I want you to look with me at a word
most people think they understand. It’s a word
you’ve heard thousands of times, in church
and out. A word you’ve used yourself over
and over again—probably without having the
foggiest notion what it really means.
I’m talking about the word hope.
“Oh, Brother Copeland, I know what the
word hope means!”
No, you don’t. Not unless you’ve studied
it in the Word of God. Because in today’s
language the word hope has lost its meaning.
It doesn’t even resemble the hope spoken
about in the Bible.
For example, these days you might hear
someone say, “I sure do hope Joe is coming
for dinner.” What does that mean? It means,
“I don’t know if Joe is coming for dinner,
but I sure wish he would.” In that context,
the word hope is the same as the word wish.
It carries with it an element of doubt.
But real Bible hope isn’t like that at all.
In fact, it’s just the opposite. If you look up
the Greek definition of the word hope, you’ll
find it means “to be intensely expectant, to
be confidently looking forward to something
you fully expect to happen.”
You can see this kind of hope in action in
Philippians 1:19-20. There, the Apostle Paul
says, “I know that this shall turn to my salvation
through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation
and my hope…” For emphasis, Paul used
the two Greek words there that mean earnest
expectation. In other words, he was saying to
them, “This thing is so inevitable I’m just
burning up with expectancy!”
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
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