As a Christian, what is our future hope? Certainly our hope is in the resurrection, but there are other facets of our future hope to consider. With that in mind, I rounded up several passages that talk about our hope after our life on earth. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a few aspects of our future hope that I thought of. They are:
We Will Never Die (John 11:25-26)
Our Salvation is Consummated (Romans 5:8-9)
We Will Be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
We’ll See Justice (Revelation 19:1b-2)
No Curse (Revelation 22:3)
We’ll Receive a Crown of Righteousness (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
No More Sorrow or Weeping (Revelation 21:3-5)
We’ll be Imperishable/Immortal (1 Corinthians 15:50-55)
Groundwork
Our hope and faith are both tied to the resurrection. It started with the resurrection of Christ, which is the foundation of the Christian Gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 proclaims what is thought to be a snippet of very early gospel preaching. The passage says,
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”
At the core of the Gospel message just given is Christ’s dying for our sin, and His resurrection from the dead. Validation of the event was provided historically when He appeared alive to many witnesses.
Just a few verses later in chapter 15, Paul explains that without the resurrection, our faith has no value. Paul concludes in verse 17, “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)
However, Christ did raise from the dead, faith in Christ has great value, and as believers in Christ, we are no longer in our sins! Thank you Jesus!
With that foundation we will now look at some of these other aspects of our future hope.
We Will Never Die (John 11:25-26)
The death of Lazarus became an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate His power over death. Jesus also proclaimed the hope we have in our own resurrection.
When Jesus learned that His friend Lazarus was sick, He did not rush back to visit. Jesus knew that Lazarus’ death was imminent. Jesus waited two more days to ensure Lazarus would be in the grave.
Once Jesus arrived, Lazarus’ sister Martha came out to meet Him. Jesus told her that if we put our faith in Him, we will never die. In John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus proceeded to call Lazarus out of the grave, bringing him back from the dead. By this miracle, the Son of God provided proof that He has power over death. Our future hope is based on His death-defeating power.
Salvation Consummated (Romans 5:8-9)
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
Our salvation is secured now by faith, but will be completed after we die or in the Rapture. By faith in Jesus, we will not receive God’s wrath. Instead of wrath, God’s love and sacrifice paves the way for our eternal future.
We Will Be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The last phrase, “we shall always be with the Lord,” brings me more joy and comfort the more I know Him. Those who think being with our Creator will be boring demonstrate a shallow understanding of the divine and reveal that they do not know Him. How can you be with the infinite Creator and be bored?
We’ll See Justice (Revelation 19:1b-2)
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.”1
We see and suffer injustices in this world, but one day our desire for justice will be realized. God’s justice is true and righteous. Because God is long-suffering toward evil, He allows time for sinners to be reconciled to Him.
No Curse (Revelation 22:3)
“And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him;”
The curse that plagues mankind and all of creation will be gone! Perhaps it will be like the garden of Eden but better. Eden was perfect, but had the potential for sin. Because sin has been dealt with, the potential corruption of our future life will be eliminated.
We’ll Receive a Crown of Righteousness (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
I don’t know what the crown of righteousness is. Maybe it is the righteousness we will experience once sin is removed from us. Spoken of as an award, it is given to those who do not shrink back at Christ’s appearing.
Our old nature prevents us from generating our own righteousness. Therefore this is likely the righteousness of God imputed to us in our new perfect environment from His very nature.
No More Sorrow or Weeping (Revelation 21:3-5)
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.””
We are so used to those ‘first things’ that it is hard to imagine life without them. No tears, crying, mourning, pain, or death! We have lived with death so long that we can begin to think that death is normal, the way things are supposed to be. But death is not normal!
The passage is describing the new heaven and new earth. It is necessary for God to create new ones because, “the first heaven and the first earth passed away.”2 Indeed, God is making all things new.
We’ll be Imperishable/Immortal (1 Corinthians 15:50-55)
“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?””
We must be changed so that we can inherit what God has created us for. In a split second, we will be transformed from perishable to imperishable -from mortal to immortal! When this transformation occurs, the sting of death will be gone, and we will see and experience the victory that Christ procured for us!
Conclusion
Proverbs 12:25 says,
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad.”
These facets of our future hope constitute a good word, which is why God tells us about them. It is certainly worth our time to contemplate these features of our future hope. The anxiety in our heart can be lifted and our heart made glad.
Appendix
Much more evidence for Christ’s resurrection is given in the following posts: Jesus’ Resurrection from the Dead; and, The Case for Christ.
Read more about some of the hymns and creeds in the early church in my post, Early Hymns and Creeds.
1 All caps in the New Testament indicate an Old Testament quote.
2 Revelation 21:1