Hope: A Life Shaping Certainty

Ephesians 1:15–23 ESV

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Your believed-in future completely determines how you process and how you respond to the circumstances now.

You can’t live without hope.

There are things you know with your mind that are not operating at the very center of your being. In his prayer, Paul asks the Holy Spirit to take what we know with our minds and use it to dominate our thinking and imagination so that our behavior will be changed.

Paul asks the Holy Spirit in verse 18 to saturate and smite your heart with hope. It’s there in verse 18. “I pray that you will know the hope to which he has called you.” The hope.

Now, what’s hope? Our English word hope is a very poor vehicle for it. Our English word connotes uncertainty. The word hope means uncertainty, but the biblical definition of

Hope is a life-shaping certainty of something that hasn’t happened yet but you know it will.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

2013 Auburn vs. Georgia game

Our believed-in future determines how we live now. Human beings are hope-based beings. We are ultimately and unavoidably shaped now by our believed-in future. What we believe about our future is the main determinant of how we process, experience, and handlecircumstances now. Let me just give you proof of that.

Imagine two guys, and they both have the same job. The job is a terrible job. It’s a menial job. It’s a boring job. Long hours, no vacation, for one year. So, they’re having the very same circumstances.

One guy is told, “You’re going to be paid $15,000 for this year of work,” and the other guy is told, “You’re going to be paid $15 million for this year of work.” They’re in the same circumstances, but they are experiencing their circumstances differently because of that future.

The guy who knows he will get $15,000 is bored, unhappy, grumpy, can’t stand it, and maybe a quarter of the way through the year, he quits. The other guy whistles while he works. He goes to work, always arrives on time, and is very happy. He works all day, and he goes through his whole year. Why? It’s not the circumstances that make you feel the way you feel. It’s not the circumstances that affect the way you live. Your believed-in future completely determines how you process and respond to the circumstances now. You literally can’t live without hope.

Viktor Frankl, a Jewish doctor who survived the death camps in Germany during World War II, wrote about his experiences, particularly the effect of hope. He noticed that some prisoners just withered up and died while others stayed strong. He tried to figure out why, and this was his conclusion.

“If a prisoner lost faith in his future, he was doomed.” He gave this example.

“One of my friends in the camp had a dream that the war would end on March 30. He was convinced the dream was a revelation, but as the date drew nearer, it became clear from the news reports the war was not ending. On March 29, he began running a temperature. On March 30, he lost consciousness. On March 31, he was dead. His loss of hope had lowered his body’s resistance to all of the diseases in the camp.”

You literally can’t live without hope, and you can’t stay healthy without something to look forward to. Depression is linked to hopelessness. Your believed-in future, the hope of your heart, is the real thing that forms how you live now, but we don’t see it.

Let me go even further.

Your ultimate hope in your ultimate future is the most formative force in you.

Let’s look at one more example from Viktor Frankl.

He observed that some prisoners withered up and died while others went bad. They informed by collaborating with the enemy. Some prisoners stayed not only strong but also true to their fellow inmates.

He tried to figure out what it was in the ones who stayed strong.

Life in a concentration camp exposes your soul’s foundation. Only a few of the prisoners were able to keep their full inner liberty and inner strength. Life only has meaning in any circumstances if you have a hope that suffering, circumstances, and even death cannot destroy.

One of the prisoners who achieved this was once asked, ‘Why are you being so nice to people and so kind to people in a death camp? Why even try?’” He replied, “I always remember my wife …” (Who was dead, by the way, and he believed was in heaven.) “I always remember that at any time my wife might be looking down on me, or God might be looking down on me, and I don’t want to disappoint them.”

Frankl said that’s not just a psychological trick. Put your ultimate hope into anything in this life, into your job, into money, into your family, into your health, into your status. Suffering and circumstances can take it away, and your life will always be characterized by anxiety. You’ll always be anxious. The only way you’re going to be able to face life under any circumstances is to put your ultimate hope into something suffering and even death can’t take away, something eternal.

Paul here says there’s another way. There is a hope God calls you to. God has an incredibly bright future for you. If you connect your heart to that future, you will live a life of greatness.

Let’s continue to seek wisdom concerning our hope.

Paul says, “I want you to know the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Paul wants you to know the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. How does that land on you? You may say, “That sounds great because it sounds spiritual, but I’m not sure what it means.”

