Waiting Patiently in Hope (Romans 8:24-27)
Text:
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Rom 8:24-27)
In what hope were we saved? (v. 24a) Look back to verses 20-23 to get the answer: the adoption as sons and redemption of our bodies. The question is, of all the things to hope for, why should we look forward to this?
It seems so abstract to us. It seems so far into the future. But this is precisely why we hope for it (v. 24b). We look forward to the salvation of our souls, but we’ve already obtained that. And we look forward to being with Jesus for all eternity, but we’ve got Him today. And we look forward to no more pain, no more tears, but if you know Jesus Christ, you’ve already got a peace that passes understanding.
We look forward to this because it will be God’s final act of redemption for us. There’s always a part of us that doubts. We’ll be able to look back at all the things that God has done for us. At that point, we’ll be able to say confidently out of experience, “God is faithful.”
Why is it said that we were saved in this hope? Most of us probably didn’t know anything about these concepts when we were first saved. How can we be saved in a hope that we had no concept of? Well, we actually did have at least some concept of it when we were saved. Salvation comes about when we realize we’ve fallen short of the glory of God. We then seek God’s forgiveness for our sins, based upon Christ’s death on the cross. We are then confident, based on God’s Word, that He has forgiven us. And because God has forgiven us, we can go to live with Him forever in Heaven. Salvation is all about trusting in God’s grace making us what we aren’t so that we will be worthy to go where aren’t worthy to go.
But how in the world do we wait patiently for this? If a father says, “Son, I’ve got a surprise for you when we get home,” the child must be patient. He doesn’t have much of a choice. But it helps to know what the father has done in the past. Has he been faithful? By having a confident hope that God is faithful, we can be sure that we will receive what has been promised.
This is a patience far different from how we usually think of patience. It’s an active patience. This kind of patience requires that we cling onto the faith. This kind of patience requires that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our progressive sanctification. This kind of patience requires that we suffer for our faith.
God is faithful, and if we have faith in Him, we can be certain of what we hope for: abundant life both in this life and the life to come.
Pastor Chris Huff has been with us since July 2009. He and his wife, Abby, have four children. Chris is originally from St. Louis, MO and even though he was raised as a city boy, he has a small town heart. Chris is all over the internet, so you can find him on Facebook, Twitter,… (read more)
