To hope in Christ is not to wishfully think he might fulfill his promises; to hope in Christ is to stand firm on the truth that he lived, he died and he will return again. It is a knowledge and confidence. It is not a wish.
From the 1828 edition of Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language via this website:
HOPE, n. [L. cupio.]
1. A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.
The hypocrite’s hope shall perish. Job 8.
He wish’ed, but not with hope–
Sweet hope! kind cheat!
He that lives upon hope, will die fasting.
2. Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God’s gracious promises; a scriptural sense.
A well founded scriptural hope is, in our religion, the source of ineffable happiness.
3. That which gives hope; he or that which furnishes ground of expectation, or promises desired good. The hope of Israel is the Messiah.
The Lord will be the hope of his people. Joel 3.
4. An opinion or belief not amounting to certainty, but grounded on substantial evidence. The christian indulges a hope, that his sins are pardoned.
…and that, in a nutshell, is my hope.
Jen
Jennifer's Hope 