Wednesday, July 15, 2020

July 15 – Wednesday prior to Proper 11



Romans 8:18-27 – In our epistle lesson for this coming week the Apostle Paul reminds us “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God."  - Romans 8:19

To persevere in present sufferings with hope, keep your eyes on the future glory that God has promised us.  Paul wants us to understand two certainties.

First, the present time is marked by sufferings because of man’s fall into sin. This is a broken world.

Second, the future will be marked by glory for believers as God fulfills all His promises to us. The practical conclusion; if we keep our eyes on the future promised glory, then we can endure present sufferings with perseverance and hope.

Keep your eyes on the future promised glory and you will persevere in present sufferings with hope.

Paul anticipates us thinking, “But, I can’t see this future glory.” His reply is, “Yes, that’s the very nature of hope.” If you can see it all, then it’s not hope.

Our salvation includes hope because we don’t receive it all in this life. The hope of our salvation is not uncertain, as when we say, “I hope it doesn’t rain on my picnic tomorrow.” Rather, it is absolutely certain because of the many promises of God, who cannot lie. But we hope for it because we have not yet received all that has been promised.

Paul concludes, “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” vs. 25 The key to persevering in suffering with hope is to keep your eyes on the promised future glory.

Because of the corona-19 virus there have been very few live sporting events to attend. Highlights from previous games have been aired.

If you’ve ever watched your favorite team live, or in person, it's only natural to become anxious as the game progressed. Especially if it was close. If your team fumbled, threw an interception, or made some costly error you might have groaned because you didn’t yet know the outcome. You hoped they would win, but your hope was uncertain. Maybe you even got worried or anxious when they were far behind.

But if your team came from behind and won in the last seconds of the game and later you watched a replay of the game, your whole attitude is different. You don't despair when they fell behind. Because you knew how it all would turn out. Knowing the certainty of the future glory gave you hope to persevere through the setbacks.

It’s easy to become anxious or depressed in trials and lost hope. That’s because we’ve forgotten the absolute certain outcome: future glory forever with Christ!

Yes, there is present suffering because we live in a fallen world, outside of Eden. But God has promised future glory. Keeping that in view will enable you to persevere any suffering with hope.

Today Let us pray that we hold fast to hope as we are anchored in Christ.

Almighty God, give us such a vision of your purpose and such an assurance of your love and power, that we may ever hold fast the hope which is in Jesus Christ our Lord who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.

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