I was looking over my social media feed recently, scanning the past few months and the recipe, so to speak, is too salty. I don’t want to give the wrong impression. Sure, there’s a lot going wrong in the world regarding gender-confusion, grooming, and sex-stuff.

But as Christians we don’t have theological permission to be pessimists, not ultimately. For us, realism IS optimism. Or to put it another way, we are optimists because we’re realists about the promises of Christ. If God is who He says He is, then ultimately everything He promised will come true, everything wrong will be made right, and we our hope is anchored in reality, ultimately reality.

This is not a naive, escapist fantasy either. We can fully admit hardship and sin-struggles. We know that “in this world you will have trouble” but we need not despair because Christ “has overcome the world” (John 16:33). We have a Christian hope:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

That Christian hope isn’t just an emotion either. It’s a reassured knowledge, bolstered by evidence (for the Bible, for the resurrection, for Christian living), and it’s enlivened by active life in Christ (i.e., pray, Scripture, Christian fellowship).

So, if this hope is a reassured knowledge, what exactly do we know that’s so reassuring? We know that anybody can have eternal salvation through faith in Christ (Romans 8:1-4). We can have the Holy Spirit working in us to lead us through our daily struggles to victory (John 14:16). We can live in hope of Christ’s return (Hebrews 9:28). We are all assured of ultimate justice against all sin (Revelation 19:11). And we can look forward to a golden age, if not here in this world, then in the new earth under Christ’s reign (Revelation 21:1).

If you are living in sin, whether it’s with a live-in boyfriend, or partying on the weekends, or you’ve planted your roots in an LGBTQ lifestyle, please know that there is help, there is healing, there is forgiveness. God has something better for you. There are no easy options. But there is hope, help, meaning, and purpose for your life. Your rescue can only be found in Christ.

You are loved. You don’t have to settle. You were not made for slavery to sin. You were made for freedom in Christ.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32