For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ro 8:22–25). Tyndale House Publishers.
Hope. Despite everything, hope. This is the Gospel. It is not simply a “get out of hell free card.” It is a message of eternal and present hope. To have hope is to believe in the promises of salvation, resurrection, and eternal life.
And it is important to note what is being said at the end of this passage. We are not yet fully saved. In order to be entirely confident of our salvation, we cannot still reside in the current creation. God has granted us salvation and made us co-heirs with Christ, but that isn’t the end of the story. We don’t rise from the baptismal and sit in a pew until we fall over and die with an idea that was good enough.
I’ve had 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 on my mind a lot recently. Paul is hitting on the same point here! He’s less direct, but his language about hope and patience speaks to this same idea. We show our patience through ministry. That is what Paul was telling the Thessalonians. We hope for the return of Christ and the new heaven and new earth, but we don’t wait for it by twiddling our thumbs.
How do we go about this process of faithfully waiting? We get some pretty clear instructions in the Bible—Matthew 6:9-13, Matthew 22:37-40, and Matthew 28:18-20 all clue us in that we aren’t waiting to go to heaven. His Kingdom comes to us. We love our neighbors. We evangelize and baptize the whole world. God invites us to be active in this process. To simply stop and wait is to miss out on what may be the best part of the Christian life: being an ambassador for Christ.
We can’t hide from those around us because they live differently. To be a lamp on a hill and salt to the earth is to be visible to the world and amid the world. What can we do to change from circling the wagons to spreading love? If someone opens your Facebook, can they tell where you go to church? Can they even tell you go to church at all? Do your coworkers and friends know about your faith? Are your relationships a testament to your love of Christ?
In the next three days, we will begin to look at how to answer these questions. I hope to see you tomorrow.
Leave a Reply