Two days ago, I preached an old (revised for the occasion) sermon on hope. As I was contemplating the subject, I came to see that the subject of hope in the New Testament epistles is always associated with eschatological realities. Some associations of hope are clearly with the return of Christ, like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 & Titus 2:13, but others connect with other aspects of the coming Kingdom (Romans 8:18-25, 1 Corinthians 15:17-58, Ephesians 1:17-19, Colossians 1:5, Colossians 1:23, Colossians 1:27, 1 Peter 1:3-5). Then, there are passages that don't mention the word "hope" but heavily convey that idea, also grounded in eschatological realities (e.g. Philippians 3:20-21; 2 Peter 3:8-13).
How far our associations with hope are from the Bible! Most Christians I know (myself included) hope for many things, and whether they are physical or spiritual they almost always deal with this life . I never hear Christians talk about how they long for Christ to return, our resurrection bodies, for creation to be restored, etc. In fact, when I consider my heart, I hope he doesn't come back before I am able to live a full life! I know its hard to anticipate Christ's imminent return after 2000 years of waiting, but somehow I still feel it's very tragic how rarely my thinking, speaking, or acting expresses my hope for that Day.
I long to follow the admonishment of Peter:
"Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons out you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home." - 2 Peter 3:11-13
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