By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #113 ~
Think of your life on this earth as one single dot on a piece of paper, and the rest of your life as the distance from that one dot to the end of the universe. That’s a long, long way, impossible for your human mind to really comprehend. I use this analogy to help you visualize the never-ending length of your life, but more-so, the supreme and godly character of it. Your finite life on this earth is very small compared to the infinite and incredible future God has planned for you. As Christians, we often focus on our present life, and therefore are short-sighted, failing to rightly see the rest of our eternal life. What we need is Biblical hope, for it speaks about our amazing, magnificent, awesome, perfect, wonderful, spectacular and heavenly future. Romans 5:1-5, 8:29-30, 15:13
How do you get this hope? First, you need to read God’s word to know what this hope is. Second, you need to believe what His word says about this incredibly blessed future. That is, you need faith, for “faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1). Third, you need to be looking forward to your hope being fulfilled. Remember when you were a child and you were looking forward to Christmas, and you couldn’t wait for it to come. What we are talking about is better than a billion Christmases! How do you know that you have this godly hope in your heart? When you know, believe, and are looking forward to the glorious future God has in store for you! Hebrews 11:10-16
Titus 1:2 also talks about this, for it says, “in the hope of eternal life.” Your Christian life starts when you are saved, but the fact that it says “eternal” means it never stops, but goes on forever and ever. That it says “hope” means God wants you to be actively thinking about your eternal life, your life after this life. He wants you to be interested in, and excited about, this magnificent future He has designed for you. He wants you to be looking ahead to the best life you could ever imagine. Yes, God has perfect plans for your present life, but you need to live your life in light of eternity, in view of His perfect future for you. This Son-brilliant backdrop of your life on earth is an all glorious and most-blessed eternity. Having this perspective of your eternal life will undoubtedly and dramatically affect how you live your important, but short, life on this earth. Colossians 3:1-4
Let me give you a preview of this fantastic future God has for you, for you need to think about your life after you leave this earth, when you will not be cramped or hindered by your flesh. In the future, your life will always be for God the Father, with Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. You will never sin, never mourn, never get tired, and never get sick. You will fully know the wonderful love of God, and you will always and perfectly love Him. You will always be experiencing His abundant joy, peace, goodness and strength. You will always and perfectly love every person, and continually be blessed by sweet, soul-satisfying fellowship. You will be most-encouraged by your time with Christian friends from earth, as well as time with all of God’s children, and angels too. Life will be full of purpose, pleasures, and more than anything else, praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It will be eternal life, for it will be eternal and it will be life; and it will be glorious, life like God always intended, for you and all His people. John 17:24
I have saved the best for last. 1 Timothy 1:1 speaks of “Christ Jesus, who is our hope.” Your life in the coming ages isn’t just about seeing people, going places and doing things. It will primarily be centered and focused on Jesus Christ. This verse says Christ is your hope, which means Christ is your life, in the future and forever. This is the most important reason why God wants you to be longing for your heavenly future. Yes, life is good now for “to live is Christ,” but “to die is gain” means life will be supremely better because you will be with Christ. Might you be hoping, might you be expecting to, soon and forever, be with Jesus, your Savior, Lord, King and Friend, the One who loves you more than anyone else in the world. I encourage you to be looking forward to that time when you will be with Jesus, and be with Him forever. “Eternal life is this, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3
Let me conclude with a key command about hope: 1 Peter 1:13 says, “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Why does God tell you to fix your hope on Christ’s return? Because:
* that is when all that you have hoped for will begin to be fulfilled;
* then your salvation will be complete, for you will be immortal and glorified, that is, fully saved;
* you will finally see Jesus (unless you physically die before the rapture);
* the church age will be over, and for the first time, all the saints will be with Jesus;
* “to die (or be raptured) is gain,” which means the next and better phase of your eternal life will begin;
* you will be given a special measure of grace, enabling you to be all that God wants you to be in heaven and on earth, and for all eternity.
* then “… I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6
P.S. I am in the middle of a series of posts on hope, which is essential for your Christian life. I encourage you to read my article on hope, “You Have to Have Hope,” as well as the post I just put up last week, “You Need Hope to Get Through Life.”