In our previous blog post, we started in on the discussion of hope. What does it mean to hope in God and find our hope in Him? We were reminded that hope and belief are closely related. We must believe that something is true before we can put our hope in it.
Up to this point, we have been looking at hope from the perspective of suffering. Surely, hope can be found in many aspects of life, but suffering is perhaps one aspect in which we need the most hope. We have been digging into Romans 8:18, 22-25 to help us grow our understanding of hope, and we will continue this discussion today. First, however, let’s review this wonderful passage:
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. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 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. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Paul points out some of the wonderful promises of scripture for our future with the Lord. We are adopted as sons and daughters of the Lord Himself, our bodies will be redeemed, there will be such glory revealed in the presence of the Lord that everything else pales in comparison. Hearing these truths is one thing. First we must believe them to be true in order to understand the hope that Paul describes here.
The Word of God is trustworthy. It is written by God Himself, and God cannot lie (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 6:18). This is truly comforting to us today, as we have so many conflicting views thrown our way of life and how to handle different situations. We can know for sure that the Bible holds absolute truth, because it comes directly from our perfectly trustworthy God.
Paul also relates hope to Salvation. We have to believe that what the Bible teaches about Christ being the only way to Salvation is true, have hope in this truth, and then that leads to the salvation of our souls. Both the hope (eager and confident expectation) of Salvation and the hope of a future with the Lord are things we cannot physically see. If we could see these things, there would be no need for faith. But God is gracious to help build our faith by making us confident in Him and that what He says is true.
As we understand who the God of the Bible is and that His Word is true, we have hope. Confident expectation that His glory is coming, that He is good even while we are suffering here on earth, that He has saved us through His Son and provided a way to spend eternity with him; these are some of the most hope-filled truths of the Bible, but there are so many more. Spend some time studying the promises of God, and be filled with hope as you understand and believe that God’s promises are true.