Overview: It is interesting today that a word that God uses 155 times in the Bible is a word that the world and new age movement is trying to destroy. The new age movement criticizes the word hope as a word for the weak, an ambiguous word that suggests something may happen, but not with 100% certaintly.
The new age thinking defines a person with hope as a person that is unsure and not confident that he or she is capable of creating whatever it is that they desire. The new age way of thinking diminishes, dilutes and denies the word, hope, while the Bible elevates hope as the core of the Christian faith
Merriam-Websters Dictionary defines hope as something: 1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation
2 : to desire with expectation of obtainment.
The battle for this word lies at the crossroads of why Jesus died on the cross for all mankind, to provide eternal life to all who accept and believe. So then, hope, is a very good word indeed. God describes the word hope in His Word in the following powerful verses.
Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And
whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted
by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear
when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in
the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a
hope
Romans 15:12-13 And again, Isaiah saith, There shall be the root of Jesse, And he that ariseth to rule over the Gentiles; On him shall the Gentiles hope.13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 1:22-23 In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Titus 3:6-7 Whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
I Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Hope: Seeing the Unseen
Hebrews 11:1,6 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. 6But without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Summary: Hope, the most important word of the Christian
faith as revealed to us by God Himself, in His holy Word, the Bible.