The lives of a 6th grade class in East Harlem were forever changed on the day self-made millionaire Eugene Land challenged them with the promise, “Stay in school, and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.”

One student said, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me.  It was a golden feeling.”  Nearly 90% of that class went on to graduate from high school.

Why did their outlook change?  They now had hope.  Someone guaranteed something that they could never do for themselves.  Someone paid the high price for them.

Jesus Christ is our hope.  As the song says, “In Christ alone my hope is found…”  Jesus has done for us something similar…and yet far, far greater…than what Mr. Land did for those kids.

He paid a debt He did not owe.  I owed a debt I could not pay.  I needed someone to wash my sins away.  And now I sing a brand new song, “Amazing Grace,” all day long.  Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

When you realize that you are no longer obligated to pay a huge, insurmountable debt, you have overwhelming joy and hope for a brighter future.

Jesus paid the debt for our sins, and that means we have hope.  Hope for a future that would not in any way be ours without His sacrifice.

And just to make sure that we’re on the same page, let’s define our terms.  Specifically, let’s define hope.

When I talk about hope in this context, I’m not saying that Jesus gave us a chance for eternal life as opposed to a guarantee.  That’s how we define hope.  “I hope I get that raise.”  “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow so we can go fishing.”

That’s not biblical hope.

The Hebrew noun in the Old Testament which is translated hope is tiqvah, and tiqvah carries with it the idea of expectation.  The Greek noun in the New Testament translated as hope is elpis, which has to do with trust and confidence, the expectation of what is sure to come.

Having no hope — no expectation, no trust, no confidence — is a real problem.  Paul spoke of those who had “no hope” because they were “separated from Christ” and “without God in the world” (Eph. 2:11-12).  Yet all that changed once they became Christians (Eph. 2:13).

Christians have hope…and that hope must be steadfast (1 Thess. 1:2-3).  Patient, because heaven is worth the wait.  We must think of eternal life in heaven the way Paul did, who called it “my eager expectation and hope” (Phil. 1:19-20).  It might just be that the reason we get so upset and discouraged in this life is because we focus more on this life than on our hope in heaven.

Christians, where does your hope lie?  In Christ alone?