Hope Fully
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12
Hope – Human beings were made to hope. Hope sets us apart from the rest of animated creation. Hope determines our direction, engages our energy and activates our will. Most of life’s important decisions are based on hope. Without it, we are reduced to instinctive survival.
Amazingly, in spite of the enormous influence hope has over life, we spend almost no time considering why we hope. We act as though hope is like breathing. We just do it, never considering what makes it possible. If we took just a moment to think about it, we might discover something that Paul knew very well. Hope without God is sheer fantasy.
“Hope has to do with the future, and since the future cannot be known, real hope must be grounded in a belief that there is One who does know the future and is able to affect its outcome on our behalf. Otherwise, we are left to hope in our own ability, the ability of others or the collective promises of the government. Anyone with a day of life-experience knows how tenuous such a hope is.”
Paul tells us that there was a time when we were unconsciously presumptive, a time when we assumed that tomorrow’s routine would follow today. We did not understand that tomorrow is possible only because God wills it. We lived in ignorance of our true fragility. During that time, we were actually without hope. We just didn’t think about it. What changed? We met Jesus. Our dependence did not change. Our human finitude did not change. The contingent world did not change. But everything changed, for now we are aligned with the God of the universe, the One Who really is sovereign over history. Now we have legitimate hope because God is for us.
What we might not realize is that the hope that we now experience is still not about us. Alignment with God does not guarantee that my hopes and dreams will become reality. God does not become my ticket to personal paradise. The hope that anchors all my future is captured in the mouth of Job, “No plan of His can be thwarted.” God is my hope. God’s will, will be done and now, at last, I am caught up in it. What that means specifically for me is still the mystery of tomorrow, but that I am part of God’s plan is certain. I hope, not in a particular set of future events, but in the character of the faithful God. I trust in His covenant promises. I may be 400 years in the grave like Abraham before the promise is fulfilled, but it does not matter. I am included. Hope is my personal expectation that God will faithfully deliver, in His time and in His way. Hope is the corollary of trust. If I trust God, then I have hope since I know God to be sovereign, reliable and faithful.
Now you know why Paul uses the word elpis. The question is whether or not this word is your word. Why do you hope?
