How important is hope? Maybe you’ve heard of the experiment that took place at Johns Hopkins University in the 1950s.(1) Without going into too much detail, the experiment involved putting rats in a bucket of water and seeing how long they would survive. Some of the rats drowned after a few minutes, but the others survived for days. What made such a dramatic difference? Professor Curt Richter believed his experiment pointed to one key factor: hope!
You see, some of the rats were rescued just before drowning. Then, after a period of rest, they were placed back in the water. This time, they swam much longer. Why? Because they now had hope of being rescued again. The hopeless rats gave up in minutes. The hopeful rats were able to survive for days.
So, how important is hope? How much of a difference can hope really make in a person’s life? It can make all the difference. Like the rats in the experiment, humans need hope to survive. To keep moving forward in darkness, we need a light at the end of the tunnel. When there is no expectation of an end to suffering, the only perceivable way out is to give up.
Have We Forgotten Our Hope?
The Judeo-Christian God is “the God of hope” (Rom. 15:13). And His inspired Scriptures were written to give us hope (Rom. 15:4). Without the hope of a better life to come, “we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:19) Our Christian hope is what keeps us “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord”, because we know that our “toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58)
But this begs the question, “What is the Christian hope?” For most of my Christian life, I would have answered, “Going to heaven.” Much of our religious conversation pertains to “going to heaven”. Many of the hymns we sing each week focus on “going to heaven”. The stated purpose of nearly every sermon is to help the listeners “go to heaven”. Without a doubt, the traditional Christian hope is one of “going to heaven”. But, is that the Scriptural Christian hope? Is it possible that centuries of uninspired religious speech and hymn-singing could have led us to forget our true hope in Christ?
What is the Christian Hope?
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul mentions 7 “ones” through which we must be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-6) Lately, I’ve seen the “one hope” of verse 4 weaponized against renewed eschatology. The argument has gone something like this: “Our ‘one hope’ is the hope of going to heaven, and anyone who alters this hope is altering Scripture, teaching lies, and causing division in the church.” Is that assertion true? Is Paul referring to “going to heaven” when he speaks of our “one hope”? Let’s allow Scripture to provide the answer.
Whenever the Scriptures describe our eschatological hope, they almost always point (whether directly or indirectly) to one thing: the resurrection of the dead. Multiple times when Paul was on trial, he referred to the resurrection as the hope of God’s people (Acts 23:6; 24:15; 26:6-8; 28:20). Paul told the Romans that our hope is “the glory of God”, which is a reference to our glorious resurrection bodies (Romans 5:2; 8:18-25). In his second letter to the Corinthians, he says that he and his companions set their hope “in God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:8-11). In his letter to the Ephesians, he connects our hope to “the glory of His inheritance in the saints”, which, I believe, is a reference to our glorious resurrection (Eph. 1:18-21). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he connected hope with the resurrection of all believers (1 Thess. 4:13-18). John, in the first of his 3 epistles, seems to be referring to our hope of becoming like Jesus whenever He appears (1 John 3:2-3). This would harmonize with
Phil. 3:20-21, where Paul says that our present bodies will be transformed into “the body of His glory” (in reference to Jesus’ resurrection body). Even before Jesus’ incarnation, the hope of the Jewish people was the resurrection of the dead:
2 Maccabees 7:14 (NRSV)
When he was near death, he said, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of mortals and to cherish the hope God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life!”
So, what is the Christian hope? Is it “going to heaven”? If it is, then the inspired authors of the Scriptures didn’t seem to know it. In fact, the Scriptures say absolutely nothing about “going to heaven”. On the other hand, the Scriptures have a lot to say about the hope of resurrection. As followers of Jesus, we can confidently and joyously expect to be raised to new life when He returns.
Hope “in” Heaven?
“But Jon, if going to heaven is not our hope, then what are we to make of verses like Col. 1:5 that seem to say it is?”
Colossians 1:3–5 (NASB95)
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel
The first thing we should notice is that Paul doesn’t say “going to heaven” is our hope. He also doesn’t say that “heaven” itself is our hope. He says that our hope is “laid up” in heaven. Our hope is something that is currently reserved in heaven for us.
We find this concept in another passage dealing with the Christian hope.
1 Peter 1:3–5 (NASB95)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Peter says our hope is to receive an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance which is “reserved” (or kept) in heaven for us. Again, our hope is not to “go to heaven” itself. Our hope is to inherit something that is presently “in heaven”. What is this imperishable, undefiled, unfading inheritance that is kept in heaven for us? I would argue that Peter is referring to the resurrection body.
Paul made this same point in his second letter to the Corinthians. He is in the middle of contrasting the suffering we experience in our present bodies with the glory that we will experience in our resurrection bodies (2 Cor. 4:13-18) when he says:
2 Corinthians 5:1–4 (NASB95)
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
Paul describes our present bodies as an “earthly tent” and our resurrection bodies as a “building from God…eternal in the heavens”. Some interpret Paul as saying our resurrection bodies will remain eternally in the heavens. But, based upon the context, Paul is presenting a contrast between our present, mortal bodies and our future, eternal bodies. When he says, “in the heavens”, he isn’t referring to where this new body will remain. He is referring to where it is presently “laid up” (Col. 1:5). It is “reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:4-5)
Are Paul and Peter saying that our resurrection bodies are literally in heaven right now? No, I don’t believe so. Did Jesus mean that we can literally store up literal treasures in heaven? (Matt. 6:19-21) Did Paul mean there is a literal crown of righteousness “laid up” for him? (2 Tim. 4:8) I believe the point is that our inheritance and reward are safe in God’s hands until the day we receive them.
Conclusion
Following his rat experiment, Professor Richter wrote, “After elimination of hopelessness, the rats do not die.” I believe the same is true for us. Once hopelessness has been eliminated, Christians do not give up and, in the age to come, “do not die”.
But I’m afraid many Christians today have forgotten our true hope in Christ. In my experience, “going to heaven” (a concept not found in the Scriptures) has completely overshadowed our one, true, God-given hope of resurrection at the return and revelation of our Lord. Maybe this article can play some small role in helping us return to a better understanding of our hope in Jesus.
Addendum
This article’s primary purpose is to serve as a prelude to my next article: “The Resurrection Body”
(1) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/kidding-ourselves/201405/the-remarkable-power-hope
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Comments
Absolutely amazing study.. well done.. I think if anyone open minded would follow this study, their hope of our eternal home would be greatly magnified.. however, decades upon decades of traditional teachings has made many reject any studies like this.. thank you for the work you do for our lord.
I CANT WAIT!!!
Understanding the Word with you is easy Jon. Keep bringing it to us Brother!