By Steven J. Hogan

~ A Saturday Morning Post #383 ~ 

Every person has challenges, difficulties, pressures. Life is not easy! It can be hard, extremely hard and, at times, seemingly impossible. That’s why you need hope! A person can only keep going if he has hope. People who work all week can’t wait for the weekend. People who are sick look forward to getting well. People who are struggling financially are desiring a better paying job. To be honest, you cannot live without hope. But I am talking about godly hope – and God knows you need it. Otherwise, you will become discouraged, lose heart, and want to give up. 

What is godly hope? It’s a reason to live. It’s a present knowledge about a future reality. It’s what you don’t have now but are convinced you will receive in the future. It’s the confident expectation that God will fulfill His plans for you. It’s faith in God’s promises resulting in a certainty of His blessing upon your future. More than anything, it’s wanting to go home so you can be with Jesus. 

But many Christians don’t have godly hope. They are thinking about the world, about things they want in this life, but they are not setting their hearts on things above, on the next life. But a believer cannot live rightly for God in the present if he is not longing for the future, for that time when Jesus is revealed and he is with Him in glory (Col. 3:1-4). Hope is what God wants you to have, for it anchors your soul, purifies you, gives you joy, strengthens you, sustains you, and keeps you going. It’s what Jesus had, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:2-3 

Today, I’m summarizing 12 amazing and key components of your hope, of what will happen after Christ’s coming, of what your life will be like in the coming kingdom ages. So what is your hope? 

* Worshiping God – “I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever” (Ps. 145:1). With all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, you will forever worship your Creator, Savior, and Lord. With great multitudes of believers, you will eternally be praising, loving, and thanking the One who greatly loves you, who does so much for you, and who deserves it. With perfect voices and all kinds of instruments, you will joyfully and gladly sing to your King. Ps. 96, 100, 103, 145 

* Being with Jesus Christ – “We shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). Can you imagine what it will like to be with Jesus, and to see His hands, feet, and side, marks of His immense love for you? I can’t help but think that you will be so in awe, so glad to be with Him. The eternal life you possess is a personal and eternal relationship with Jesus. You will listen to Him, learn from Him, and talk to Him. You will continually be with Jesus and get to know Him, love Him, enjoy Him, and witness His glory, majesty, power, and wisdom. Jn. 14:3, 17:24; 1 Th. 5:10; Rev. 7:9-12 

 * Reigning with Jesus Christ – “They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6). Jesus Christ will be King over the entire earth, and as a fellow heir, you will reign with Him. You will judge the world, rule over cities, and have specific responsibilities. “What is man… that You have made him a little lower than God and crown him with glory and majesty… You make him to rule over the works of Your hands.” Ps. 8:5-6, Rom. 8:17, 1 Cor. 6:2, Rev. 5:10 

* Obeying and Serving God – “I will always obey Your law, forever and ever” (Ps. 119:44). After your time on earth, your life will be one of perfect, steadfast obedience, resulting in productive and heavenly work. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10). These good works have been designed by God just for you. His eternal plan is that you forever serve Him by carrying out His meaningful, soul-satisfying, God-glorifying work. Matt. 4:10, Jn. 15:21, 1 Th. 1:9 

* Fellowship with Believers – “They will receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). Think of being with believers and being focused on the Lord and being filled with His love, and having rich fellowship. Think of having all eternity to get to know believers from all of history, ones you knew on earth, and ones you meet for the first time. Your communication and relationship with these heavenly friends will continually and always be edifying and God-exalting. 1 Cor. 10:31, 2 Cor. 4:14, 1 Th. 2:19-20 

* A Brand-New Body – “… raised an imperishable body… raised in glory… raised in power… raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44). It’s not just getting rid of an old body, but receiving a beautiful new one, a perfect, powerful, immortal, glorious, spiritual body. Your Christ-like body will experience no pain, weakness, sickness, or tiredness, but always be energized, spiritually and mentally sharp, able to fly, and fully suited to fulfill all God’s plans for you. 2 Cor. 5:1-5, Phil. 3:21-22, 1 Jn. 3:2, Rev. 21:4 

* Being Holy and Blameless – “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4). In the future, you will have no more sin – no more wrong thoughts, words, or deeds, no more pride, idolatry, anger, hate, jealously, impurity, fear, or strife. You will be righteous in every way. You will continually exude love, joy, peace, kindness, and wisdom. And you will completely carry out God’s glorious purposes and plans. Phil. 4:13, Rev. 21:4-7 

* A Restored Earth – “… that He may send Jesus… whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:20-21). When Christ returns, He will restore and renew this earth, and this occurs at the beginning of the millennial kingdom. “The mountains sing together for joy” (Ps. 98:8). “You visit the earth and cause it to overflow” (Ps. 65:9). “The wolf and the lamb graze together” (Is. 65:25). After this 1000-year kingdom age, there will be “a new heaven and a new earth.” Rev. 21:1 

* A New Home – “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places… I go to prepare a place for you… (Jn. 14:2-3). God has made a place for you, a heavenly home. This home will be in the eternal city, the new Jerusalem, which is a cube, 1500 miles on a side. This home will be perfect in terms of size, color, temperature, furnishings, and location. It will be the best environment for being with Jesus, and for worship, fellowship, meals, and any other godly activity. Luke 16:9; Rev. 21:2-3, 10-22 

* Pleasures – “In your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps. 16:11). Your future will be full of God’s blessings, “the surpassing riches of His grace” (Eph. 2:7). There is a wedding supper, the best-tasting food, exhilarating worship, the perfect home, godly fellowship, a fruitful earth, etc. – all because God wants to fill you with goodness, gladness, and joy. “No eye has seen… no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Cor. 2:9, Jn. 17:24 

* Rewards – “Each will receive his own reward for his own labor” (1 Cor. 3:8). On earth, each believer has unique and specific gifts from God. Your faithful use of these gifts will result in receiving rewards from God. It’s at Christ’s coming that you receive these rewards – then you are revealed with Him and are recognized for your earthly work. And the rewards you receive relate directly to the heavenly work God wants you to do for Him on the restored earth and on the new earth. Col. 3:23-24; 1 Pet. 4:10-11; Rev. 22:12 

* Righteousness and Justice – “Depart from me accursed ones, into the eternal fire… these will go away into eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:41, 46). The Lord is righteous and therefore punishes the wicked, those who don’t repent of their sins and receive His mercy. During the millennial kingdom, we will see Christ execute justice on earth. His punishment is deserved and occurs in hell during the millennial kingdom and in the lake of fire during the eternal kingdom. Ps. 72, Lk. 16:19-31, Rev. 20:15 

In conclusion: “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who… has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled” (1 Pet. 1:3-4). “This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19). “Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3). “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). “We exult in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2 

“If we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Rom. 8:25). “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:13). “… looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13