The
ç p r p i A l CHRISTIAN HOME CRUSADE
BIIEVEB'S
HOPE
MARCH BROADCASTS OF i f e BIOLA HOUR
A STUDY OF THE TERM
HOPE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Vernon D. Doerksen
H o p e is a m u c h used word in our present language. The collegian hopes to receive good grades in college. The little girl hopes to find a Barbie doll un der the Christmas tree ea r ly Christinas morning. The wife is hopeful a substantial raise will be evidenced in the husband’s new contract. All about our civilization one notes the presence o f hope and hopefulness. It is Scripture that speaks of the farmer plowing in hope and the thresher hoping to share in the harvest (I Cor. 9:10). Thus, hope plays a definite part in man’s mental well-being. Opti mism, enthusiasm, aspiration, and buoyancy find their basis in our personal and perhaps s e c r e t hopes. Hope is the ground or source o f expectation; it is a be lief that what we expect is ob tainable. But it is something be yond physical sight, for Paul argues that hope which is seen is not really hope, for hope involves what is not seen (Rom. 8:24). Herod hoped to see a sign per formed by Christ (Luke 23:8 ). In the case of the girl healed at Philippi at the hands o f Paul, it is stated that her owners recog nized their hope of gains were gone (Acts 16:19). Hope, then, can be a general anticipation of something happening in the fu ture. Is not, though, the believer’s hope surer and more certain than the usual connotation of the term hope? Or is it an ambiguous, un determined, m ysterious future unknown to God or man? Scrip
ture declares the believer’s hope is an anchor o f the soul, steadfast and sure (Heb. 6:19). This bibli cal hope will not bring disappoint ment (Rom. 5:5) for it is certain, being grounded in divine action and promise. The Christian’s hope is closely associated with God Himself. Be cause He is the source of hope, He is called “ the God o f hope” (Rom. 15:13). Our God is the author of all the well-grounded hope of be lievers, for He is our portion, our inheritance, and our dwelling place. Note well how hope is con nected with joy, peace, and the ministry o f the Holy Spirit in the above -m en tion ed verse. The prayer o f Paul is that the Roman believers may abound in hope by the power o f the Holy Spirit. Out o f the midst o f despair, the Spirit of God can generate hope in the heart o f man, and the most des ponding can through His gracious ministry be brought to hope in His mercy. The Father is the source, the Spirit is the means, and the work o f the Son is the basis o f the Christian’s hope and expectation. As in the full orb of Christian doctrine, the death, burial and resurrection o f Jesus Christ are the pivotal point. We have been begotten again into a living hope through the resurrec tion o f our Lord from the dead (I Peter 1 :3). Without the resur rection of God’s Son we would have no eternal hope, and what hope we might perchance have would be transient. But the resur rection is an attested fact o f his-
Featuring
Rev. TimF.LaHaye PASTOR OF s c o n MEMORIAL BAP TIST CHURCH, SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
“HOW TO BE HAPPY THOUGH MARRIED”
(Also the title o f his new book published by Tyndale House, Wheaton, 111.) FOR FREE RADIO LOG Toll VOUT WRITE TO , e , , j v u r b , ola < friends LA MIRADA, I t IGUv* CALIF. 90638 fO l i s t e n !
(April issue o f the Biola Broadcaster will contain all 11 mes sages o f the
special March series.)
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