Got Hope?

(I originally posted this as  a Guest Blog on Jeff Dickhut's "Light and Salty" http://belightandsalty.blogspot.com/?m=1  blog back in 2012 (Yikes) I figured it was a good one to start with here.)

I was driving to work recently and I noticed a car with a "Got Hope?" bumper sticker.   Adjacent to the bumper sticker  was a "Darwin" Fish car emblem, a clear parody of the Christian Ichthys symbol.  I smiled when I noticed the two messages that the car owner was sharing with the world, or at least Western New York commuters. The  Darwin Fish was a statement.  It said I believe in evolution.  I believe we came from goo, and there is no difference between mankind and any other creature.  "Got Hope?" was a question, obviously asking Got Hope?  If your worldview is framed by believe in evolution, hope is an interesting concept. Where do you get your hope from if you believe that we all came from the primordial ooze, a bunch of proteins that magically got together eons ago?  Do you find your hope in man and man's institutions?  Do you believe we are star stuff as Carl Sagan said during the PBS series Cosmos?  Where does the person who believes in evolution get their hope?  To be honest, I do not know.  But seeing the bumper sticker and car emblem on that car caused me to think, our worldview is different.  Where do we get our hope?  What is our hope?

First, what is hope?  Webster's dictionary defines hope as follows:

intransitive verb 1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation <hopes for a promotion>
2 archaic : trust

transitive verb 1 : to desire with expectation of obtainment
2 : to expect with confidence : trust

All these definitions apply to our hope.

Paul in Romans 8:18-27 says: "For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." - Romans 8:24-25 (NIV)

The first part of Romans 8:24 says, "For in this hope we were saved."  what hope is Paul talking about in this verse?  To understand the hope mentioned we need to back the turnip truck up and start at the beginning of the passage.

Future Glory

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that^[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 

 ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. - Romans 8:18-25 (NIV)

Paul is speaking about our future glory of which we are assured by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ our savior. The fact that we will be liberated from our bondage through faith in Jesus in not in doubt. He conquered sin and death on the cross. It is finished!  If we confess with our mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in our heart God raised him from the dead we will be saved.  

Backing up to Romans Chapter 5:1-11  we read.

Peace and Joy 

 ¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 

 ⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

 ⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We see that grace leads to faith, and without faith there can be no hope.  Our hope comes through faith in Jesus Christ, and hope does not disappoint. When we have trouble and suffering we don't have to go moping around like Eeyore saying woe is me! Life is over! No one cares about me!  It's right there in verses 3-5.

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:3-5

And Isaiah 40:30-31

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Hope does not disappoint!  We will have struggles.  There will be suffering.  We will grow tired and weary. Paths may not always be clear. But our future glory is assured if we persevere in faith, and in faith we have hope in the Lord. So now if I see another bumper sticker with "Got Hope?" I will say yes I do, and praise God for grace, strengthened faith, and hope.

As Steve Curtis Chapman sings in Heaven in The Real World (1994)

I saw it again today in the face of a little child
Looking through the eyes of fear and uncertainty
It echoed in a cry for freedom across the street and across the miles
Cries from the heart to find the missing part

CHORUS
Where is the hope, where is the peace?
That will make this life complete
For every man, woman, boy, and girl
Looking for heaven in the real world

To stand in the pouring rain and believe the sun will shine again
To know that the grave is not the end
To feel the embrace of grace and cross the line where real life begins
And know in your heart you've found the missing part

CHORUS
There is a hope, there is a peace
That will make this life complete
For every man, woman, boy, and girl
Looking for heaven in the real world
Heaven in the real world

BRIDGE
It happened one night with a tiny baby's birth
God heard creation crying and He sent heaven to earth

CHORUS
He is the hope, He is the peace
That will make this life complete
For every man, woman, boy and girl
Looking for heaven in the real world

(Chorus)

We know the hope. We have the Hope. We need to share the Hope.

"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