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CHAPLAIN'S CORNER: Our Hope

By Jerroll Martens, Chaplain

Jeremiah 17:17 “Thou art my hope in the day of evil.”

The Bible mentions “hope” more than 130 times. It is usually used as a noun, rather than a verb. The Christian has a hope, rather that hoping something will happen.

Ephesians speaks of those who have no hope—those without Christ. We remind ourselves that all of us were without hope until we received Christ into our lives by faith.

Passages identify Christ as our hope. To name some: “Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,” “Blessed hope.” God, our Father, is called “the God of hope.” Thus, hope is something that is as certain as God is. To have Christ is to have certainty.

Romans 4 gives Abraham as an example of one who had no earthly hope of having a child with his wife Sarah because of their advanced age. Yet, he believed in the certainty of God’s promise of hope and they had the child Isaac. His faith in God’s promise was pleasing to God. Abraham believed God and God counted him righteous. We, too, become righteous by believing as John 3:16 clearly states.

This hope within us affects our present life in other ways. It has a purifying quality that leads and helps us to be more Christ-like. It helps us to keep an eye beyond this life where our hope is full reality. As our opening verse states, it provides a God of hope in the midst of earthly difficulty. Thank God for this hope!

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