The word saints means all Christians.

The word inheritance is an interesting word. It means your worth—the essence of what you’re worth—the substance of your wealth.

Whose inheritance are we talking about here? It doesn’t talk about your inheritance and my inheritance. Paul is talking about God’s inheritance which in and of itself is astonishing.

Paul says God, who owns everything, has something so valuable to him that it could be called his inheritance. What is it? It’s the saints. It’s us.

Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would come in and give us a spirit of revelation so we would see the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in us. Paul is praying that you would be smitten by our value to God.

Until you are astounded by how rich God feels when he looks at you, that our value to him as the people of God is that great, you’re not going to live the life you ought to live.

This concept is deeply connected to hope, and here’s why. In his essay “The World’s Last Night,” C.S. Lewis provides a profound stream of logic that illustrates the nature of affirmation and its ultimate fulfillment in God.

Lewis begins by observing that we all crave affirmation. He notes that the least effective way to satisfy this need is through self-affirmation. While it can be somewhat helpful to tell yourself, “You’re great, you’re talented, you’re beautiful,” it doesn’t carry much weight. On the other hand, when someone else affirms you, it makes a much greater impact. One genuine affirmation from another person outweighs a thousand affirmations you give yourself. To hear another human being say, “You are great,” brings a depth of joy and validation that self-affirmation cannot.

But Lewis goes further. He explains that overheard affirmation is an even more powerful form of affirmation. Imagine overhearing someone say something positive about you, not knowing you’re listening. For example, hearing someone remark, “He’s great,” in a private conversation carries a deeper resonance. Why? Because when someone speaks directly to you, you might question their motives. Do they really mean it, or are they just trying to be polite? But when you overhear genuine affirmation, it feels untainted and deeply sincere. You think, “Wow, they believe that about me.”

Yet, even this is not the pinnacle of affirmation. Lewis points us to the ultimate moment of affirmation—when we meet God face to face. On that day, you will look into the eyes of your Creator and see His delight in you. He will declare His love for you, and in that instant, you will realize that every longing you’ve ever felt, every desire for affirmation, was ultimately pointing to this moment. The deepest hunger of your soul will be satisfied as you hear and see the eternal God affirming you.

This is the hope that sustains us. It is not merely the hope of an abstract heaven or eternal life but of a personal encounter with the living God. It is the assurance that one day, the longing for affirmation that echoes through every human heart will find its fulfillment in our Creator's loving gaze and words. That hope transforms how we live now, reminding us that our worth depends not on the fleeting affirmations of this world but on God's eternal love.

Paul emphasizes that unless the Holy Spirit profoundly moves your heart and you connect your present reality to the future hope promised in Christ, you will struggle to live with true joy and resilience. Without this connection, it’s impossible to rise above life’s circumstances and live the abundant, transformative life God intends for you. This is why the Christian hope is, first and foremost, a deeply personal hope.

Secondly, the Christian hope is a material hope. Paul writes, "that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:18-20).

If you want the clearest picture of your future, look at the risen Christ. Why? The Bible declares that the risen Christ is the firstborn from the dead. If He is the firstborn from the dead, then He is the prototype of what will come. This is your future—a material future. This truth sets Christianity apart from every other religion on earth.

Eastern religions teach that the material world is an illusion, and when we die, we escape the material world entirely. Many Western religious traditions envision a paradise where we abandon the physical realm and ascend to a purely spiritual existence. In stark contrast, the Christian hope, as seen in the book of Revelation, culminates not with individuals leaving the material world for heaven but with heaven descending to purge, purify, renew, and restore the material world.

What if this is your believed-in future? The more deeply you embrace this truth, the more it transforms how you live now.

This hope has profound implications for suffering. Christianity does not promise mere consolation for suffering. Suffering often means either losing something precious in this world or being prevented from having what you desire. It either robs you of the life you wanted or takes away the life you had. Yet heaven is not simply a place of consolation; it is the place where suffering is undone. It is the place where, as J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “everything sad becomes untrue.”

The Christian hope is not merely a spiritual experience to console you for what you’ve lost. It is the restoration of everything you’ve ever longed for in its fullest and truest form. It is real life—a life of eating, dancing, hugging, and rejoicing. Everything you’ve ever loved or desired will return to you a million times over. What does this mean?

