"Hope: What Is It?"

"Hope: What Is It?"

I hope it won't rain during our cookout.
I hope the Giants win.
I hope I have enough money to make ends meet this month.
I hope you get well soon.
When I die, will I go to heaven? I hope so.

What do all these statements of hope have in common? They are all wishes. If all we have is wishful thinking regarding our eternal future, then we have NO hope.

The Bible teaches that hope is a confident trust in God regarding the future.
"...those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land." Psalm 37:9
"Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed." Isaiah 49:23
"Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming." I Peter 1:13

And I'd like to propose that the Lord, Himself, IS hope -- that confident assurance.
"Lord, you are the Hope of Israel." Jeremiah 17:13
"For you have been my Hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth." Psalm 71:5
"[I am] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope...." I Timothy 1:1

When I asked Him to make His home in my heart, He filled me with Himself -- with hope.
"Behold, I stand at the door [to your heart] and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me." Revelation 3:20

So what is hope? Jesus Christ is hope. It is through Him that I have the confident assurance that I will spend eternity with him in heaven. 

"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."  I Peter 1:3