For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. – Romans 8:24-25
As Christians, we live a life in-between. We have been saved, justified by faith in the work of Jesus, but the work of salvation continues. We are being saved, sanctified day-by-day by the Holy Spirit. We will be saved, the work of sanctification complete, finally redeemed and glorified. This is our hope, though we don’t quite know what it is. The reason we were saved was so that we could be finally glorified.
But this is not a mere human hope, like “I hope it doesn’t rain” or “I hope you get the job” or “I hope I ordered enough food”. Our human hopes are contingent on a multitude of factors over which we have no control. We make mistakes, we miscalculate and often the word we really mean to use is “wish”.
That is not the sort of hope we have in our future salvation. This hope is one that is grounded in the past action and promise of the most reliable and only non-contingent being in existence. This hope is, in the words of Nijay Gupta, faith reaching forward. It isn’t a mere wish or desire and it isn’t dependent on us getting everything ‘just-so’. It is dependent on the action of a God who has shown over and over again that He is faithful and keeps His promises.
Our future is sealed by God’s past action. We have a rock behind and a rock ahead, but what of this present time? We tend to like resolution. Living in the now-but-not-yet is difficult. On the one hand, we don’t want to stand too flat-footed on the past and become complacent, just sitting back and waiting for God to do everything and almost forgetting the future promises of God. On the other hand, we don’t want to rush forward to overstate the fulfilment of God’s promises, denying the necessary suffering and effects of sin and death still present. We wait patiently.
We wait, realising that this is not our home and there is more and better to come. We wait patiently, realising that we haven’t yet received the fullness of the promise.
This works out in our lives in at least these three ways:
Pray expectantly
Our prayer life cannot help but bring the concerns of this life before our Father, but our view is enlarged. We can rightly pray for positive resolutions in this world, but with our eye to the hope we have, we also pray knowing that our life’s canvas continues into eternity. The fullness of the deepest needs and desires of our hearts will be met. There will be no ultimate “No” to any request that aligns with our good.
Work hopefully
We carry on working towards what we know God has promised. He looks forward to when we will be fully sanctified, and so we work out our sanctification. He looks forward to flourishing communities, and so we work to bring health and flourishing into our communities. He looks forward to a redeemed world, and so we work to bring Godly order to this world. Even though we will not be able to reach perfection until God redeems, we keep striving in that sure hope that our efforts will come to fruition. Nothing will be ultimately futile or lost in God’s Kingdom.
Weep joyfully
We will have many troubles in this world, but we know that this world is not the end. We know the deeper truth: that all sin and suffering will be finally defeated and that somehow all that was suffered will bring about and increase the glorious new life we will have.
At the end of Return of the King, when the company who set out at the beginning are reunited, Sam is delightfully surprised to see Gandalf, whom he saw fall to his death.
But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: ‘Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?’
Return of the King, JRR Tolkien
Even as we weep, we know the answer to the question Tolkien writes, “Is everything sad going to come untrue?” The answer is a resounding “YES!”, for all God’s promises find their Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 1:20).
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” – Rev 21:4-5a
We do not have the experience of this hope yet, but we know it is coming. As we wait, we do so patiently, knowing that our Father’s ways and times are perfect and good and He will bring us safely home.
Prayer focus:
- Praise God that His promises are certain and our hope will not be in vain.
- Pray that we would boldly live out and share the hope that we have in Christ.
- Pray for those whose hope is wavering, that God would use us to encourage them and that they would be assured by the Spirit Himself.
