Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:13.
Often, when this text is read, we hear the emphasis placed entirely on love—which is, of course, the emphasis of the entire chapter, as it begins, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
I want to call to your attention that this passage says there are three of these golden graces: faith, hope, and love.
We talk a lot about faith, and, of course, the emphasis is almost invariably on the Christian message on love; but hope is a virtue wrought in us by God that very few people speak about, nor do they sense the importance of it. Yet great things can happen in your life through the hope that God generates within you.
Romans 12:12 says, Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing stedfastly in prayer.
This is an amazing thing! This word “elpis” in the Greek New Testament means hope—our expectation. We rejoice in hope. There is a joy that comes not from what we experience, nor from the circumstances about us, or even from those we love, but because we hope for something better.
In Hebrews 3:6, we read, … Christ as a son over his house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
This phrase, “rejoicing of hope” again occurs in Hebrews Chapter 6, it’s called the “full assurance of hope” (verse 11), and in verses 18 and 19 it is called the … hope that is set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast and which entereth into that within the veil.
This hope we have serves as an anchor, pitched within the veil (meaning the presence of God). This hope enters within the veil, into the heavenly places in Christ.
Now the storms can be very rough here below; there can be many instances where we feel that our life is nothing more than just a continual turmoil and conflict, yet if we have this hope anchored in God, we will find in every respect there will be a joy and a rejoicing and an anticipation of the better things that are to come.
God sets before us the rejoicing of hope, a hope of many things that are to come. This hope causes our hearts to thrill as time goes on. Our hope is like an anchor, both sure and steadfast, anchored within the veil, into the presence of our God. It is a real and living hope.
Let’s look at the amazing sources, or the springs of hope, in our heart: … we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience, hope”. Romans 5:3, 4.
A person who gives up without hope is a person who does not realize that many a time there can be a dozen reverses one after the other in their life and then suddenly there will spring forth a pattern of success and blessing.
We glory in the tribulation we go through, knowing that the tribulation will work an endurance in us, the endurance will work an experience, and that experience gives birth to a real living hope in our life.
In Ephesians 1:10–20 we read that this hope comes from being called by God—“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling”.
Down in the heart, God places a hope of His calling, something that seems to live and move within our hearts. We know that God has called us. We know that He intends to meet our lives and to bless us richly. So, that living hope is there within us—the hope of His calling.
This hope comes by the grace of God for II Thessalonians 2:16 says, “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.
There may be momentary periods of despair, but God is always faithful, who will again bring forth such a living, vital hope within the lives of his people.
There are things that happen in our life through hope. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoicing in hope” and Romans 8:24 says we are saved by hope.
So we can see that there is a rejoicing and there is a salvation in our life through the hope of God.
Hebrews 6 reads, We hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Hope keeps us steadfast. Much of the stability that comes to a person’s life is not coming because the circumstances round about them are so encouraging, but because there is a hope birthed in their life, therefore they are steadfast in the Lord.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.