Imagine losing something deeply significant to you. You’re devastated, believing it’s gone forever, and the loss feels irreparable. Then, unexpectedly, you recover it. The joy of regaining it is magnified by the sorrow of having lost it. The experience of loss and the time spent without it are now folded into a greater, more profound joy. The loss itself deepens your appreciation and delight.

If it is true (and it is) that our future is material and that suffering will not just be consoled but undone, then even the worst suffering in this life will enhance the glory and joy of our ultimate future. This is the real defeat of suffering. It does not merely end; it is transformed. The suffering you endure will make your eternal joy all the more radiant for having happened. That is the astounding promise of Christian hope.

That’s the real defeat for suffering. We’re not just getting a consolation for the suffering; the suffering will only make your ultimate glory and joy greater for having happened. That’s astounding.

The second implication of material hope is not just an implication for how you handle suffering. Christianity also provides the most astounding resources and motivation for working toward a better world, especially for justice.

If Christianity is true (and it is), and if our future hope is a material hope (and it is), then this world matters. This world matters to God, and He is going to do something about it—so get with the program.

The early Christians had cultural power to transform the brutal Roman Empire. Why? Why did they stay in plague-stricken cities, caring for the poor and the sick, when everyone else was fleeing? Their hope shaped them. They didn’t fear death. Their hope made them who they were, gave them cultural power, and provided them with personal power. It was a personal hope. It was a material hope. To the degree you connect to that hope, you too will change. There will be greatness about you.

If it’s true that you can only handle present troubles by looking to a believed-in future, then what was Jesus’ living hope that carried Him through His suffering? He was pierced for us. He was crushed. He was forsaken. He was whipped. He was nailed. What got Him through it? What was His living hope?

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

What was that joy? It was for us. Isaiah 53 says He was crushed, oppressed, afflicted, and pierced, but the results of His suffering He shall see and be satisfied:

Isaiah 53:11 ESV

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

One of the most profound truths in Scripture is this: He lost everything, yet He thought it was worth it because of the results. And what are the results? Us.

To the degree you realize that you were His living hope, to that degree, He will become yours. Think about it: the only thing Jesus didn’t have before His suffering that He did have afterward was you. He had the universe. He had everything. But the only thing He didn’t have was you. You and I were His living hope. That’s what sustained Him. If He loves you like that, if He values you like that, then to the degree you understand this, He will become your living hope.

Consider Viktor Frankl’s account of the man in the prison camp who maintained poise and kindness by imagining his spouse looking down on him from heaven. How much more powerful is it to imagine your ultimate Spouse, your ultimate Lover, looking down on you—the One who has done all of this for you. Let that thought impact you.

Peter emphasizes this repeatedly. He writes, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action and be sober-minded.” How? “Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:13). This hope changes everything. It’s the anchor for your soul. It’s what you must connect to. Let us pray.

Church, can I remind you one more time of the Christian hope? Our hope is not an escape, not a consolation prize, but a restoration! It’s not just spiritual; it’s material.

It’s the hope of a new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells. It’s the hope of bodies raised in glory, tears wiped away, and joy unspeakable. And how do we know it’s true?

The birth of Christ was not just the start of a story but the fulfillment of a promise that God would come to us, redeem us, and restore all things.

The hope of the world was born in a humble stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a feeding trough. Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, came down into the mess of this world to redeem it. He didn’t stay distant; He entered our suffering to undo it. He came to bring joy to the brokenhearted, freedom to the captives, and life to the dead.

The greatest gift ever given was not placed under a tree but hung on a tree. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born to give us life. The empty tomb assures us of a day when the heavens will open, and the King of kings will return to set this world right.

Because Jesus Christ is alive! The tomb is empty. Death has been defeated. And because He lives, we too shall live! So set your eyes on Jesus. Fix your heart on eternity.

Let this hope move you to serve, love, and worship as you wait for the day when faith becomes sight. Amen!

Everything sad will come untrue, and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.

Thank you, Father, for the ending of this story. Thank you that “everything sad will come untrue” (J.R.R. Tolkien) that eternal life, “once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory” (C.S. Lewis). May that day give us hope in our current hardship. And may we all trust in Jesus, so we may experience that day. Amen.