Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #60 - The Hope of Salvation

Our next descriptive phrase of the believer's hope in Christ is found in I Thessalonians 5:8 - "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."  This passage is dealing with the protective armament of the believer in Christ that is needed as we live in a world of sinful darkness and spiritual conflict.  We may compare it to Paul's even fuller description of the Christian's armor (the whole armor of God) as found in Ephesians 6:11-17 where in verse 17 he states: "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Both of these passages refer to the believer's salvation as part of a spiritual armor that guards and protects the head of the Christian.  Obviously the head is a vital part of the body and a blow to the head can lead to serious consequences in battle.  The head is also the source of thought, decision making, reason, hearing, speaking, and sight.  It is both the receptor center and the command center of the rest of the body.  Many if not most of all spiritual battles take place in the mind of the Christian!  We must carefully guard our minds with the helmet of our salvation.  Simply put we should continually think about what it means to be saved and then seek to think and act accordingly.  We must be thinking Christians! The consecration and renewal of the mind is essential to spiritual growth and success (Romans 12:1,2).  Likewise, complete mastery of our thought life is critical to spiritual victory (II Corinthians 10:3-5).  But what is meant by "the hope of salvation"?  Many times we have heard it said that we must have a "know-so" salvation, not merely a "hope-so" salvation.  While I would agree with this statement wholeheartedly, I do not believe that Paul is here speaking of a salvation that is merely "hoped for" in the modern sense of the phrase.  Rather we must remind ourselves of our previous findings in this study on the Biblical meaning of the word "hope" as used in the Scriptures.  We have consistently observed that the word "hope" in the Bible is not used of merely "wishful thinking", but always of "confident expectation", especially of future good.  Thus Paul is referring to the expectation of salvation that gives the believer complete confidence in times of spiritual conflict.  The word "salvation" is a rather broad term that includes all aspects of the spiritual deliverance and safety that the Christian has been given and/or will be given.  The basic meaning is "to be rescued from danger and to be placed in a safe condition."  There are present aspects to the believer's salvation which include, among other things, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation and the new birth.  There are progressive aspects of salvation which include such things as sanctification, spiritual growth and maturity, spiritual virtues and fruit bearing, conformity to the image of Christ, etc.  And there are future aspects of salvation too - such as resurrection, redemption of the body, and glorification.  Thus the Scriptures speak of :  1) having been saved (past tense) - Romans 8:24; Ephesians 2:5,8; II Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5; etc.  (This is more clear in the Greek text since both the Aorist and  Perfect tenses are used in these verses). 

2) being saved (present tense) - Luke 19:9; I Corinthians 1:18,21; 15:2; II Corinthians 2:15; etc. And,

3) shall be saved (future tense) - Matthew 10:22; Romans 5:9; 13:11; I Corinthians 3:15; etc.

The past tense speaks of our past reception of salvation at which time we were delivered from the penalty of sin.  The present tense speaks of our present possession of salvation and the progressive deliverance from the power and practice of sin.  The future tense speaks of the future consummation of our salvation and the perfect deliverance from the very presence of sin in heaven!  This comprehensive view of salvation should serve to give us hope indeed -  A confident hope of spiritual deliverance and victory that is a settled fact, a present enjoyment, and a future guarantee!  Let us guard our hearts and our head with this great helmet: the hope of salvation!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #59 - The Hope of the Gospel

