What is the hope of faith?
The hope of faith is something that goes beyond our normal expectations of hope. It is natural to hope for things in life we would like to see happen. Yet we know we cannot be sure about whether or not they will actually come to pass. Life does not always turn out as planned, and while it is helpful to remain optimistic and be in hope for some future blessing or breakthrough, we are aware that all such hope comes with aspects of uncertainty. The ‘hope of faith’ is also about things ‘not yet seen’ (i.e., they are yet to happen) but they are founded upon God’s reliability and faithfulness by which he appeals to the human heart and gives his assurance that what he promises, he will also fulfil.
It is in this sense that he becomes for us the God of all comfort. God assures us that his presence is always with us and that his promises are sure and certain and can be relied upon in every circumstance. Thus, despite how we might see things in this physical realm of time and matter, his promises are made from the perspective of his ultimate reality in heaven that is unseen and eternal (i.e., outside of time). It is by believing that we are able to receive from God what he desires to impart. Because he is faithful to his promises we are able to receive his ‘very present help’ which can uplift and sustain, even during our ‘time of trouble’. This is the hope of faith: that all his promises can be relied upon and are able to bring very real comfort and strength, not only when thinking about the future, but also in coping with what we may be facing in the here and now.
This is not to deny or minimise tragic circumstances of pain and suffering that occur in our human experience, or the death and destruction that results from natural disasters, as well as some of the cruelties that happen in nature. These realities are among the most difficult to understand in coming to terms with questions about God, and they highlight the importance of being able to reach right conclusions about him. (E.g., see God has an enemy)
Similar questions can be raised about instances of exploitation and abuse that are perpetrated against people, sometimes even in the name of religion or other Christian organisations, past and present. It is not the purpose here to promise or imply that faith (in God) ensures a person will always be protected from such betrayals.
Yet it does urge serious consideration of the initiatives taken by God (and offered to us if we will seek him) to bring reconciliation, redemption, salvation and restoration into our lives, along with eligibility to enter the culmination of his final plans for a perfect world of people among whom he can dwell in mutually rewarding relationship forever.
The hope of faith, therefore, rests on the promises of God that are firm and secure, even those whose ultimate fulfilment may be yet to come. However, while they continue to be outworked in this present world, the very nature of God himself provides an assurance that both his present and future purposes are for good, and that his plans and purposes will surely come to completion in the fullness of time, just as he has promised.
More on this topic: How do we get faith?
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Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:1‑3 NIV
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
A Matter of the Heart
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” Romans 10:10‑11 NIV
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 NIV
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 ESV
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8 ESV
“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10 NIV
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Hebrews 4:12‑13 NIV
Getting Faith
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV
So then faith comes, by hearing and hearing by the word of God [the Bible]. Romans 10:1 NKJV (See more at: How do we get faith?)
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4 NIV
Having Hope
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast . . . Hebrews 6:19 NKJV
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 NIV
. . . [because] it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure . . . where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf . . . Hebrews 6:18‑20 NIV
In Every Circumstance
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, . . . 2 Corinthians 1:3‑4 NIV
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in [times of] trouble. Psalm 46:1 KJV
The Lord isn't slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn't want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act. 2 Peter 3:9 GWT
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1‑5 NIV
Receiving God’s Promises
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14‑15 NIV
Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:23‑24 NIV
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24 NIV
Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8‑9 NIV
For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Romans 10:10 NLT
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 NIV
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 NIV
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ESV
Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For . . . they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:19‑21 NIV
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8‑13 NIV
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10‑11 NIV
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2‑3 NIV
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1‑5 NIV
The wisdom of God: revealed by His Spirit
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him - these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:6‑16 NIV
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