Already, Not Yet

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24-25

There is nothing more powerful than hope. Hope allows us to endure hardship, suffering and pain and still trust that redemption and healing are possible. Hope allows us to believe that despite the brokenness, sin and evil in our world, God will be victorious. Hope allows to see a future that has not yet been fully realized that we know is true and to wait for it with patience.

This kind of hope is powerful and liberating and plays a central role in Paul’s theological vision in Romans. This hope is rooted in the understanding that the death and resurrection of Christ is the pivotal moment in history. On the cross, Jesus defeats all the powers of death, sin, and evil. This has already happened and yet we also know that sin and evil still exist in our world. God’s kingdom was ushered into the world in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but is not yet fully realized. At the second coming of Jesus, the kingdom of God will be fully realized and all that is not from God will be eradicated. This is the central promise of the cross, but it is not yet here and so we wait with hope and faith and patience.

So how shall we wait with patience? Paul offers the evocative image of the creation in labor pains to illustrate the hopeful waiting:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8:22-23

The not yet, kingdom world is already present but not yet born. The whole creation waits with eager hope and expectation that God will deliver on the promise of redemption. This is a powerful image that captures the hope for what we cannot see but deeply trust. We trust that as we wait that nothing will separate us from the love of God.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39