A Christian Guidebook: What Is the Gospel? (7)

Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Romans 8.23-25

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear… 1 Peter 3.15

Given up on hope?
Ours is becoming a generation that has given up on hope. People these days live only for the moment: carpe diem! Seize the day! seems to be for many people either their battle cry or their life preserver. This phenomenon has a name: Presentism.

As Alan Jacobs puts it, people today are locked in “the present moment. There’s no time to think about anything else than the Now, and the not-Now increasingly takes on the character of an unwelcome and, in its otherness, even befouling imposition” (Breaking Bread with the Dead). This approach to life has little use for the past. And the future is not something we can do anything about. We need to live for the moment, milking it for all it’s worth and then moving on to the next as it arrives.

What hope people have is either consumed or evaporated in the moment, the now. All those trapped in presentism can hope for is that they won’t miss anything important that this moment has for them. They are face down in the moment, feeding frenetically on its fleeting fare. They have exchanged frenzy for hope. Life no longer exists in the promise beyond the rainbow but in the daily shark feed of staying alive.

So when such people meet someone who expresses a real and buoyant hope, they may be piqued. They may even, Peter explains, ask a reason for the hope that is in them and shows on their faces, glows through their demeanor, buoys them with bright aspirations, and permeates all their conversations.

Perhaps it’s not so much that our generation has given up on hope as that they have simply forgotten about it. And this lapse can provide powerful opportunities for Christians to share the Gospel with our contemporaries. For the Good News of the Gospel is hope. And the hope that is such Good News is Jesus.

The hope of glory—then
The apostle Paul wrote that one overarching hope of our calling motivates the disciples of Jesus Christ: To know the glory of God—His grace in Jesus Christ, working in us and through us unto the praise of and for thanksgiving to the Father.

A day is coming when for all eternity those who have known the Lord and embraced the Good News of the Gospel will enjoy His glory with uninterrupted bliss. We stand, the apostle Paul insisted, in the hope of glory, knowing that one day our bodies will be transformed to be like the glorified body of our Lord Himself (Rom. 5.1, 2; 1 Cor. 15.19-28; 50-57). We will be radiant, full of joy and gladness, surrounded with like-minded and glorified friends and other creatures, abounding in good works, free of all sin and sorrow, and eternally more joyful with each passing moment. And we will be continually before God in all His glory as He lights our way and everything we do.

The Christian’s great hope is the hope of eternal life in the new heavens and new earth, in the Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just thinking about this can make us smile or sing or break out in “Hallelujah!” and throw our arms around one another. Our Presentist neighbors know nothing of this, and when they see us hoping for glory in such ways, they may ask a reason for it.

The hope of glory—now
But Christians live in the hope of glory not only for the there and then. Here and now we have abundant opportunities for serving the Lord and in doing so, refracting the glory of Jesus Christ to the world. We have seen that God is at work within us to make us more like Jesus day by day (2 Cor. 3.12-18). As Jesus increases in us and we decrease (Jn. 1.30), more of Him will be seen in us—in our character, demeanor, work, words, and actions—as His glory refracts through us, projecting the image of Jesus in and through our unique personage out into our world.

Paul said we make it our aim that in everything we do, even down to the most quotidian activities, we want to glorify God (1 Cor. 10.31), so that something about Jesus can be seen in every aspect of our lives. The challenge and thrill of this motivates Christians to know more of the transforming grace and power of the Lord at work in our lives. For we understand that we have been sent into the world as witnesses for the Lord Jesus—not merely to do witnessing but to be witnesses, that the life of Jesus might flow like living water from us to refresh and renew our world to the full reach of our powers (Acts 1.8; Jn. 7.37-39).

Beginning and living each day in the hope of glory now taps into the power of God’s Word and Spirit so that the disciples of Jesus—Who dwells by His Spirit in the depths of their souls—are moved to seek His Kingdom and righteousness and fulfill their unique calling in such a way that the glory of God, in measures slight and slamming, comes through in all they say and do. This hope fills and overflows to each moment of their lives.

And people trapped in the present, people who have forgotten about the idea of hope, when they have to do with such hope-filled people, may be inclined to ask a reason for the joy, industry, thoroughness, satisfaction, and lack of complaining and whining that attends all we do.

Christians are a people of hope, because the Good News of hope has come to dwell in our souls and is transforming us powerfully, from glory to glory, into the image of Jesus Christ.

Search the Scriptures
1. How would you explain the idea of the glory of God to an unbelieving friend? Where would you turn in Scripture?

2. Read 2 Corinthians 4.16-18. How does Paul refer to glory here? What does that suggest about it?

3. Review 1 Corinthians 10.31. So far this day, what opportunities have you had to glorify God?

Next steps—Transformation: What can you do to be more conscious of the opportunities to glorify God that come your way each day?

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Three resources can help you in realizing more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God. Our books The Kingship of Jesus (click here) and What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? (click here for the book or here for the free PDF) explain the rule of King Jesus in our lives and world. The Kingdom Turn (order the book here or the free PDF here) goes into greater detail about what it means to practice the Kingship of Jesus.

Support for ReVision comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.