The World's Greatest Hope
It's fun to have something to look forward to, isn't it? It adds zest to our lives.
Expectation makes it easier to get out of bed in the mornings. Something is ahead that we can anticipate doing or seeing, and it's exciting. It gives us an inner motivation to keep on going. We humans need something good to hope for and to anticipate.
Without hope, some say, we can die. With nothing to live for there is just despair; the future is bleak, blank, and void of meaning. Some people tragically find themselves in this condition. With nothing to look forward to in this life or a life beyond, they reach their end. Some people go into depression; others anesthetize themselves with alchohol or drugs. Some try to lose themselves in certain activities. Some commit suicide. "Misery loves company," so some spread their misery to others by becoming philosophers of despair, expressing themselves in music, literature, and art. The world is full of it.
Those who reject God have a meaningless existence-really worse than an animal, which cannot contemplate its mortality-and a future completely void of any hope.
Several years ago a famous movie star expressed this while on his deathbed. His loving daughter was at his bedside. His final tragic words to her were, "I'll never see you again." He had no hope.
A famous atheist spent a lifetime denouncing God. But on his deathbed, he was overcome with fear. He screamed in anguish at the thoughts of his imminent death and what was ahead for him, while at the same time cursing the God whose existence he had always denied. He had no hope.
A medical doctor's life was dramatically affected when a dying man, moments before his death, clutched the doctor and begged, "Save me. Oh, please save me. I don't want to go to hell." He then died, without hope.
The darkness of hell will have a total and pervasive sense of hopelessness. Ultimately, this will be a chief characteristic in a Christless eternity. It will be the maximum horror. Some may scoff at hell's fire, but hopelessness will be a worse fate.
But in Christ, we have "the world's greatest hope." As we discussed in a previous chapter, it is not only for God's companionship and help in this life, but for the life beyond! God has promised an endless existence in Paradise with Himself to those who will accept His gift-free to us but purchased with His own blood.
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.1
We know very little about this future existence. Only limited information has been given. With our finite minds it is really impossible to imagine an infinite existence; thus, "nor the heart of man conceived..." But God has revealed some things about it. One thing we know is that Jesus is there in the glory of His deity, and we will see Him. While on the earth He prayed:
"Father, I desire that they (those who believe in him) also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world."2
Actually, He "went ahead" of us to prepare things for those who would put their trust in Him:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you... that where I am, there ye may be also."3
We know that it will be a place where there is no sickness, pain, sorrow, or death. No cancer. No heart attacks. No AIDS. No aging. Perfect and permanent health and well-being. No hospitals. No (practicing) doctors.
Not a trace of defilement or corruption. No deception or misrepresentation (no television commercials!). No theft. No crime. Nothing but truthfulness and honesty. No (practicing) lawyers (some say none at all, but I know that can't be true).
No immorality. No wars. No conflict. No worry or anxiety. No taxes! No Internal Revenue Service (IRS agents? Maybe). No depressing newspapers or television network news. Nothing but good news.
A constant joy. A perfect peace. A pervasive love.
We will see departed loved ones who had placed their trust in Christ. There will be a grand and glorious reunion. What a happy experience to see each other again in an infinite existence! We will also meet people of history who lived before us, with us, and after us. What a thrill!
A famous basketball player, "Pistol Pete" Maravich, unexpectedly died of a heart attack at the age of 40. But not long before he died Pete had committed his life to Christ. He testified that he finally had peace, a peace he had never known before. Pete is with Jesus now. Someday we can meet Pete and, who knows, maybe play a little ball with him. I trust my skills will be somewhat better. But never like "Pistol Pete," one of the best ever.
There will be some sort of meaningful, enjoyable and fruitful activity. The beauty will be unimaginable. Light will be from the brightness of God Himself; no sun or other light will be necessary. His being will radiate the light. There will be colors and sounds that are beyond the present ability of our senses to perceive, and music beyond the ability of a thousand Mozarts and Beethovens to compose. Plus, in the best imagery of human language, structures of precious stones and streets of pure gold, "transparent as glass," are described.
Actually, who all will be there? The Book of Revelation, the last book of the entire Bible, tells us:
Only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.4
There's that word Lamb again. We started talking about the Lamb in Chapter 1 and can't get away from Him. He's in the first book of the Bible and the last.
