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Hope for the future

Cross thoughts: Christian ideas seen in Sudanese every day life.


When a baby is born, parents, and other family members,

may have a lot of hope for its future.

  • Will she get a good education?

  • Will he be happily married with a good family?

  • Will there be peace in the area he lives?

  • Must she go and live overseas to be safe?

In Romans Paul writes that every Christian has a hope for the future. The presence of this hope shows if a person is truly Christian or not:


1. “For in this hope we are saved.

2. But hope that is seen is no hope at all.

3. Who hopes for what he already has?

4. But if we hope for what we do not yet have,

we wait for it patiently”, Romans 8:24-25.


1. The verses immediately before these open a window into the meaning of “this hope”. Christians have been born again by God the Holy Spirit. They have responded to His inner calling. They live their normal human lives, but are now alive to God, His words of direction, advice, warning and encouragement. Living like this, prompted always by God’s Word and Spirit, they know they are saved.


2. Yet even Christians do not get everything they want straightaway!

Our world demands that we get things quickly. Some Christians have believed this lie for themselves, over things like physical healings, monetary riches, even sinless living.

The Christian’s true hope is for the future world, not this one.


3. This phrase says the same as the second one, but in reverse.

There is no need to hope for a fourth baby when you already have four! Why hope for a good-paying job when you have one now?


4. So, what is in our future? Verse 23 says we wait eagerly (keenly) to be adopted by God into His wonderful presence in heaven. We are now prepared to be there thanks to our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, but for now we wait on and in this world. Our circumstances may be bad:

  • People treat one another badly, bombing from the air, invaders setting fire to homes, showing how badly human beings can behave to one another.

  • We must look into our own hearts as well as condemn others. We may sometimes trick another person to gain unfair advantage. God doesn’t like this either!

True Christians live Christianly (patiently) while awaiting the Lord Jesus Christ to command a loud trumpet blast. He will call us to be with Him, marking the end of this life and the true start of the next.

This is our hope, the promised coming of God’s heaven. It will never disappoint us.


November 2013.

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