Hope Has A Name
Hope is so much more than wishing for a better tomorrow. In this series, we'll explore what it means to know Abba as the God of Hope and discover how His goodness and Love allow us to live fully today and look toward tomorrow with hope.
The Hope Of Glory
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27
What Are We Hoping For?
When I hear the word hope, it's easy to think about something ahead of me.
A prayer being answered. A relationship being restored. Healing. A dream fulfilled.
And for much of my Christian life, hope was often pointed toward heaven—something wonderful waiting for us after this life.
All of those are things we can hope for.
But Paul brings hope much closer.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Our Hope isn't merely waiting for us somewhere in the future. He is already here!
The Future Has Already Begun
That helps me understand why Christian hope is so much more than positive thinking.
Jesus didn't simply promise us eternal life someday. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
The Life we're hoping for has already begun because the One who is our Life lives within us now.
There is certainly more to come. Resurrection. Restoration. Creation itself being set free. The fullness of a Kingdom where everything broken is finally made whole.
Yet we aren't standing outside that Life waiting to get in.
Christ is in us.
Christ is our life!
Hope In The Middle
Sometimes life doesn't look very glorious.
Some prayers remain unanswered. Bodies still hurt. People we love suffer. Relationships can remain painfully unfinished.
Hope doesn't ask us to pretend otherwise.
It reminds us that what we see today isn't all there is to the story because Jesus is already present within the unfinished places.
The same Christ who is our Hope is also our Life while we wait.
Someone, Not Something
I still hope for good things, and I still bring those desires to Abba.
But underneath all the things I'm hoping for is the One I'm hoping in.
Jesus.
He is not simply promising me a better future; He is sharing His Life with me today and carrying all creation toward the restoration Abba has always desired.
Our Hope isn't merely something wonderful coming someday.
Our Hope is Someone wonderful already here—and His Life within us is the promise that Love isn't finished with the story.
Reflection
Have I thought of hope mostly as something waiting for me someday?
What does “Christ in me” mean for the unfinished places of my life today?
Where might His Life already be revealing the future I'm hoping for?
Prayer
Abba Father, thank You that my Hope isn't distant. Jesus, awaken me to Your Life within me today and teach me to live expectantly in the Love that is still restoring all things. Amen.