Expectant Hope
Is there a difference between expectant and anticipated hope. To expect is to have in mind something that is yet to happen, with a deep down assurance that it will become a reality. Anticipation on the other hand can lead some to get ahead the actual happening or revelation and determine an outcome of our own design.
In 1 Peter 1:13 we read, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” In the original Greek, the word translated as “alert” is a term describing physical preparation. It derives from a common practice in the ancient Near East: people gathering up their long outer garment and tucking it in to prepare for physical action, be they farmers heading out to the fields, soldiers going off to battle, or runners girding up their clothing to race without hindrance.
Today, hope is most often thought of as a grown-up version of wishing. This is why, when our hopes seem a bit too outlandish, we may call them “wishful thinking.” But Christin hope is not wishful thinking. Christian hope is an expectant leap forward. We take action, We live in the motion. In the Message, Eugene Peterson render the beginning of 1 Peter 1:12 this way: “So roll up your sleeves/“ Christian hope is about rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, It’s a blue-collar sort of hope, making us ready and willing to get our hands dirty to labour and toil our way toward expectation and promise.
Charles Wesley’s hymn continues in this way.
3.Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees
And looks to that alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
And cries--It shall be done!
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