What difference should our future hope make in the way we live today? The Bible reveals God’s promises and a very important one is that God will one day make all things new, establishing a new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells. But this promise is more than something to look forward to. It should shape how we live as followers of Christ right now.
OUR HOPE: A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives (12) as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.(13) But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:11-13 (NIV)
Living in the hope of the new creation
Peter reminds us that our hope as believers is not simply that this present world will improve, but that God will bring about a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
This promise finds its beautiful fulfillment in Revelation 21:1-5, where John sees the new heaven and new earth and hears the wonderful declaration that God will dwell with His people.
The brokenness, suffering, and effects of sin that mark our present world will one day be gone. God will make all things new, and His people will enjoy His presence forever.
“But the Kingdom of God is not simply something we are waiting to enter in the future.”
Through Jesus Christ, believers already belong to the Kingdom of God now.
We have been brought from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Although we have not yet experienced the fullness of that kingdom, we live under the reign of Christ today.
This is the beautiful tension of the Christian life:
The Kingdom of God is “Now, but not yet.”
It is now because, through Christ, we are already citizens of
His Kingdom and experience His presence, grace, and transforming work in our lives. It is not yet because we are still waiting for the complete fulfillment of His promises, when Christ returns and God makes all things new.
Living in light of our future hope
Therefore, our hope in the coming new creation should shape how we live in the present. We pursue holiness, love others, and remain faithful, knowing that the Kingdom we belong to now will one day be revealed in all its fullness.
As Revelation 21:5 declares, God is making all things new.
The victory of Christ is already ours, yet we still await the day when that victory will be fully revealed. (Oscar Cullmann)
The future we look forward to is the Kingdom we are called to live out today.
OUR GOD IS A BIG GOD!!! Blessings, Gerry