The apostle John was given a vision of heaven. He described the Lamb's eyes as a flame of fire, His voice like the sound of many waters, His face like the sun shining in full strength, and on His head many diadems.
The Lamb is clad in a robe dipped in blood, the blood of the eternal covenant. On this robe is a name inscribed, "King of kings and Lord of lords."5
John also heard singing to the Lamb:
"Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God."6
Then John reported that he heard every creature saying:
To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever.7
A peaceful, eternal, and heavenly existence is the assurance and hope of every person who puts his trust in Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. But there will be one generation of humans who will experience a startling incident and see Jesus in person while on the earth! They will be alive when the Messiah makes his second appearance in power and majesty, unlike His first coming in humility. This is a theme of both the Old and New Testaments. The "Second Coming" of Christ is referred to approximately 1,845 times in the Bible, 318 times in the New Testament alone!
During the 40 days after His resurrection Jesus made many appearances to show Himself alive. He spoke His final words, then:
When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.8
Jesus had previously spoken of this future event. It was to follow a time of great trouble on the earth and a regathering of the scattered people of Israel. He had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews around the world. The destruction occurred a few years later in the Jewish-Roman war of A.D. 66-70. Like the Old Testament prophets, He also spoke of a future return of the Jews to their homeland and the retaking of Jerusalem from "the Gentiles."
Now, after 2,000 years of nonexistence, the nation of Israel has been reestablished in our generation. The Middle East is a powder keg of conflict caused mostly by a hatred of Israel, a Semitic family rivalry going back thousands of years. The industrialized world is lubricated by Middle East oil.
One is reminded of something the Hebrew prophet Zechariah said nearly 500 years before Christ. He spoke of a time in history when Messiah would return and referred to the "house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem... when they look upon him whom they have pierced." Zechariah said:
"Thus says the Lord... Lo, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the peoples round about... a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will come together against it."9
We have seen hints of this already with the entire world economy teetering on the availability and price of Middle East oil and the potential for war. And most of the "nations of the earth" in the United Nations are vehemently anti-Israel. Is Zechariah's prophecy being fulfilled?
Are we near Christ's return? No one knows for sure. But based on the many signs, which cannot be included here, millions of Bible students around the world believe it will be very, very soon. We are told to look for the signs. There are things we are told that will happen, after which:
And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things (the signs) begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.10
Paul refers to this momentous event when he says:
"For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."11
I just complied with Paul's instructions in the last sentence above. Therefore, be comforted!
Without question, we have the "world's greatest hope." There's just nothing like it. Someday we'll see Him, the one responsible for the "intelligent design" we see, the one who formed the universe, the worlds, the flowers, the amazing human body, and the one who chose to take on the frame of a humble servant, and to serve as a sacrificial Lamb. We will live with Him in an indescribable paradise for ever and ever, without end.
Paul referred to us as
awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us.12
The hope we are awaiting is not fantasy. It is not just wishful thinking. It is as valid as God's own integrity and promises. It is an inevitable happening. Yet, it is still a hope.
"Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."13
One Minute Summary
The World's Greatest Hope
Hope is the essence of life. Without hope, life cannot exist, at least in any meaningful way, and sometimes not at all. The greatest horror is hopelessness. The greatest threat to any human is an endless existence of hopelessness, void of any chance to know or experience God. Hopelessness is surely the chief characteristic of a Christless eternity.
Conversely, the greatest hope possible for any human is that is given in Christ-to see Him and to dwell with Him forever in Paradise!
Total peace, total joy, and total love. Indescribable beauty. Indescribable sounds. No sickness, pain, sorrow, or death. No dishonesty, corruption, or crime. No taxes! No depressing daily newspapers or television network news. There will be a joyful reunion with loved ones who trusted the Savior. We will meet people of history who lived before us or after us. Such an infinite existence is really beyond our finite imaginations, thus the description:
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.
One generation of humans will be alive and see Jesus at the "Second Coming." This startling event is a major theme of both the Old and New Testaments. Christ's return for His people is referred to as "the blessed hope."
All this-the return of Christ and an eternity of bliss-is not an empty or wistful hope, but an inevitable happening, yet still a hope.
Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.