The Hope of the Resurrection

We hear a lot about hope these days.
It really became popular as a campaign slogan a few years ago.

But what exactly is hope?
As English speaking people with a Greco-Roman mindset and philosophy, hope has a very abstract meaning for us.

For example, "You gonna make it to the game tonight?" "Hope so."

Hope so? What does that mean?
It's very abstract. It doesn't really mean anything.

So what then does hope really mean?

I try to spend a couple hours each week looking into Ancient Hebrew.
Why?
Because all my heros like Abraham, Joseph, David, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, John and most importantly Jesus had one thing in common; they were all Jews.

They all had something else in common, they spoke Hebrew.
Not one word of English ever came from their lips.

So if I wish to understand what they understood, I must step out of my English mindset and step into the Hebrew mindset.

We think abstractly, they thought concretely.
We love adjectives, they love verbs.

We say "Wow, what a gorgeous day."
Too abstract.
They say instead, "I feel the sun shining on my face."

See the difference?

So when it comes to hope, we think of hope as something to be attained.
They see hope as attained.

The Hebrew definition of hope in terms we can best understand is a rope.
To be securely attached.

Hope to them meant security.
To be tighty held to something.

So that brings real clarity to a famous scripture I'll get to in a sec.

We come to Jesus by faith.
And because of our faith we then have hope.
But this is not future hope, it is hope for today.

Because of our faith in Christ, we are securely attached to God.

So then who is doing the holding, the attaching?
God is.

Aren't you glad?

Which is better?
You holding onto to Christ or Christ holding onto you?

Which strength is more trustworthy?
My strength to hold onto God or His strength to hold onto me?

I've tried my own strength.
It is hopeless.

I trust instead in His strength to hold me.

And that my friends is why our hope is secure.
Faith brings us, hope attaches us, love keeps us.

Now to the verse...

³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?

If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”^) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Doesn't that make more sense now?
This is the hope of the resurrection...
because Christ has risen, all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.

He not only has the power to save, He has the strength to keep...forever!

RP