God Gives Us Hope as a Benefit of Faith

Merriam-Webster Dictionary says hope is : “to cherish a desire with anticipation : to want something to happen or be true.” When we lose hope, it’s hard to deal with life. That’s why its so important that God Gives Us Hope as a Benefit of Faith.

Questions for discussion are:

• What does hope in God mean?
• Where in the Bible does it say God gives us hope?
• What kind of hope does God provide?
• How does faith in God bring hope?
• What does God say about faith and hope?
• How can the Word of God refill our hope?

What does hope in God mean?

“Hope can be an expectation and anticipation that rests in what we believe. This means that for the child of God, hope can be as strong as what we have learned about God’s goodness and faithfulness. Just as important, it can show the presence of the Spirit of God in our lives.” Our Daily Bread

Hebrews 6:13-20 NIV When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

We have to remember who our source of hope is. This would not be important to us if we didn’t believe what God did for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. If we have faith in Him for our salvation, shouldn’t hope be easy to accept?

Jesus Christ is our anchor in hope. He gave up everything so we can have fellowship with God now and forever.

Where in the Bible does it say God gives us hope?

Romans 15:13 NIV “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.”

Our God is a God of hope. We have the added benefit of His joy and peace as we trust in Him. Because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we can be overflowing with God’s blessing of hope. Where else can you find these wonderful advantages just by trusting in God.

What kind of hope does God provide?

A Living Hope

 1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV “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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,”

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He didn’t stay dead! The evidence that He was truly the Son of God was shown in His resurrection. That means that our hope is alive and that our God-promised inheritance in heaven will never perish.

A Confident Hope

Hebrews 3:6 NIV ^“But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.”

“House” is referring to believers in the sense of the church. Because Jesus Christ is over us, we can be confident in our hope.

Encouraging Hope

Romans 12:12 NIV “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”

God’s hope is not a gloomy mood reaching out to grab a ray of light. It’s full of light and joy if we accept His mindset. This hope has nothing to do with our moods but the security we have in Jesus Christ.

An Assuring Hope 

Romans 8:23-25 “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

We have an assuring hope as seen in the verses above. Our hope is about the redemption of our bodies to a new one and a new life. This is what we gain when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior.

How does faith in God bring hope?

1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV “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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,”

When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, as Jesus instructed Nicodemus in John 3:1-21 NIV, we are born again spiritually. We have a living hope which comes because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ which proved He is the Son of God. Our faith in God brings us this living hope.

What does God say about faith and hope?

Hebrews 11:1 NIV “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

What is faith in Jesus Christ?

• confidence in what we hope for
• assurance of what we cannot see

What do we hope for? To live in fellowship with God now and forever.

What do we have assurance of? That God is faithful in keeping His promises.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

How can the Word of God refill our hope?

Romans 15:4 NIV “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

God’s Word is hope. In the verse above, we see everything that was written in the Bible, was for a purpose. That is to teach us how to endure and be encouraged in our walk with Jesus Christ.

The more we read it, the more we are encouraged. The Holy Spirit will do His job and teach us what God wants us to know through His Word.

Conclusion

I don’t know if you noticed as we read through these scriptures, that our confidence and hope is much stronger. That’s the power of reading God’s Word.

Hope in the world today is not very active. That’s the result when hope is empty. People are hunting everywhere for it in the wrong places. Faith in Jesus Christ is the answer and a great benefit is hope.