The Christian Contemporary group, Tenth Avenue North has a song called, I have this Hope. The lyrics to that song are as follows:

As I walk this great unknown
Questions come and questions go
Was there purpose for the pain?
Did I cry these tears in vain?

I don’t want to live in fear
I want to trust that You are near
Trust Your grace can be seen
In both triumph and tragedy

I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire
You’re with me and You won’t let go

But sometimes my faith feels thin
Like the night will never end
Will You catch every tear
Or will You just leave me here?

I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire
You’re with me and You won’t let go
Yes, I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire
You’re with me and You won’t let go

So, whatever happens I will not be afraid
‘Cause You are closer than this breath that I take
Yeah, You calm the storm when I hear You call my name
Oh, I still believe that one day I’ll see Your face

I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire
You’re with me

Hope is the one thing that separates the Christian from the unbelieving world. The unbeliever has no hope and when tragedy strikes there is no way out of the darkness. However, for the believer, whatever comes your way you can make it through because you have hope.

                Hope in the Bible is a very powerful word. It means a confident expectation. It is a confident expectation in the Word of God and in the promises of God. As believers in Christ, we can endure whatever life may bring because of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. In 1 John 3:1-3, John encourages us with a reminder of the hope we have in Jesus and what living in hope means in the life of the believer.

                Living in Hope is to realize God’s love for us. Verse one of 1 John 3 says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us….” The love of God is beyond description. That God would love us so much that He would send Jesus to be our Savior and to redeem us from the penalty of sin is simply unfathomable. To think that the most holy creator and sustainer of all things would love us so much that He would die so that we may live is beyond our comprehension. Notice what some of the greatest minds have said about the love of God:

“The love of God is not created- it is His nature.” -Oswald Chambers

“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us” -Augustine

“God’s love is so extravagant and so inexplicable that He loved us before we were us.” -Unknown

“God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.” -Billy Graham

“Love is not a religion. Love is a person. Love is Jesus.” -Unknown

One of the greatest descriptions of the love of God is found in the classic hymn, The Love of God:

The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell.
The wand’ring child is reconciled
by God’s beloved Son.
The aching soul again made whole,
and priceless pardon won.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
the saints’ and angels’ song.

When ancient time shall pass away,
and human thrones and kingdoms fall;
when those who here refuse to pray
on rocks and hills and mountains call;
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
all measureless and strong;
grace will resound the whole earth round—
the saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made;
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill,
and ev’ryone a scribe by trade;
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole,
though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
the saints’ and angels’ song.

To have hope in Christ is to come to a realization of the depth and scope of God’s love for us. Words cannot describe just how much God loves you. How can God love us? With all of our guilt and shame and worthlessness. How can it be? This is a question that we may never have the answer to. All we know is that God loves us!

                Living in Hope is to know who we are. John goes on to say in verse one: “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God….” If you know Christ as your Savior, you are a child of God. Think about that for a moment. You belong to Him. You are His child. Being his child goes deeper than we may realize. To be His child is to be seen of God as if you are the son of God. Consider what Romans 8:15-17 says. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”  To be a joint-heir with Christ is to be viewed by God as if you are His first born son. Everything that Jesus inherits as the Son, we also inherit. What an awesome truth! To be a child of God is the greatest and highest privilege imaginable. We can walk through this life with our head held high with confidence and pride that we are children of God. We belong to Him and nothing or no one can ever change that. Nothing can separate us from God because we are His children. Having that hope in Christ is to know and have confidence in who we are as children of God.

                Living in Hope is to know Christ. Verse 1 continues with, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” The world does not understand our standing with God because they do not know Jesus. However, we have a living hope because we know and understand who we are in Christ. The more you are with someone, the more you know them. Many married couples will testify that as the years go by, the more they know each other. It gets to a point where they can even read each other’s thoughts. They have shared life together for so long it is as if they are one person. So it is in our relationship with the Lord. The more we grow in our relationship with Him, the more we know Him. The more we know Him, the more like Him we become.

                Living in Hope is to anticipate our glorification. 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Our salvation comes in three phases. There is our salvation past, salvation present, and our salvation future. Salvation past is to be saved from the penalty of sin. Salvation present is to be saved from the power of sin. Salvation future is to be saved from the presence of sin. Salvation past is when we first believed and at that moment we were justified and redeemed. Salvation present is our daily walk with God in which we are sanctified, and God is working in us to make us just like Jesus. Salvation future is our glorification when we will be completely changed, and we will be made perfect just like Jesus is perfect. In our text, John is talking about salvation future, our glorification. We do not know exactly what we will be, but we do know we will be like Jesus. Can you imagine! One day we will be free from the very presence of sin. One day we will be made just like Jesus. This hope that we have in Christ causes us to anticipate with great eagerness the day in which we will be glorified, and we will be made to be just like Jesus.

                Living in Hope is to live in purity. Verse 3 says, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. A true child of God who has experienced the love of God has no desire to sin against Him. If you have the hope of Christ in you, then your heart’s desire will be to live in purity and to be pleasing to God. A group of teenagers were enjoying a party, and someone suggested that they go to a certain restaurant for a good time. “I’d rather you took me home,” Jan said to her date. “My parents don’t approve of that place.” “Afraid your father will hurt you?” one of the girls asked sarcastically. “No,” Jan replied, “I’m not afraid my father will hurt me, but I am afraid I might hurt him.”^[1] The greatest fear in the life of any true believer should be the fear of hurting our Savior. After all Jesus went through for you, why would you want to do anything that would break His heart? Our desire above all else should be to live a life that is pleasing to our Father. It is the hope of Christ within us that compels us to holy living.

                What about you? Do you have this Hope? If so, are you living in that Hope?

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^[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 504–505). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.