The last that dies…

I have heard it many times before, however it was special to hear it the context of a meeting with prisoners serving life-sentences in Moldova – a country where ‘life-sentence’ is literally a sentence for the rest of the life.

When I spoke with the inmates, I said: “I see hope in your eyes, don’t ever lose it!”. The response from several of them was immediate: “The hope is the last that dies!”

I also learned that many of them shared the same ‘one hope’ in which I have found my salvation. We are in the same ‘one body’:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
Eph 4:4

There is a lot of hope in the world and it can often be like undefined expectations of something better. In a spiritual Christian context there is in reality only ONE hope. This does not mean that we should not work for the best of our communities, cities and countries – on the contrary, we are encouraged to do so: “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer 29:7). This is 100% in line with how we view our mission as a Salvation Army and the concept “Salvation for both worlds”. However, even the salvation in this world is bound to the ONE hope.

In Paul's mind, hope is something that stands forever and is synonymous with an ever-existing future. Moreover, hope is so strongly linked to Jesus that he wrote:

For in this hope we were saved.
Romans 8:24

For Paul, there is no salvation outside of Christ, so the one hope is also synonymous with Christ alone.

‘Manna’ for today:

United in Christ in ONE hope.

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