Bijbelstudie Embrace
Hope
Story 1: Expatica (2008) News: Suicide rate hits 32-year-low in Netherlands. Just over 1,353 people took their lives in the Netherlands in 2007. For the last 15 years, the Netherlands averaged about 1,500 suicides annually. In 2007, just 1,353 people took their own lives, an 11 percent fall over 2006. The Dutch statistics office also reports that almost half the men and one third of the women who committed suicide in 2007 hanged themselves.
A study report says: Suicide acceptance (In Netherlands) is lower among individuals who espouse religious beliefs than those who do not. Most of the socio-demographic associations of increased suicide acceptance such as unemployed, childless and single status are known risk factors for suicide itself.
An example of a possible trigger (precipitant) for suicide is a real or imagined loss, like the breakup of a romantic relationship, moving, loss (especially if by suicide) of a friend, loss of freedom, or loss of other privileges.
Belgie, 10,2. Nederlands, 16,3, Duitsland 82,5
Story 2: A case occurred in Ostiglia (also Italy): Franz, a German shepherd dog, was laying on the railways line, near the railway station. Workers always chased away with stones the dog, but soon after the dog returned, and one day, the dog met with the Verona-Bologna train…
Story 3: This case occurred in the Farnese palace (Paris): a white Angora tomcat chased restlessly a pussy cat next door. But the female was indifferent to his advances, and one day the tomcat threw himself through the windows and died. The owner said because of the unshared love…
Bible Readings:
Romans 5:1-5 (NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Questions:
Why do suicides happened?
What keeps you going when your life falls apart, when circumstances seem unbearable and continuing on seems impossible?
Today, we are talking about hope. What is hope? Wikipedia says, Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.
What is your definition of hope?
We use the word “hope” in at least three different ways. (1) a desire for something good in the future, (2) the thing in the future that we desire, and (3) the basis reason for thinking that our desire may indeed be fulfilled.
1. Hope is the desire for something good in the future. You might say, “I hope the bijbelstudie finishes soon so we can still see the movie.” In other words they desire for the bijbelstudie to finish soon so that they can experience this good thing, namely, watching a movie.
2. Hope is the good thing in the future that we desired. We say, “Our hope is that the bijbelstudie will teach us something.” In other words, the effect of the bijbelstudie is the object of our hope.
3. Hope is the reason why our hope might indeed come to pass. We say, “This bijbelstudie is our only hope to bring us closer to God” In other words, the bijbelstudie is the reason we may in fact achieve the future good that we desire. It’s our only hope.
In Christian theology, hope is one of the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and love) (1 Cor. 13:13), which are spiritual gifts of God. In contrast to the above, it is not a physical emotion but a spiritual grace. Hope is distinct from positive thinking, which refers to a therapeutic or systematic process used in psychology for reversing pessimism. Hope in Greek evlpi,j (elpis) means: (1) as an expected and awaited good; (2) as hopeful confidence in a trustworthy person; (3) as expectation of a divinely provided future (the) hope; (4) as a Christian attitude of patient waiting; (5) in combination with prepositions: in (the) expectation of something (Romans 5.2).
In the previous chapter (Romans 4) apostle Paul explained how us as believers acquire justification through faith. In this part he shows the fruits of justification. The benefits of justification include peace with God and a firm position in the grace of God so that life’s sufferings ultimately develop hope—a hope that is certain because it is confirmed by the Holy Spirit who has poured out the love of God in our hearts (5:1-5). Since the Christian has been declared righteous by faith, he has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom he has obtained access into this grace of justification and peace (5:1-2a). The logical sequence is that we having been declared righteous, has peace with God through Christ (5:1), then gained access by faith into this grace of in which he stands (5:2a).
We rejoice in the hope of God’s glory and the sufferings in this life actually give rise to a stronger hope which will not disappoint because the Holy Spirit confirms it by pouring out the love of God into our hearts (5:2b-5). We rejoice not only in the hope of God’s glory but he also rejoices in his sufferings since sufferings produce endurance, endurance, character, and character, hope (5:2b-4). Hope does not disappoint because the Holy Spirit confirms our hope by pouring out the love of God in our hearts (5:5).
What we see here, hope is a result of our justification through faith. The biblical hope means: A confident expectation and desire for something good in the future. Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future; it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen; it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect and desire will be done (Hebrew 6:9, 19).
But there are several factors in creating hope. There are trials, and we should rejoice in these trials and sufferings because they produce endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. Thus, the Divine design, in this life, is to fit us for the next by enlarging our present spiritual capacity for hope. Our sufferings, if responded to like Abraham—not wavering, but being strengthened in the faith—lead to endurance, that is, the ability to hold up and not fold up; to joyfully keep trusting God in the face of opposition to God’s promises (2 Cor 8:2). This resolve, in turn, gives rise to character which has been tested and is without defect, like gold in a fire (James 1:2-3; 2 Pet 1:8). When we endure in suffering, we develop character. It is in the development of this character that our capacity for hope is increased and our present experience of the future deepened (through the Spirit). The reason this hope does not disappoint us, that is, the reason Christians maintain a confident expectation to be delivered from God’s wrath, is because of the love of God. God grounds our future in the certainty of his own sovereign work (cf. 5:8).
When we speak of our future, we do not speak in the ordinary terms of hope. We don’t say, for example, “We hope that God will help us.” We speak in terms of confidence and certainty, because the character of a God-centered will is like iron. There’s a connection between hope and faith. You can see this in Hebrews 11:1. This is the closest thing we have to definition of faith in all the New Testament, I think. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Here’s how I would paraphrase this verse. Wherever there is full assurance of hope, there is faith. Faith is the full assurance of hope. Biblical faith is a confident expectation and desire for good things in the future.
Biblical hope is a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future. There is moral certainty in it.
Questions:
- Please share your experience of hope in a difficult moment of your life!
- What makes you hanging on to that hope? And did hope help you?
- Where is the place of God’s promise in your hope? How do you know God keeps God’s promise in your hope?
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