Fourth Sunday of Easter, 2024 - Living in Hope

They are all around us—these reminders of life’s harsh reality. The apostle Paul described this reality as creation living in “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21).

Decay—the Greek word Paul used refers to deterioration that results in destruction. Creation—the word Paul used is kosmos—experiences it. Our bodies experience it. Deterioration that results in destruction is an inescapable reality of life.

I am reminded of this reality as I trim dead branches from trees, as I removed trees and bushes that have died over the winter, as I replace edging that has rotted away, as I note trim on the house that needs replacing, as I replace boards in the fence that surrounds my back yard. My body reminds me of this reality as I deal with decreased stamina and strength due to aging, as I cope with aches and pains that I didn’t have when I was younger, as doctor appointments appear on my calendar with frustrating frequency.

Indeed, we live in bondage to decay. Deterioration that leads to destruction quietly, but steadily, manifests itself in the many arenas of our lives.

Yet, in the midst of this pattern of decay, spring bursts forth with the promise of new life, growth, vitality, and eventually fruitfulness. It challenges the reality of decay, proclaiming that the decay with which we cope is not the last word. It stirs hope in the face of decay.

In the text in which he speaks of “bondage to decay,” Paul spoke of hope—the hope of being set free from this bondage. Creation longs for this freedom, groaning as if it were experiencing labor pains (Romans 8:19-22). Like creation, we, too, “groan inwardly while we wait” (Romans 8:23). We too long to be set free from this harsh reality that defines our lives.

Paul ties creation’s freedom from its bondage to decay to “the revealing of the children of God” (Romans 8:19)—to when God’s transforming work is done and we as the children of God are fully conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29). He spoke of this time as “adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). Paul’s reference is to when we ourselves will personally experience the resurrection.

In his death and resurrection, Jesus broke the power of sin and death. He broke the power behind our bondage to decay. As a result, deterioration that leads to destruction is no longer the defining reality of our lives. Death is no longer the final word. The grave is no longer our final destination. Because of his death and resurrection, we like Christ will pass through death into life. We too will experience resurrection from the dead. The final word is resurrection into life.

Resurrection and life, freedom from our bondage to decay is the hope with which we live as the followers of Jesus. “For in hope we were saved” (Romans 8:24).

Assurance of this hope is found in our experience of the Spirit and the Spirit’s work in our lives—we “who have the first fruits of the Spirit” (Romans 8:23; compare Romans 5:3-5). We experience the work of the Spirit whenever we experience the forgiveness of God that frees us from guilt and shame, in the peace we experience whenever we rest in God’s steadfast, faithful love, in the joy we experience whenever we use our gifts to make a difference in the life of another, in those moments when we rise above our inherent self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me spirit to act out of the servant spirit of Jesus, whenever we embrace someone who is “other” as a beloved child of God, whenever we gain insight and understanding into spiritual truth, whenever we grow spiritually by incorporating and acting upon such insights, whenever we have the power to do what we cannot do in our own strength, whenever we respond with faith to times of challenge and suffering, whenever we sense the presence of God, whenever we continue to faithfully live the ways of God Jesus taught even though we do not sense the presence of God. These kinds of experiences are evidence of the Spirit’s work in our lives today. They are the first fruits of the Spirit.

By referring to such experiences as first fruits, Paul implied the Spirit would produce additional fruit in our lives. The Spirit will continue to work until we were completely conformed to the likeness of Christ—until we are set free from our bondage to decay—until we move through death into life eternal.

Decay—deterioration that leads to destruction—quietly, but steadily, manifests itself in the many arenas of our lives. There is one arena, however, which decay fails to impact. That one arena is our spiritual lives. Our spiritual lives are governed by progress and growth, not decay, because of the transforming work of the Spirit. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul spoke of this reality: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Our outer nature refers to our physical body. It is wasting away because it lives in bondage to decay. Our inner nature refers to our spiritual lives. We are growing spiritually because of the transforming work of the Spirit. Our spiritual lives have been set free from bondage to decay through Jesus’s death and resurrection and by the transforming work of the Spirit.

In our present experience, we cope with the seemingly inescapable reality of our bondage to decay. Yet, we live in hope, waiting for the time that we will be set free from this bondage. “We wait for it—freedom from our bondage to decay—with patience” (Romans 8:24).

Well, sometimes I wait with patience. On other occasions—when I am dealing with yet another expression of this bondage to decay—I am not so patient. Just shows I continue to need the Spirit’s transforming work in my life.