Longing for something better …
Romans 8:18-25
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
How much do we think of heaven? When we are young, we don’t think of it at all – life is all ahead of us. As we get older we do. More of life goes by, more heart-ache, more physical difficulty, more trouble, difficult and hard times all take their toll. We hope for something, somewhere better. We all do, we all hope for something better.
Paul says in verse 25 “we hope for what we don’t have yet …” as Christians heaven is our hope – we’re not there yet, its our long-range hope of what is to come – being in God’s presence always.
Father thank you that you have given us glimpses of our future hope. We have your Holy Spirit now as a guarantee, this will happen, it will be amazing. Thank you.
Written by Suzie Hodgson