Discovering New Testament HOPE
It has been said that “we can live 40 days without food, 8 days without water, 4 minutes without air, but only a few seconds without hope.” What is it about hope that makes it so essential to our lives? Surely it is not simply the capacity that we have for wishful thinking such as ”I hope the traffic will not be heavy today” or the happy anticipation that something good might happen like “I hope I get an answer to my question soon.” The dictionary helps us by defining the idea of hope as “a desire supported by some confidence of its fulfillment”. It is an attitude of positive anticipation for what is to come, isn’t it?
Did you know that in Scripture God is called the “God of Hope”? Hope is a part of God’s character. In fact, God was so moved by mankind’s hopeless condition that He provided a way for us to experience hope not only in this life but for eternity through His Son Jesus. The Bible tells us that “when the time was right, the Anointed One died for all of us who were far from God, powerless and weak. While we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangible display – Christ died for us.” (Romans 5: 6 & 8*) It is in believing in Jesus that hope becomes much more than a wish or a desire. It becomes a totally confident expectation that every promise He has made either is or will become a reality. It is truth that gives life meaning and purpose now and forever.
As you embark on this study, I trust that you will discover in wonderful and meaningful ways the kind of hope that will sustain you in all of the circumstances of your life. “I pray that God, the source of all hope, will infuse your lives with an abundance of joy and peace in the midst of your faith so that your hope will overflow through the power of the Holy Spirit” – Romans 15: 13.*
*Verses are quoted from The Voice translation of the Bible