HOPE
HOPE
ROMANS 8:22-25
Our lives may be difficult but hope can transform our outlook.
The theme of the previous study overflows into 8:22: the hope for all creation lies in Christ. 8:19-22 speak of the sighing of the world under the feet of its rebel occupants. In 8:23-25 comes the yearning hope of Christians themselves. A third section follows which will form the next note, 8:26f., which tell the rich truth of the Spirit’s intercession.
The “firstfruits of the Spirit,” the deposit of God’s presence, only sharpens the hope of full liberation, making Christians at times feel as foreigners in a foreign land, citizens of heaven exiled on earth. (See also 1 Corinthians 15:53-58; 2 Corinthians 5:2; Philippians 3:21 for the line of thought, and, for the same teaching about the Spirit under a different figure of speech, 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14.)
The theme of hope then takes over. Hope is inherent in our salvation. At times, in the stress of circumstance, hope is all we have. Faith inspires it. The alternative is despair, and despair is rampant around us. Without Christ what hope is there for humanity? Without a return to Christ what solution is there for the mounting problems of society?
Where there is no hope, there can be no endeavor, and when denied hope, the vital energies of civilization decay. Whatever enlarges hope exalts courage and endurance (8:25), and strengthens humanity to face difficulty and testing. If we undermine hope by undermining faith, then the human spirit will wither. Faith and hope inspire love (1 Corinthians 13:13). If both decay, love dies, and if love dies the world dies, submerged in selfishness and hate. And what hope can there be if death is finally supreme—despairing death for humanity and the universe?