"Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." - Rom. 15:13
The Greek word ELPIS is translated in the Authorized Version of the Bible as HOPE. It is a word that is most often used to stimulate confidence. It is the foundation to living resolute. Hope implies that which is good and blessed. In the great passage of Jeremiah so often quoted, it reads: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (also translated, a hope and a future)" (Jer. 29:11). What a powerful truth!
Hope is the underlying message of the gospel, which by definition means "good news." It is the hope of the gospel that is to satisfy every need in our life. When we were lost in sin we lingered in a state of hopelessness. According to Ephesians chapter two, it speaks of our state of being, declaring our condition as: "having no hope and without God in this world" (Eph. 2:12). Because we were cut off from God we bore the weight of living without hope. But now, through Christ Jesus, we have a hope that has become the anchor of our soul (Heb. 6:19).
No matter what it is we face in life hope is what holds us steady because it has the power to lift us out of any uncertainty. It provides a sense of expectancy that stimulates us to believe. That is exactly what happened in the life of Abraham. The Bible says, "Who against hope believed in hope..." (Rom. 4:18). In other words, at a time when everything seemed contrary to what God had spoken over him Abraham held fast to God's promise. What enabled him to remain steadfast was a hope that prevailed against all hopelessness.
You may be in a situation that appears every bit hopeless. However, no matter how void or how dark it may seem, remember, there is nothing that stood as desperately hopeless as our lost condition in sin. For God to bring us out is the greatest miracle of all! That is why I so love this opening verse: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 15:13). There is a place that we need to come to in our Christian walk where we abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the hope of the gospel that we find the strength and courage to press on, especially when everything around us wants us to cave in and give up.
There is no greater example of how to live in a place of confident expectation than to behold Christ's crucifixion. Here hung the Son of God, stripped and devalued by his accusers; a life that seemed so intent on helping, giving, and caring for those who were without hope, and yet, was accused of being something he wasn't, who now had to face a cross of shame. But even in the midst of such humiliation, he rejoiced in his heart over the hope that such a sacrifice would bring to every man everlasting consolation.
That is why we no longer have to live our lives overcome with uncertainties. There has been a great price paid to make it possible for all of us to overcome every obstacle that tries to stand in our way. This is assured by the God of Hope who fills us with all joy and peace in believing!
What may seem impossible to man is possible with God. Our very salvation proves that. The needs we have in our lives have a solution. The cross holds hope because it is the crossroad to our destiny. Christ conquered every crisis of man, and he is the answer to all that could possibly rob us of our expectation for living a good life.
If there are things that you are facing that make you want to hold your head down, then maybe it is time to take another look at the hope of the gospel; for surely, it is this great hope we have that has the power to lift your head up and give you a new outlook on life.*
