Living Out Our Hope in Christ

… in order that we,

who were the first to hope in Christ,

might be for the praise of his glory.[1]

If you want to live out your theology, what questions does this text raise for you?

Here are some of the questions I asked myself:

• What is “hope in Christ”? And “who were the first to hope in Christ”?
• What is “glory” And how can we be “for the praise of his glory”?

Let’s answer some of them.

 

What is hope?

The first definition supplied by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is:

To cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true[2]

The modern English speaker often uses ‘hope’ in a wishful sense. For instance, you might buy a lottery ticket with the ‘hope’ of winning. (n.b., I don’t advise buying lottery tickets).

In the Bible, the concept and word ‘hope’ carries the sense of certainty and expectation. If a person of integrity promises you something, your hope is based on trust in that person, and you expect to receive what is promised.

So, “to hope in Christ” is absolute certainty coupled with the expectation of receiving what is divinely promised in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of those divine promises to those ‘in Christ’ include:

• His continuing intercession and care as our Great High Priest, 
• His future return (the parousia), 
• Our resurrection in a body “like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21), 
• His judgments, rewarding his loyal subjects and setting everything right,
• And much more. 

But “who were the first to hope in Christ”?

 

What does “the first to hope in Christ” mean?

Although the word “hope” and its variations appear about 200 times in our English Bibles, the Greek word translated “first to hope” appears only here.

What does it mean? And who does it include?

The Greek word proelpizō combines pro with the verb or action word elpizō, which means to hope or trust. Generally, the word pro means “before,” so:

• in physical space, it is rendered as “in front of,”
• in time, it is “earlier than,” and
• in rank or importance, it may be “above.”

Therefore, proelpizō is usually (but not always) translated as “first to hope in Christ.”

Many commentators cautiously understand this to refer to Jewish Christians who believed in Christ before Gentile believers. For instance, Leon Morris states his preference after writing, “On the whole it seems that there is more to be said for ….”[3] With similar hesitancy, Lynn Chohick states, “… most likely … Yet because Paul stresses the shared hope of all believers ….”[4]

Other views include those who believed before the incarnation of Jesus Christ (i.e., Old Testament believers).

Given those positions, we might conclude that this does not apply to us at all. I have some difficulty with that, given that all of the divine blessings ‘in Christ’ laid out in the verses before apply to all who are ‘in Christ’—no matter when we live.

In this vein, some scholars propose that this applies to Christians as a whole, and “pro looks forward to the fulfillment of the hope in the future.”[5] This, too, raises some difficulties, but we see the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) render this text as:

so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.

In apparent support of this view, Harold Hoehner maintains,

In conclusion, then, the believers are God’s heritage (v. 11) in order that they, who already have their hope in Christ, might be to the praise of his glory.[6]

Although something can be said for each of these approaches, I will build on the last of these three.

Now, how do we move toward putting this into practice?

 

Now what?

 Not only this hope, but also all the blessings poured on those ‘in Christ’ have a purpose for us in our here and now.

Paul states,

in order that we, … might be for the praise of his glory.

What does this mean, and how do we live it?

Glory:

Let’s refresh our memories as to what “his glory” means.

In a previous post, “What Does it Mean to Praise the Glory of God’s Grace?”, we addressed the slightly different phrase in Ephesians 1:6.

Distilling our understanding of glory from that post, God’s glory is the visible and active manifestation of His inherent worth, abundance, and wealth.

Praise:

We are not to blithely benefit from God’s blessings as if it was nothing special. We are to respond with praise for His glory.

One helpful resource identifies praise as

the joyful recounting of all God has done for us. It is closely intertwined with thanksgiving as we offer back to God appreciation for His mighty works on our behalf.[7]

We can praise Him in so many ways, particularly with our voices and bodily expressions. In Scripture, we hear of praise:

• acknowledging his actions,
• speaking highly of Him (including everyday conversation),
• with singing (Isaiah 12:5; Psalm 9:11),
• with shouting (Psalm 33:1; 98:4),
• with musical instruments (1 Chronicles 13:8; Psalm 108:2; 150:3-5), and
• even with dance (Psalm 150:4)—which, I admit, is beyond my comfort level.

Summing up

Hoehner concludes that,

… the believers’ hope is in the Christ, the promised Messiah in whom the righteous from the beginning of time have had their hope.[8]

I have written elsewhere on the importance of how God’s future for those ‘in Christ’ should influence our present actions and behavior. In Ephesians 1:3-14, this calls us “to praise his glory.”

Yet, the benefits of these blessings also provide hope for the oppressed, the depressed, the distracted, and the disobedient.

For the disobedient, you are invited to receive Christ and align with God’s future. The alternative is irreversible judgment.

For those who are distracted by business, education, status, or other pursuits, make God and His future your priority. Otherwise, you will suffer loss.

For the oppressed and depressed, God’s future is full of everything for human flourishing that you might not be experiencing now. He will come, and He will change everything. So, ‘hang in there’—persevere because

God has planned something better for us… (Hebrews 11:40).

Let me know what you are thinking. You can contact me using this link.

 

BACK TO The Amazing Treasure in Christ

Notes:

[1] Ephesians 1:12 in the New International Version (NIV).

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hope accessed August 28, 2025.

[3] Leon Morris, Expository Reflections on the Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1994), 25

[4] Lynn H. Cohick, The Letter to the Ephesians, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020), 110

[5] Walter Bauer et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 868. This lexicon is abbreviated as BDAG.

[6] Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 234.

[7] https://www.gotquestions.org/difference-praise-worship.html accessed August 26, 2025.

[8] Hoehner, Ephesians, 234.

Photo credit: depositphotos.com