The Now and the Not Yet
By Bryan Rollins
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” – 1 John 3:2
I have to confess, as an extrovert, I thought I was handling quarantine pretty well. I was working around the house, enjoying the weather, building puzzles with my wife, and resting. But it all changed one day when I got to spend time with two friends in my small group. And now, I’m overwhelmed by an eagerness to spend time with people again, especially at Sunday morning church gatherings.
This Easter was so different—worshiping in my home while watching LCC’s services streamed on the internet. I know that it was necessary, and I know that we can worship God anywhere. But, there is something beautiful when Christians gather together in-person to worship their Savior and Lord, especially on the day of the year when the focus is on the salvation event in their faith: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
I became emotional, in a homesick fashion, longing to be with my church family. Then I started to dream about experiences at Sunday gatherings when the quarantine and social distancing are lifted. Can you imagine what that will be like? We will be spending time together in LCC’s Concourse or in the parking lot, catching up with old friends, hanging around longer than usual—laughing, crying and marveling at how big children have grown. There will be plans made to grab coffee or dinner. We won’t take for granted intentional time together.
As I continue meditating on this sweet family reunion, my thoughts move to eternity. As eager as I am about finally gathering with my church family, how much more beautiful will it be when we gather to worship where there’s no more pain, sorrow, anxiety or global pandemics.
As Christians, we live in what’s called, “the now and the not yet.” This means, because of our profession of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we now have citizenship in heaven as co-heirs with Jesus. But we are not there yet. We still live in this imperfect world marred by sin that we experience daily. The New Testament says that we “groan inwardly” along with the rest of creation as we await Jesus’ return to make all things new in eager expectation (Romans 8:22-25).
This is the hope of the Easter message: Jesus died in our place so that we may be adopted through faith into the family of God. And one day Jesus is coming back to make all things new for His family. He is going to remove sin, pain, pandemics, anxiety and death. There will be a family reunion party as we celebrate God as Creator, Savior and Redeemer. That is what Jesus does with our anxiety: He turns it into eagerness. He turns our fear into hope. What is God teaching you through these uncertain times? What are you most eager for when the quarantine is lifted?
Bryan Rollins lives in Bluffton with his wife Erica and their two dogs, Mia and Gracie. He serves on LCC’s middle school team as a sixth grade group leader and on a Sunday morning greeting team.