In our last post we looked in the Book of Ephesians at the hope of the believer's calling.  We noted that there are two aspects to our calling in Christ:  God's perspective of an eternal calling (He loved us in Christ before the creation of the world); and man's perspective (We accepted His calling through personal faith in Christ at a definite time and place in our lives).  From God's standpoint of eternity (He sees and knows all things past, present and future as one eternal "now") He has either always known us or He has never known us (II Timothy 1:9; Matthew 7:23).  J.I. Packer has defined our calling as "the temporal execution of (God's) eternal intentions."  The means by which God extends His eternal calling to us in time is the evangelical call of the Gospel! The only way we can "make our calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10) is to be certain that we have believed the Gospel.  This is the means that God has ordained in order to make our calling effectual for salvation (many are called, but few are chosen - Matthew 22:14).  Thus the hope of our calling is inseparably linked to the hope of the Gospel:  "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven ..." (Colossians 1:23).  This verse comes in the context of the Apostle Paul's presentation of Christ as the Preeminent One:  He is preeminent over all creation because He is the Divine Creator (Colossians 1:15-17);  He is preeminent over the Church because He is her Divine Head (vs.18-23).  The Creator of the universe is the Sovereign of the Church!  And He alone is our Savior:
1) He made peace (between a Holy God and sinful men) through the blood of His cross - vs.20.
2) He made reconciliation possible to those who were once alienated as the enemies of God - vs.21.
3) He will present the believer as holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight - vs.22.
All of this constitutes the hope of the Gospel!  This is what we may confidently claim and expect to receive because we have believed the Gospel of Christ, but only if we have believed.  The peace and reconciliation Christ died to provide is offered conditionally.  He does not reconcile everyone unconditionally  or else the devil himself and all his demons would be reconciled to God (which is clearly not the case).  He does not reconcile anyone apart from faith in Christ which is a grounded and settled trust in His Person and Saving Work.  To "move away" from this Gospel message is to be excluded from the hope of salvation it offers the sinner.  Only the Gospel of Christ offers the sinner any hope for eternal salvation!  Do you have this hope?  "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus ... for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel" (Colossians 1:3-5).

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #58 - The Hope of Our Calling

We have been attempting to look at the various descriptions of the believer's hope in Christ.  We have considered "the hope of the glory of God" and "the hope of righteousness".  We now come to a third descriptive phrase, one that is found in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians in two similar but distinct forms:

Ephesians 1:18 - "... that ye may know what is the hope of his calling ..."; and,

Ephesians 4:4 - "... even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;".

Right away we might notice that while both verses refer to the hope of the believer's calling, the first verse refers to it as His (i.e. God's) calling, while the second verse refers to our (i.e.the individual's)calling.  The Bible presents the calling of the believer unto salvation from two different vantage points:  1) God's perspective from eternity; and 2) Man's perspective in time.  We may note the combination of these two perspectives in II Thessalonians 2:13,14 which states: "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."  God's calling becomes our own calling when we respond in repentance and faith to the invitation of the Gospel of God's saving grace extended to us in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Both of these perspectives are a source of hope for the Christian.  They do not refer to the prospective "hope" that we might one day be called by God, but to the present possession of hope that we have because we have been called by God unto salvation in Christ.  In the first passage, this hope forms a part of the Apostle Paul's extensive prayer for the Ephesian believers that they would come to a fuller understanding of the spiritual riches they possessed in Christ.  The prayer takes up seven verses (1:17-23) and forms an example to us of the spiritual desires we should be expressing in our own prayers to God.  We need to come to a greater awareness and appreciation for the hope that is ours because God has called us by His grace!  The greatness of that hope is expressed in verse 18 - "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in (or among) the saints".  This is a recurring aspect of our hope in Christ:  our eternal reward in heaven.  The guarantee of this hope is given in verses 19 and 20 - "the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places ...".  God works in us with the same power by which He has exalted the Risen Christ!  Richard Lenski commented:  "When we know the excessive greatness of this power, nothing will ever disturb our hope."  Amen!  In the second passage Paul refers to the hope of the believer's calling in Christ as one of the nine elements that form the basis of Christian unity.  Seven times he writes of the oneness we possess with other believers described in three groups of three items in each group, all centered in the Unity of the Holy Trinity: 

1)  "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling" (Eph. 4:4).

2)  "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (vs.5).

3)  "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (vs.6).

All believer's possess this one hope, that is, the hope given to one believer is given to all believers.  We share the same hope because we share the same calling.  Our calling is from the same God who summons us by the same Spirit to believe in the same Christ.  We are baptized into that same body as a testimony to our same faith in the same Lord.  And the same God who calls us and is infinitely above us becomes our Heavenly Father, indwells us, and exercises His power and grace in us and through us!  

Yes, our calling is a tremendous source of hope once it is fully understood and comprehended. The greater our understanding and comprehension of our calling becomes, the greater our hope will be.  And the more our hope is shared with other Christians, the greater our oneness will be experienced within the Body of Christ.

