“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Romans 8:24-25) The “Saved by hope” is not the salvation that comes to a man by faith in Christ, remember, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8) This hope refers to the knowledge that we live in a sinful, depraved world, one void of the blessings of the Lord in its totality, a world under a curse. (Gen. 3:17)
We are under the bondage of corruption, waiting to be delivered (Romans 8:21) but to know this hope, to be saved by this hope is only known to those who are willing to see and look upon the depravity of man, the awfulness of sin that surrounds us daily. Every information outlet has the capability to inform its listeners of this continuing pervasiveness of sin on a twenty-four hour basis, but they could in no way cover all the atrocities of man in that time frame each day, and they know better than to try, bad news will draw people’s attention, too much of it will push them away.
Those who profess Christ yet refuse to not only look upon this evil but do nothing or very little about it can in no way understand the hope we read about here beyond their own sorrows and tribulations, they hope only for their own circumstances to be altered. What do they find hope in then? What Paul says, only those things they can see, and what they desire to look on are only those things they themselves can find hope in. The security that they imagine they will in no way contend, the sun will come up tomorrow, their job will be there, the known will remain known and unchangeable. A fine delusion if you can deceive yourself into believing it. For those who live such an existence, hope can only be seen, and the hope that we are told of in Romans 8:25, the hope of the unseen is but an illusion to them, a hope that holds no truth for it cannot be seen, cannot be proven to their senses. It is a hope that can only be hoped for.
What happens with these individuals is the lack of patience, a precipitating feeling that revolves more around the immediate than the eternal, the blatant sins of men are glossed over, invisible for the most part to them, their hope is for a better, brighter tomorrow, and they replay this in their minds each day. They cannot see what can only be seen with spiritual eyes, eyes that look upon a world in rebellion against God, eyes that hope in patience for this sin to be abolished. They do not hope for that which is not seen, and so their lives are lived in both a constant state of worry and denial, refusing to look upon the sin that they fear will envelope them. There is only one cure for this malady, faith, belief that “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him,” (Romans 6:8) another “If,” one that is able to look upon this evil world, recognize it for what it is, pray to be useful to Christ for His glory, and realizing in patience that we shall live with Him.
I always am amused by those who will point to a certain geographical area and say, “That is God’s country.” In the first place, “The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof,” (Psalm 24:1) and second what they are inferring is that these are places unspoiled by man. My friends, man may not be there yet, but sin has been corrupting that place you are pointing to for a very long time. The most majestic place on this planet that you can think of has been corrupted by sin, is living under the curse of God, to see it as anything less is to be unable to hope for that which is not seen. These are not two “If” verses we should just pass over, if you are content here, if you can find peace on this earth, then you are not seeing it with spiritual eyes, you are hoping only in what you can see, and all that you see now and ever have seen is going to be destroyed because it lays in sin.
Should we find contempt then in the view of an endless ocean, or the vistas of great mountains, of course not, but you must be able to look at them in the sense that they are in sin. They are as pure as the foulest back alley you have ever seen, they are covered in the curse, and the eye that hopes for that which is not seen can only be patient in anticipation for the glory that our Lord will impart upon His creation when He removes the curse. (Rev. 22:3) This view of truth will allow you to begin to understand one of the precepts of the fear of the Lord, to hate evil.
If you start to look at the sin outside of yourself, the sin and evil that blankets this entire planet, your spiritual eyes will be opened, you will begin to hope more fervently for the unseen, and your patience will be rewarded.
