Hope is a specific attitude about the future, one of looking forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial.[1] Simply stated, it is an eager expectation of good. Hope is like someone who has spent the night outside freezing, eagerly expecting the sun to rise to bring them warmth. It is important to note that hope is different than wishful thinking. The main difference is that hope is filled with certitude of what is hoped for (e.g. the person waiting for the sun to raise does not question the certainty of the event). In contrast, wishful thinking has no such confidence, it is an empty dream with little or no chance of becoming a reality. So, not only does love have an eager expectation of good, but that expectation is founded in reality. And as in the previous two aspects of love the term “all things” denotes the absence of limits. Literally, love is not limited in the good that it eagerly expects.
Because God is love, the good that God eagerly expects is not limited by anything. The question then becomes, “What is the good that God confidently looks forward to?” The answer is us. But, not the current us. No, the us that God eagerly expects is the transformed us, the us that is free from sin, the us that is fully formed into the image of Jesus, the us that can experience Him as he originally designed us to be. The good that God is hopeful of is us standing in His presence, basking in His love for all eternity.
Hope is founded on a confidence, if not it is only wishful thinking, and the confidence of God’s hope is Himself. He has made an oath, swearing by Himself that He would bring immeasurable good to us, or more accurately, bring us to the immeasurable good. God’s Hope is based on His omniscience, omnipotence, and His sovereignty. Because of His omniscience He already knows for a fact that we are transformable; because of His omnipotence He has the power, ability, and resources to transform us; and because of His sovereignty there is no other option but for us to be transformed. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, we will be transformed, warmed in the light of God’s love.
Because God’s hope cannot be limited, that means that ultimately we cannot change what God is eagerly expecting. Regardless of how much of a failure we might be, because God is hopeful towards us He will never give up on us. Even at our lowest point, when we feel more like children of darkness than of light, God does not and never will think of us as a lost cause. He will never think we are hopeless, beyond His ability to help. He will never doubt, question, or despair of the promise He made to us. God’s hope is based on who He is and what He is capable of not on us and what we have done, or didn’t do.
It is the fact that God hopes that allows us to have hope. The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope,[2] and because He is confident that He can transform us we gain the strength to keep fighting the good fight. As the author of Hebrews wrote, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast…” (Hebrews 6:19 NKJV). God’s eager expectation is the anchor, permanently fixed to our soul, that allows us to ride out the storms of life. We will arrive at our final destination. We will be perfected. That is something we can eagerly expect with absolute certainty.
[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996).
Pastor Scott is the director of IMPACT195 School of Ministry of the Rock Church San Diego, which is one of the fastest growing churches in America. 
Scott Wessell 