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #57 - Waiting in Hope

We have been considering some of the elements that constitute the fullness of the believer's hope in Christ by looking at some of the descriptive phrases used in the New Testament in connection with the word "hope".  Last time we looked at the promise that the believer in Christ can "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).  We would just like to add to that study the thought that we can presently rejoice even though the glory we shall experience is yet in the future.  This is because the future hope we are promised by God in His Word is as certain as a present fact!  If we can rejoice now because of what awaits us, how much more will we rejoice in that day when our hope in Christ is fulfilled?  There is indeed a fullness of hope that we now possess even as we await the fulfillment of hope to come.  The Apostle Paul includes this present rejoicing as a vital part of the responsibilities and privileges of the Christian life:  "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer ..." (Romans 12:11,12).  Likewise, the writer of the Book of Hebrews exhorts us to maintain this rejoicing unto the end of our earthly lives: "But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end" (Hebrews 3:6).  In other words, it is an evidence of Christ dwelling in us that we continually hope as well as continue to hope all of our days.  But all of this is also a reminder that much of what we hope for is yet future and therefore we must wait for the ultimate fulfillment of our hope in Christ.  In Galatians 5:5 we read these words:  "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."  We must wait in faith for this aspect of our Christian hope to be fulfilled.  We have seen the close connection between hoping and waiting already several times in this study.  In the Old Testament we saw that the root meaning of one of the Hebrew words for "hope" (Hebrew - yahal) was in fact "to wait".   Likewise we considered the Greek word "prosdekomai" (waiting, looking) in connection with the Messianic hope of those who looked for the coming of the Christ (see study#48, Jan.5, 2014 for example).  Here we find yet another word translated "wait", the Greek word "apekdekomai".  The Pulpit Commentary states that this verb "in all the six other passages in which it is found, is used with reference to objects or events pertaining to the close of the present dispensation:  Rom. 8:19,23,25; I Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 9:28."  It also notes that being a compound verb probably makes it intensive in meaning "expressing thorough-goingness; an entirely assured, steadfast expectation, persistent to the end" (emphasis mine).  It must be noted that the Apostle Paul credits this expectant waiting to the Holy Spirit within the believer:  "For we through the Spirit wait ..." (vs.5).  While some would make this refer to the spirit of the believer (we wait in our spirit, wait in a spiritual way, inwardly, etc. as opposed to in our flesh or in a fleshly, merely external way, etc.) the mention of the Holy Spirit both before (3:2-5,14; 4:6) and after this verse (5:18, 22-25) indicates that it is the personal agency of the indwelling Spirit of God within the believer that produces and makes such waiting possible.  Vincent rightly comments:  "(It is) the Holy Spirit who inspires our faith.... (These words) are not to be taken as one conception, the Spirit which is of faith, but present two distinct and coordinate facts which characterize the waiting for the hope of righteousness; namely, the agency of the Holy Spirit, in contrast with the flesh ..., and faith, in contrast with the works of the law ..." (emphasis mine).  But what is meant here by our waiting for "the hope of righteousness"?  Certainly not that we hope to one day receive righteousness in the sense of being justified before God.  We have already been declared righteous (i.e. justified) by God through our faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16; 3:6,11,24, etc.).  The "hope of righteousness" must therefore mean the hope that results from righteousness (which is freely granted by faith alone in Christ alone).  John Wesley stated that this speaks of the reward of our faith in Christ:  "The righteousness we hope for, and full reward of it.  This righteousness we receive of God through faith; and by faith we shall obtain the reward" (emphasis mine).  The comments in The Pulpit Commentary are again helpful:  "We Christians, as led by the Spirit of adoption, do rest in the confident anticipation of receiving the inheritance which is the future award of the righteous, on the ground of our faith in the Lord Jesus" (emphasis mine).  So while righteousness is imputed to the believer presently by faith in Christ, the hope of righteousness (that is, its reward) awaits us in the future. We should also note that although we have received the righteousness of Christ imputed to us at salvation, the work of imparting and restoring righteousness to the believer through sanctification is a process that will not be fully completed until our glorification in eternity.  Only then will the righteousness which is by faith have its full effect.  As believers we possess righteousness in Christ by faith, pursue the practice of righteousness in life, but will be perfected in righteousness in heaven. Until then we must wait, but wait in faith and in full expectation and joyful anticipation of joining in eternal fellowship with "the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven ... the spirits of just men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23).

