When we think of Christian hope, we quickly turn to the passages from God’s last revelation to us. We long for the time when God will “wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). I have such a hope. We all do, but it’s “not yet.”

That hope is certain because Jesus promised on so many occasions that it will come, and the Bible is filled with reminders. Our faith clings to that hope, and it lies out there just beyond the here and now. Such a hope sustains us in the days of tears, mourning, crying, and pain. Sadly, it may also inoculate us against living in the present.

Of course, our hope points us ahead to the end of our days when the “not yet” becomes “forever with the Lord.” But it’s more than that. The Holy Spirit has given us hope as a daily treasure—a practical approach to life in this world.

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Author: John A. Braun
Volume 108, Number 8
Issue: August 2021