Throughout the New Testament we will find words that have multiple meanings and applications for that same word. For example, the word Grace is found in 115 verses in the NIV New Testament. Most Christians are familiar with the most popular meaning of the word grace (Greek-Charis) which is, “favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that same person deserves.” Hanford’s Bible Handbook. The verses that most Christians know that uses this meaning is, Ephesians 2:8-9, 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
The other meaning for the word grace (Greek-Charisma), which many times is translated to English as gift. “Charisma is a gift of grace…” It is especially used to designate the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-10). In modern usage, a “charismatic” signifies one who either has one or more of these gifts functioning in his life, or who believes these gifts are for today’s church.” Hayford’s Bible Handbook
As with the word “Grace” in the New Testament there are also other key words such as “Faith”, “Hope” and “Love”. These three words are called “the great pillars of the Christian faith”, all of which also have multiple meanings and different applications in the New Testament.
When studying the word “Hope” in our (NIV) New Testament, we find it is used in 75 verses. As with the word “Grace” there are various meanings with multiple applications. Biblical “Hope” is not what many consider what optimism is, or also how the American Heritage Dictionary’s defines Optimism, “A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation.”
Biblical “Hope” is not the same as our secular culture defines it; “A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.” (The American Heritage Dictionary). This hope is based on things that are subject to change depending on the many factors and or conditions. Worldly hope is finite or limited and not absolute.
Biblical hope is “… the sense of confident expectation based on solid certainty. Biblical hope rests on God’s promises,” Hayford’s Bible Handbook.
The Biblical meaning of “Hope” that we are going to study is not the same hope that the apostle Paul had when wanting to visit the Church in Rome on his way to Spain. Romans 15:24, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Neither is it the hope that Paul writes about that Abraham had in Romans 4:18, Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
The Biblical or Christian hope we are going to study is what one Biblical commentator says “is characteristically a Christin virtue and it is something which for the non-Christian is impossible.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
The congregation in the city of Thessalonica was struggling with a topic that they were uninformed and probably confused about. The subject was concerning what happens to believers in Christ when they die before His return. What Paul informs these Christians, which also applies to us today, is the very important and interesting topic of the Rapture.
Remember the definition of Biblical Hope, “…the sense of confident expectation based on solid certainty. Biblical hope rests on God’s promises.” Why did these Christians need to have a “solid certainty” about the topics of a Christian death and the rapture?
In the first verse Paul makes a comparison between persons who do not personally know Christ as their Savior and Lord and those who do. Verse 13, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” Paul, in this verse, points out that those who are not believers grieve differently than a Christian about a person who has died. The reason he gives is because they do not have hope or the “solid certainty that rests on God’s promises” as Christians.
The unfortunate reality of today is that many Christians also do not have the hope that Paul is referring to concerning the death of a believer in Christ because they also are ignorant about what the Bible says. How many times have we heard Christians at wakes and funerals of a Christian express doubt and make comments that are not Biblically based concerning death, heaven and eternity?
To inform these Christians, Paul gives them in verse 14 the qualifying and foundational fact of which everything he says in verses 15-18 rests on and that only applies to Christians, which is the Christian’s hope. 14 “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
As a believer in Christ concerning a Christian’s death, we should have the Biblical hope of where we will spend eternity. This hope rests or is grounded on God’s promises in His Word which gives us the confident expectation and solid certainty of truth because of who God is, what God did, does and will do for us. 1 Peter 1:21, Through him (Jesus) you believe in God, who raised him (Jesus) from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:3-4, 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you,
Peter talks about our “new birth” which is the same of what Paul told the Thessalonians in verse 14, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again”. Our “new birth” is only possible because of the resurrection of Christ. However, Peter continues to tell us about the results of our “new birth” that begins with “a living hope”. The important question we need to ask ourselves, is this “living hope” so much a reality in our lives that we can do what Paul tells the Thessalonians in verse 18? “Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
Pastor John