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #56 - Rejoicing in Hope

In our last post we ended with a listing of some of the phrases found in the Epistles of the New Testament that describe the abounding hope given to the believer in Christ Jesus.  The first of these is found in Romans 5:1,2 - "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."  The Apostle Paul has spent five chapters expounding upon the great Gospel truth of justification by faith alone.  And now at chapter five we come to a "therefore" which indicates a shift from doctrinal facts to practical application of those facts:  from the cause of our justification before God to the effects of our justification from God.  "Being justified by faith" = the basis of our salvation; "We have therefore" = the benefits of our salvation.  It is due solely to God's grace received through faith in Christ that these benefits and blessings are ours; they cannot be received any other way, nor can they belong to those outside of faith in Him.  What are some of the results of our justification through Christ?  1) Peace with God; 2) Access into God's grace; and 3) Hope of God's glory!  God is at peace with the justified believer; We are at peace with Him.  The enmity between us has been removed and the conflict is forever ended (see Ephesians 2:13,14).  The justified believer has access into the grace of God.  Our entrance into grace (God's unmerited favor and approval) is freely granted; Our standing in grace is fully guaranteed (see Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:16; 10:19-22).  Both are given by God's grace and both are received by faith in Christ.  And the believer may rejoice in the expectation (hope) of the glory of God!  But what does this mean exactly?  What is this "glory of God" that we may joyfully expect to receive?  Godet defines it as "the glorious state which God Himself possesses, and into which He will admit the faithful."  In other words it is what theologians call "the glorification of the believer" in eternity.  This "glorification" will consist of an unimaginable and indescribable change in the believer that will complete our salvation and crown our Savior's work in us.  It will entail at least two amazing things that will equip us for dwelling forever in the Presence of God's absolute Perfection and Holiness:  1) The transference of God's communicable attributes to us.  In some way God will share His glory with us.  We will not be deified or become "little gods" as some claim, but we will participate to some degree in the fulness of his love, mercy, grace and goodness as He imparts these aspects of His glory to us for all eternity.  "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and join-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:17,18).  2) The transformation of the believer by God's glory.  We will be given a new body like unto Christ's glorious body:  eternally pure and free from sin's penalty, power, practice and presence!  The old sin nature will finally be eradicated entirely and forever.  Our spirit will dominate us rather than the flesh.  We will finally enjoy all that is pure, holy, righteous and good without the taint and temptation of the old man.  We will be enabled to love God and to enjoy Him forever!  "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body ..." (Philippians 3:20,21).  "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (I Corinthians 15:48,49).  This is the hope of the Glory of God in which we may rejoice!  Such a hope may remain confident even in the midst of trials and tribulations - "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also" (Romans 5:3).  In fact, such a hope is made stronger by tribulations - "knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience hope" (vs.3,4).  Our being tested and tried serves only to increase our hope, not diminish it.  And such a hope will never disappoint us - "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (vs.5).  How can we dare to claim such a strong hope?  Because the basis of our hope of future glorification is Christ dwelling in us:  "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col.1:27). How amazing is God's grace to us in Christ.  We who as sinners all "fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) are now made to "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).  The only difference being that by faith in Christ we are now justified before God!

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #55 - Abounding in Hope

As we pass from the Book of Acts into the Epistles of the New Testament we find that the subject of the believer's hope is greatly expanded.  While in the Gospels "hope" is primarily centered in the promise of the Messiah (the Messianic Hope), and in the Acts "hope" is plainly linked with the promise of the resurrection (of Christ and of the believer in Christ), in the Epistles we find a plenitude of expressions which serve to reveal the fullness of the believer's hope in Christ.  We have defined "hope" as "the happy anticipation and confident expectation of future good."  And of course we must further define our "Christian hope" as being centered in those "good things" that God has promised to us in His Word.  It is in studying the New Testament Epistles that we come to find out just how plentiful and bountiful the hope we have been given in Christ Jesus really is:  "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope ... Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:4,13).  There is an abounding fullness of hope given by the God of hope to those who will believe all that He has written in the Holy Scriptures.  This abounding in hope is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer as He illuminates the promises of God to us and impresses the truth of the Word into our hearts and lives, filling us with hope, patience, comfort, joy and peace!  What are some of the elements of this abundance of hope that we find in the New Testament Scriptures?  We may find them in the descriptive phrases the New Testament writers attach to the word "hope".  We have already seen in the Book of Acts such phrases as: "the hope of the promise" and "the hope of Israel" both expressing the truth of "the hope of the resurrection" (Acts 23:6; 26:6; 28:20).  We may add to these the following from the epistles:

