“I hope today is a good day.”

“I hope I pass this test.”

”I hope this meeting goes quickly.”

”I hope I get to see you this weekend.”

“I hope I don’t get sick.”

“I hope it doesn’t rain today.”

Hope changes our perspective about life on earth.

I have said each of these statements multiple times throughout my life. Some of these hopes became realities. Many of them did not. It rained on my wedding day. I often got sick when it was inconvenient. Some days were difficult, sometimes I failed the test, sometimes people didn’t show up.

Despite not getting these things, I still have hope. But I hold hope loosely, always knowing that it might not happen. I think as we get older—after we’ve experienced loss and disappointment, rejection and despair—it’s harder to have hope. At least to hope with the same naïveté and energy we did as children. And yet, the word hope appears 167 times in 159 verses in the New International Version of The Bible. So hope must matter to the Lord and it must be critical to our walk with Jesus.

What does the Bible say about hope?

Let’s look at few verses here:

Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” (NIV)

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

Psalm 119:114 “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.”

Psalm 25:5  “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

As we think about hope from a biblical context, it’s important to remove our cultural understanding of hope. Hope in Scripture is not the hope we use on a regular basis. It is not flippant; it is secure. It is not layered with uncertainty or wrapped in the caveat that it might not happen. The hope God talks about is sure. It can be translated as “confident expectation.” When God tells us to hope for something, He guarantees that it will come to fruition or that it is ours already.

This world is not our home. Right now you are a citizen of heaven—God’s eternal, perfect Kingdom.

What is the hope that Scripture talks about?

Both the Old Testament and New Testament makes it clear that our hope is found in the Lord. In the words that He says, the promises He makes, and the character He reveals. We have a confident expectation in His faithfulness, His presence, His provision, His protection, His guidance, His forgiveness, His love, and His purposes. This alone is an incredible gift. Confident expectation in who God is and how He takes care of His children is why the author of Psalm 119 can say that no matter what, God is “my refuge and my shield.”

But as believers on the other side of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the New Testament reveals that we also have hope for eternity.

1 Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Today, our hope is in the salvation that comes from Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, He defeated sin and death forever. Anyone who believes in Him has the hope—the confident expectation—that we have been rescued from sin and death.

 Paul describes it like this in Philippians: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21, NIV)

This world is not our home. Right now you are a citizen of heaven—God’s eternal, perfect Kingdom.

Why does the hope of eternity matter to us today?

Hope changes our perspective about life on earth. When we have confident expectation in the fact that this world is not our home, we look forward to the day when we live in perfect unity with our Creator. It helps us hold the things of this world loosely. Despite hardship and disappointment, we remember that this is not it. There will be a day when we are no longer plagued by insecurity, fear, frustration, or sadness. We look to Jesus and the hope of eternal life and we can experience a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 2:6). When we are tempted to gratify our selfish desires, accumulate worldly desires, or put our trust in earthly rulers we remember that this world is not our home. Our future is secure. The One who saved us is coming back for us and bringing us home with Him!

Our hope for heaven not only gives us perspective when we feel disappointment by life on earth, but it helps spur us on to fulfill God’s will and spread the good news of Jesus. We remember that we were made for something more. Our confident expectation that one day we will see our Savior face to face motivates us to love others and invite them to experience God’s grace.

God,

Teach us to place our hope in you and you alone.

Help us remember to “set our hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2, NIV). Thank you for saving us and preparing a home in heaven for us. Let our hope in you change our perspective and motivate us to point others to you. In Jesus’ name.

Amen