Topical · Week 1 of 3

Already and Not Yet

Mark 10:29-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-11

Christians live in a unique moment in history

Main Point

Christians live in a unique moment in history — between the first coming and the second. The kingdom has already come in Christ, and it has not yet fully arrived. Learning to live in this tension is one of the defining challenges of Christian discipleship.

Application Ideas

Reflect on how christians live in a unique moment in history applies to your current situation. What is one way you can practice this truth in your relationships or decisions this week? How does understanding this deepen your faith?

Discussion Questions

What is the core message of already and not yet? How does this fit into the larger story of the Gospel? What would change if you truly believed and lived this out? How can your community support each other in this?

Detailed Sermon Outline

Primary Text: Romans 8:18-25

Supporting Texts: 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, Philippians 3:20-21

Big Idea: We live in the tension between what Christ has already accomplished and what He has not yet completed.

Target Length: 35-40 minutes

Introduction

Open by asking: Do you feel stuck between two worlds? You follow Christ, yet you live in a world marred by sin. You have experienced His grace, yet you long for something more. Paul understood this tension better than most. In Romans 8:18-25, he names what every Christian feels but struggles to articulate: we are caught between the "already" and the "not yet."

Read Romans 8:18-25. [Read passage.] "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).

Here's the main point: We live in the tension between what Christ has already accomplished and what He has not yet completed.

I. The Promise Already Given (Romans 8:18-21; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Paul begins with perspective: our current sufferings cannot be compared with future glory. This is not minimizing present pain—it is maximizing future hope. We are not just hoping in an afterlife; we are waiting for a resurrection of our bodies and the restoration of all creation.

Romans 8:19 speaks of creation itself "waiting in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." The entire cosmos is holding its breath.
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 assures us that we have "a building from God, an eternal house in heaven." We are not homeless; we are just not there yet.
Philippians 3:20-21 promises that "our citizenship is in heaven" and that Christ "will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." What has been promised is certain.

We live with the first fruits of the Spirit (Romans 8:23), the down payment, the guarantee. But we also live with groaning—because we know something is missing, something is coming, something is not yet here.

II. The Waiting That Tests Our Faith (Romans 8:22-25)

Here is where it gets uncomfortable. "We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23).

Paul does not say groaning is wrong. He says it is inevitable. The very fact that we groan proves the Spirit is in us—because we have tasted enough of God to know what the full meal looks like.
This waiting period is not wasted time. Romans 8:25 says: "If we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Patience is not passive resignation—it is active trust in God's timeline.
But patience is hard. Doubt creeps in. We wonder if we misunderstood. We wonder if the promises are real. We ask: How long? Why hasn't He returned? Why am I still suffering if He has already won?

The "not yet" is not a flaw in God's plan—it is the proving ground of our faith.

III. Living Faithfully in the Between (Romans 8:26-27)

How do we live when we are caught between the already and the not yet? When we are too tired to hope and too hopeful to quit?

Romans 8:26-27 gives a stunning answer: "The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." We are not alone in the tension.
We do not have to figure this out perfectly. We do not have to pray the right prayer or say the right words. The Spirit translates our confusion into intercession.
Application: Where are you groaning right now? What promise of Christ are you holding to while the world tells you it will never happen? What is God calling you to trust Him for?

Living between two worlds means learning to say: "Not now, but not never. Already, but not yet."

Conclusion & Appeal

Close with this: The fact that you feel this tension is not a sign of weakness—it is a sign of the Holy Spirit in you. You are not imagining a better world. You are remembering it, because you have tasted it in Christ.

Challenge: This week, when you feel the strain of living in this world while belonging to the next, pause and whisper: "Come, Lord Jesus." Not as escape, but as longing. Not as despair, but as hope.