What is hope? It’s usually used to mean the same thing as wish. I wish this would happen, I hope that will happen. It’s just a careless comment about wanting something to work some way, but nothing serious.
Of course, biblical hope is different.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1.
What does that mean? That when we have faith coupled with hope, what we “hope” for will happen and be true. because we hope in biblical promises that we know are true. This verse is a call to perseverance in believing the promises of God.
Through faith, the future object of Christian hope, in its beginning, is already present. True faith infers the reality of the objects believed in and hoped for.
Two words describe faith:confidence and assurance. These two qualities need a secure beginning and ending point. The beginning point of faith is believing in God’s character—he is who he says. The end point is believing in God’s promises—he will do what he says. When we believe that God will fulfill his promises even though we don’t see those promises materializing yet, we demonstrate true faith
Matthew Henry puts it this way:
And the same things that are the object of our hope, are the object of our faith. It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those things now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first- fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a full approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good
The Amplified Bible version:
NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses
We are called to believe God because He is truth and he is unchangeable, what He says He will do is what He will do. Even though we cannot see eternal life right now, we cannot always see justice for the oppressed right now, etc, we can know that He is doing what He has promised, in His own timing, and we can rest knowing that our sanctification is happening, our justification has happened, and our glorification will happen and we will enjoy eternal life with Him and it will be a good thing. Not boring sitting on a cloud with a harp, but actively living in His sight, worshiping Him with an undivided heart that wants nothing more, and doing His will in maintaining the new heavens and new earth. We will want Him because He will change our heart so we stop searching for other things and leaving Him.
How glorious it sounds!
