You and I have a blessed hope which awaits us.

That is not just our hope or aspiration. It is our confident expectation (the biblical meaning of hope). We have this hope because Jesus told us of it and because the Word of God makes it plain.

Jesus encouraged His disciples by reminding them of the hope they have in Him. “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

Paul emphasized the hope we have in Christ. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Colossians 1:3-5a).

Notice how Paul described this hope–our confident expectation.

First, our hope is laid up for us in heaven. It awaits us. The work of Christ is complete. All we have to do is wait for His revealing.

Second, this hope is future, and it is not yet fully revealed.

Christians always want to know what heaven will be like. It’s very common for believers, but we do not yet have all–maybe not many–of the answers. We are awaiting that day. The Apostle John described this lack of full revelation. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Third, our hope is secure. It is already laid up for you in heaven, waiting for the time of revealing.

Paul also talked about the security of our hope by reminding us that the Spirit of God is the down payment of our future hope. “In him, you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Our hope is guaranteed, but we have not yet taken possession of it.

But we will.