1) Romans 5:2 - "By whom (Christ) also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

2) Galatians 5:5 - "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."

3) Ephesians 1:18 - "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his (God's) calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."

4) Ephesians 4:4  - "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling."

5) Colossians 1:23 - "If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not move away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard ...."

6) Colossians 1:27 - "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you the hope of glory."

7) I Thessalonians 5:8 - "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."

8) Titus 1:2 - "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began."

9) Titus 3:7 - "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

All of these prepositional phrases help to define what all is included in the believer's hope.  This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the descriptions of hope found in the New Testament, but it is a start.  We plan to consider some of these passages in more detail as we go along, but for now a reading of them should give us a sense of the overflowing abundance of hope imparted to the believer in Christ. 

Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #54 - The Hope of the Promise

We have been tracing the Apostle Paul's defense of the hope of the resurrection as recorded in the Book of Acts.  First, he reminded his Jewish accusers that his message of the Risen Christ was in keeping with the historical faith of the Jewish people.  This was not some novel doctrine of recent origin but was a part of the faith of the fathers and the very hope of Israel which all of the Jewish people believed except for the radical sect of the Sadducees.  Second, he linked his faith in the resurrection with his faith in God since it was God Himself who had made this promise to His people and had confirmed it in His own Word.  To deny the resurrection, therefore, amounts to a denial of God's Promise or a doubting of God's Power to perform what He has promised.  This was the same two-pronged apologetical argument that the Lord Jesus Christ had used against the unbelieving Sadducees when they questioned Him about the nature and feasibility of a resurrection.  Christ's reply to them was, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God ... have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:29-32).  To this statement the account in Mark's Gospel adds, "ye therefore do greatly err" (Mark 12:27).  It was the contention of both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul that the hope of the resurrection was clearly taught in the Old Testament Scriptures!  We may note once again that Paul confessed that his worship of God included "believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets" and that this included having "hope toward God ... that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust" (Acts 24:14,15).  Thus he viewed the Scriptures that spoke of the resurrection as God's promise to His people:  "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:  Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.  For which hope's sake ... I am accused of the Jews" (Acts 26:6,7).  It is clear from Paul's earlier preaching what he considered to be the elements of God's Promise:  1) The coming of the Messiah from the lineage of David:  "Of this man's seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus" (Acts 13:23); 2) The Resurrection the Messiah from the dead:  "And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again ... that He raised Him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption ..." (Acts 13:32-34); and 3) Forgiveness of sins through faith in the Risen Savior:  "But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.  Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:37-39).  Yes, God has promised these things to us in His Holy Word.  We should note that the Scriptures cited by Paul in this great message included Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 55:3; and Psalm 16:10 among others.  We might also note other Old Testament references to the doctrine of the resurrection (Job 19:25-27; Daniel 12:2; etc).  To these Old Testament verses we should add our Savior's own words of promise concerning His Resurrection as given in the Gospel accounts:  Matthew 16:21; 17:22,23; 20:18,19; 26:32; etc., as well as His words of promise regarding our own resurrection to everlasting life with Him:  John 5:24-29; 6:39,40; 11:25,26; etc.  And yes, what God has promised He has the power to perform:  "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" (Acts 26:8).  "And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power" (I Corinthians 6:14).  God's promise is clear;  God's power is unquestionable;  But the hope of the promise is certain only to those who believe in His Son.  The event of the resurrection will include all men (both just and unjust), but only the believer in Christ can have hope toward God in that day.  There will be a resurrection to everlasting life for the Christian, but a resurrection unto everlasting death (separation from God in hell) for the unbeliever (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29).  Are you claiming the hope of the promise through faith in the risen Savior?