Hope in the Bible is the confident expectation that something better is coming.  Suffering and trouble will not last forever.  Hope finds its complete fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Hope is real.  It’s not wishful thinking.  It’s just as real as anything you’ll ever know this side of heaven.  You might not always find what you’re looking for in this life; but in the next life, you can find the life that is truly life.  It can be for you, in Jesus Christ, who is our hope.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (New International Version)

“May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish—an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you.  Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in the last time.” (Common English Bible)

Bob likes to sniff.  Sniffing is his thing.  Every time he goes out on the trail he hopes to find some squirrel, rabbit, possum, or coon to track.  Bob has a good nose.  He usually finds what he’s looking for.  But sometimes he doesn’t.  He never “nose” for sure if he’ll get what he’s after.

Often  the term “hope” is used in the wishful thinking sort of way.  That’s maybe because we aren’t quite sure if things will shake-out like we want.  But biblical hope is not wishful thinking.  Rather, it’s a confident expectation that knows what is coming.  It would be more like anticipating the seasons.  In the dead of winter when it’s bitter cold with little sunshine, we hope for Spring.  It’s not wishful thinking.  We know it’s coming.  It might come in early March, maybe in late April.  But it’s coming, and you can count on it.  The trees will bud, the grass will turn green, and the temps will warm.

Hope in the Bible is a sure thing.  Things in this old world might be messed up and broken right now, but it won’t always be this way.  Because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, there is hope, the confident expectation that deliverance from sin, death, and hell will be fully realized.

Hope, inheritance, and salvation are all words in Peter’s text that are describing nearly the same thing.  They all point to Jesus.  We are saved from the slavery of sin through the cross and resurrection of Christ.  We are delivered into an inheritance which can never perish, spoil, or fade.  But an inheritance isn’t activated until death.  Someday, when this present life of earthly brokenness is over, we have the hope, the confident expectation of a permanent inheritance with Jesus forever.

So, then, it is accurate to say that we have been saved (from the realm of sin); we are currently being saved (through being made holy in this life); and, we will be saved (when Jesus returns).  Deliverance is an ongoing process that will reach its complete fulfillment at the end of the age.

That’s why we experience such a weird existence on this earth, a strange amalgam of good and bad.  We not only get mixed messages from the world, but internally, within our souls, we experience the struggle between right and wrong.  Outwardly, we suffer in all kinds of earthly grief from others who don’t understand us.  Inwardly, we have the silent pain and terrible wrestling of wanting to forgive but desiring revenge; of seeking to be gracious but seething with anger; of looking to express kind words but having hate speech blurt out instead.  Bob doesn’t get it; he’s a dog.

But it won’t always be this way.  We have a “living hope.”  Jesus has risen from death.  He is alive.  We now have the power of Christ’s resurrection to face every problem in this life.  There is hope, today, for you and me.  What’s more, we have a confident expectation in our future.