Our theology and our experience of history not only permit us to expect the worst but require us to. The tendency of history like nature points itself towards cruelty and dissolution. That is precisely why there’s room and need for what the apostle Paul calls hope. Christians need to live in hope because if we could simply expect the best, or even a steady drift towards the better then hope would be meaningless. Romans 15: 3For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.”4For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,…
