| 3. One hope
Paul links the first two elements, one body and one Spirit, with the one hope. These three elements link together because the Spirit forms and prepares the body for its ultimate goal, which is the one hope of the church. That hope is expressed succinctly in Paul’s statement, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Glory is the hope of the church. As the apostle John expresses it, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). That is our hope—a hope that one day we will no longer be frail, stumbling people as we are now, but we shall finally be like Christ.
Wherever I go, whomever I meet, I find this to be the one hope of Christians. No matter what their denominational or doctrinal stamp, all Christian believers hold a common hope. All Christians expect a transformation, in which we will eventually be like Christ. That is our one shared hope.
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