Romans 8:23-25

Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

I find that all too often, the gospel message is advertised as something that makes you appy today rather than something that provides security and hope for tomorrow. This world is full of sin and trouble. This is not the world that God intended to last and it isn’t something we should be happy with. Obviously, we still have a struggle with sin in our own lives as Christians, as we learned in Romans 7.

Romans says that as Christians, we were saved in hope. This means we don’t currently see many of the good things we have been promised. These things are still promises and they have to be believed. Salvation helps us now, but the way that it helps is that the Holy Spirit reminds us about the things that can’t be seen. If you want to be filled with joy, I don’t suggest that you walk around and look at nature. I suggest that you read about who you are in Jesus Christ and what is in your future. Although nature shows us the hand of God, it also is falling apart because of sin. It is true that we have the Holy Spirit and we are new creatures inside, but we still “groan within ourselves!”

Notice that we do have the Holy Spirit in us that we experience now, but He gives us hope that causes our days here on earth to be filled with expectation for the future. This hope makes us very happy even though we don’t experience most of what God has for us yet.