrow. Paul says that every man is groaning under the sufferings that the world brings and wants to be released from that suffering. How- ever, Paul’s major point has to do with the Chris- tian and his hope. The man who is out of Christ does not live in hope. If he has a hope, it is a false hope because the hope of a better tomorrow belongs only to those who are in Christ.

THE OBJECT OF HOPE

Paul continues in 8:23: “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” The whole family of man longs for a better tomorrow, but those who are in Christ know best of all that a better tomorrow is coming. We know it because we have the assurance of God Himself. The object of what we are looking forward to is the “redemption of our body.” Paul is referring to the resurrection from the dead.

I believe in a bodily resurrection. Why? Because the Bible teaches the resurrection of the body;  because  Jesus  Christ  Himself  has  been raised. First Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” All are going to be raised from the dead. The beautiful concept for the Christian is that those who are in Christ are to enjoy the final adoption, the redemption of the body. First Co-rinthians 15 is the great chapter on the bodily resurrection of the dead. In that chapter Paul shows that at some point this mortal will put on immortality, this corruptible shall put on incorruption. When this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Did you know that those who are in Christ will win the ultimate victory even over death? Death is not the end; it is only a stage in the Christian’s existence. He does not face death by himself. God will be with His children even in death and bring them safely through death to the other side.

What assurance do we have that we will be raised? We could say that our assurance is the promise of God; we could say our assurance is the fact that Christ has been raised. But in this context what is the assurance? Did you notice that in verse 23 Paul spoke of the first fruits of the Spirit? The Spirit of God is given to those who are obedient to God (Romans 5-8). Paul has pre- viously emphasized the concept of God’s Spirit being spread abroad in the hearts of those who are in Christ. Acts 5:32 says, “. . . so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” The first fruit is the giving of the Spirit to the Christian. The first fruit is the promise of an additional harvest that will come later. The addi- tional harvest is the resurrection of the body. Our assurance is the Spirit, “the first fruits of the Spirit.” God’s Spirit is a down payment on blessings to be received in the future.

III. THE NATURE OF HOPE

What is hope? There are two elements in hope. One is desire; the other is expectation. A person can desire something and never achieve it. He can expect something that he does not desire. When he has hope he has both desire and expectation. The desire and expectation of the Christian is that there will be a resurrection of the body in an eternal dwelling place with God. He desires it and expects it because God has promised it.

IV. THE RECIPIENTS OF HOPE. Who has hope? Who has hope for the future; who  has  hope  for  being  raised,  exalted,  and glorified with God? The man out of Christ does not. Ephesians 2:12 speaks of those who live without Christ, as living without hope. That is one of the saddest thoughts that can ever enter our minds. No hope. Out of Christ. Christians who take their commitment to Christ lightly and never commit their lives to Jesus have no hope. The church at Laodicea in Revelation 3 was about to be spewed out of the mouth of Christ. Simply being a church member does not mean a person has hope. Who has hope? In Colossians 1:27 Paul said, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The Christian is in Christ. Romans 6 says he was baptized and that act put him into Christ (6:3).

He has entered into Christ. Not only is the Christian in Christ, but Christ is in him. Christ’s light is being reproduced in the life of a Christian. The Christian is seeking to think, talk, and act like Christ. As Christ is formed in the Christian, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

You can have that hope. But if you have hope it will be because you made the effort to enter into Christ and are daily developing into His image. It is a great concept. Those in Christ have hope for the future. Let us probe this term to see what it means to us, what its real significance is, and how it is attached to being in Christ. In verse 19 he uses a wonderful word for eager expectation. It is apokaradokia and it describes the attitude of a man who scans the horizon with head thrust forward, eagerly searching the distance for the first signs of the dawn break of glory.

To Paul life was not a weary, defeated waiting; it was a throbbing, vivid expectation. The Christian is involved in the human situation. Within he must battle with his own evil human nature; without he must live in a world of death and decay. Nonetheless, the Christian does not live only in the world; he also lives in Christ. He does not see only the world; he looks beyond it to God. He does not see only the consequences of man’s sin; he sees the power of God’s mercy and love. Therefore, the keynote of the Christian life is always hope and never despair. The Christian waits, not for death, but for life. The Christian, a new person in Christ, has a new hope: “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pt. 1:3-9).

HOPE’S NATURE: WHAT IS IT? Hope is the expectation of something desired. Hope = desire + expectation. Hope is always the expectation of something good — in contrast to fear, which is the dreaded expectation of something bad. Hope is always oriented toward the future – Rom. 8:24,25; Hb. 11:1. It is waiting with:

Joy – Rom. 12:12.

Confidence – 2 Cor. 5:6-8; 2 Thess. 2:16,17.

Patience – Rom. 8:25; 1 Thess. 1:3.

Discipline – Hb. 10:23; 1 Pt. 1:13.

(1 Corinthians 15:14 NNAS) “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”

(1 Corinthians 15:17-19 NNAS) “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. {19} If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” Critics have attempted to portray Christian hope as groundless naivete, blind optimism, silly Pollyanna-ism, etc. F. W. Nietzsche said, “Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man.”

(Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. {2} Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

“Everyone needs long-range goals, if for no other reason than to keep from being frustrated by short-range failures.” “The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storm” (O. S. Marden). “Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so indispensable, none so powerful, as hope. Without hope men are only half alive. With hope they dream and think and work” (Charles Sawyer).

Conclusion. Hope may be one of the most conspicuous blessings of Christianity, a thing other people notice and ask about: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pt. 3:15). Hope is a central theme of the gospel: (Acts 23:6 NIV) “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.””

(Acts 24:14-15 NIV) “However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, {15} and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”

(Acts 26:6-7 NIV) “And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. {7} This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.”

[1] John White, The Cost of Commit­ment, p. 4.