Our Hope

“Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.” 1 Peter 3:13-16

In his book, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence O. Richards defines the exciting, encouraging meaning of the New Testament word hope:

“In the New Testament (NT), hope is always the expectation of something good,” writes Richards. “It is also something we must wait for. In the NT unlike the OT [Old Testament], just what we hope for is carefully explained...Resurrection is a reality...Because believers will be raised to be with the Lord, we do ‘grieve like the rest of men who hope’ when death invades our circle of friends (1 Thess. 4:13).

The NT also associate hope with character. In the NT, character development is linked with patient endurance: doing the right thing despite delays in reaching goals or receiving rewards. So it is particularly significant when we are told that ‘endurance [is] inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Thess. 1:3; Rom. 5:4-5). We are exhorted to ‘hold on to our courage the hope of which we boast’ (Heb. 3:6) and to make our hope sure showing ‘diligence to the very end’ (Heb. 6:11)....With hope we can maintain an optimistic outlook, even when things go wrong.”

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul...enters within the veil.” Hebrews 6:19