My dear readers,

What is Your Hope in Life?

Proverbs 10:28: "The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish."

Hope is always future. Hope gives meaning and purpose to life. When hope is dashed, so is the life of many. The reaction to dashed hopes ranges from mild disappointment to suicidal thoughts. We cannot underestimate the power of hope.

Since hope is so powerful in ordering our emotions and life, it makes good sense that the object of our hope is right and very much attainable. If hope is based upon wishful thinking, that hope is unrealistic. Disappointment awaits. If hope is based upon puny men and women whose power and might are very limited, then hopelessness is in the imminent future. For example, parents whose hope is in the filial piety of their children may find in later years that their children might not be able to care for themselves. And so, after they retire or are in their old age, their children will not be capable of caring for them. Parents with such hope in their children may be greatly disappointed. Their relationships with their children might be adversely affected because of this unspoken hope that is not fulfilled. Parents might be too ashamed to let their children know because it was a unilateral hope without any consultation with their children.

Of course, it is not impossible to live without hope. But those who live day by day without hope live aimlessly. They aim for nothing and get nothing at the end of their lives. But the ones who live with hope will live a life with a purpose. They will wake up with a meaningful direction in fulfilling their goals according to their hopes, whether it is to work or school.

However, hope must be realistic. If a man’s hope is based upon wishful thinking or something impossible to fulfil, his life will be wasted. He has only one life to live. He cannot afford to live according to vain hope.

In the context of Proverbs 10:28, the LORD taught His people to make the right choice regarding their hope in life. In the case of the righteous, He used the word "hope." But in the case of the wicked, He used the word "expectation." The latter refers to something that is tied to someone or something. It has the idea of hope when used in the figurative sense. The desire is tied to someone focusing on what he wants in life. But the former has the view of patiently waiting. The target of his hope is not the focus, perhaps because it is not his desire but someone else's. His focus is to wait patiently for it to come to pass.

With this understanding, God says that "the hope of the righteous shall be gladness." The hope of the righteous is the hope of every child of God. Only in Christ can a sinner be righteous. God has to make him righteous by permanently cleansing him of all his sins. God's righteousness will not be imputed to him if it is only external righteousness. Once God imputes this righteousness upon His child, He will not take it away. Jesus Christ alone has the power to wash away the sinner's sins. That washing occurs immediately when the sinner sincerely accepts Christ as his Lord and Saviour. He understands that Jesus Christ died on the cross for his sins to redeem him from the penalty of his sins, which is death and hell. He acknowledges that Jesus Christ rose from the dead for his justification. With his confession, Jesus Christ baptizes him with His Holy Spirit. At that very moment, God imputes him with the righteousness of Christ, also called the righteousness of the law. Hence, he is called the righteous one.

Therefore, only the one who is washed by the blood of Christ can have the “hope of the righteous.” God has revealed the hope of the righteous to His children. This hope includes entering the new heaven and earth of Revelation 21 and 22. It includes the hope of the Rapture – this will be when the Lord Jesus returns for His church and all the saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Every believer will receive a glorious body at the First Resurrection or the Rapture. God will gather all His children before His throne of grace and mercies in glory. Death, disease and sinners will not hurt or touch the children of God forever. The hope of the righteous is based upon the promises of God. God has the power to keep every promise. The hope of the righteous is not wishful thinking but a future reality. That is why the “hope of the righteous shall be gladness.” It is not that his hope will bring gladness. The content of the hope, i.e. the promises of the almighty God, is itself gladness.

The word "gladness" is used festively or in a religious sense. Great joy begins in the inner man and flows forth into a joyous declaration seen by all! This joy is immune to all life's experiences, whether sorrowful or joyful. This joy begins with the knowledge that God has forgiven him of all his sins because of the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. This joy deepens through the study of God’s Word. The more he knows God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and all the wonderful truths and promises of the Holy Scriptures, the deeper this joy will be. The steadfastness of this joy is unmoveable.

On the other hand, “the expectation of the wicked shall perish,” i.e. be destroyed. This “expectation” is a hope of his own making. He ties this hope to his life and hangs it around his neck until he is disappointed, for he realizes it is vain. Then he cuts it off. As a wicked person, all his hopes are earthbound. Since everything on earth has been reserved for destruction by fire, every expectation of the wicked will perish by fire. Do not ignore this warning from God that “every expectation of the wicked shall perish.” God promised in 2 Peter 3:3-7, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

Conclusion – As children of the living God, we have been made righteous by God in Christ. The hope of the First Resurrection, the Rapture for the living saints, and the new heaven and new earth awaits all of God's children. To replace this blessed eternal hope with an earthly hope is foolishness. Why would anyone replace pure gold with fool’s gold? Every believer should live with such a hopeful eternity in mind. He must live his life in light of God’s truth. He must pray without ceasing, which is what God teaches in the Bible. He must give thanks in all things, for this is the will of his sovereign heavenly Father for his life. On the other hand, he is wary of the frightful alternative. The expectation of the wicked shall perish. They waste their lives in the pursuit of vanity! Their souls will end up in hell because they are not born again in Christ! The righteous one knows that if a sinner is truly born again in Christ, he must avoid the life of wickedness. The Holy Spirit who lives in him propels him forward toward the life of righteousness according to Holy Scriptures. This is his eternal new life in Christ that began at the point of salvation and will continue till eternity. Amen.