Hollywood Versus Our Hope

Imagine if you will, a man explaining to his fiancé his vision for their future once they are married.

Let's carry out this scene a bit further with the prospective bride responding something like this: "Let’s just concentrate on our life now before the wedding; we can talk about our honeymoon and life together after we get married”

Would you think that strange? Why would the future bride not want to talk about life after the wedding ceremony? We would wonder about the lack of excitement.

Is this not what we so often do as the church?

Jesus wants us to know about the future he has planned for us; He revealed many things about the glory ahead for us through His apostles.

Believers, however, remain fixated on what the Bible teaches about this life and spends little time contemplating their glorious future after Jesus appears. The result is an overall lack of excitement regarding Jesus' return.

How did we get here? What are some other causes of the focus on this life versus eternity?

Hollywood

How often have you seen depictions of lonely glorified believers sitting on clouds strumming harps? With such an idea of eternity, it’s no wonder believers lose their eagerness for heaven. Such misinformation dampens our anticipation and understandably so. Who would desire such a lonely and boring existence?

Better to live for the moment than wait for that.

However, Scripture tells us we will reign with Christ in His earthly kingdom and then forevermore throughout eternity. Doesn’t that sound much more exciting than sitting on a cloud?

Hollywood’s lame and misleading depictions of heaven fall far short of the glory ahead for followers of Christ.

I love the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, but someday as followers of Christ we will be so much more than aspiring angels jumping into icy waters to earn our wings. Scripture says we will “judge angels” (1 Cor. 6:3). I am not sure of all that implies, but it certainly distinguishes us from them and places us on a higher level.

Hollywood’s lame and misleading depictions of heaven fall far short of the glory ahead for followers of Christ.

I’ve heard that before

Back in the 1960s’ and 1970’s, eschatology became a hot topic. Many churches emphasized the imminent return of Jesus. I remember Jack Van Impe coming to my church to teach for an entire week about prophecy.

As time has passed, however, believers have lost their expectancy of Jesus’ return. Having looked for it for so long, I understand the sentiment that finds it difficult to believe He will appear anytime soon. After all, we have heard it before for so many years and yet nothing has happened.

However, as we see the prophecy begin to be fulfilled in our world today, if there was ever a time to be watchful, it is now!

When I read the signs of the coming time of tribulation in Matthew 24:3-14, I wonder if Jesus had a laptop in front of him and was reading from various news sites on the Internet as he talked to his disciples. His words in that passage so closely match what we see around us today; it’s difficult to imagine he was talking about a still future period of history.

Silence in Our Churches

Unfortunately, rather than becoming more watchful as signs multiply, churches remain mostly silent on the subject. How can believers be excited about their future hope if they never hear about it?

It’s difficult, if not impossible.

Murky references to eternal life or some distant kingdom do not stir our hearts or relieve anxiety over what we see around us.

Murky references to eternal life or some distant kingdom do not stir our hearts or relieve anxiety over what we see around us. John Eldredge said this in his book Desire, “C.S. Lewis summed it up, ‘We can only hope for what we desire.’ No desire, no hope. . . . Bland assurances of the sweet by-and-by don’t inflame the soul.”[i]

Passing references to heaven do not impassion us, especially in America where so many enjoy comfortable lives. Without a vision of the joys ahead for us after Jesus returns for us, it’s difficult to imagine heaven can be any better than our current existence with IPhones, smart TV’s, computer games, and a host of other things I could list.

Teaching Without a Two-world Perspective

When churches ignore a two-world perspective, they unwittingly make happy marriages, good parenting, wise financial planning, etc., our ultimate hope rather than Jesus’ appearing. Of course, biblically centered teaching on such things is essential. Without a two-world perspective woven into such instruction, however, these things can easily become our hope rather than Jesus’ return.

The danger comes from focusing our hope on temporal results where so many factors, including the sinful choices of ourselves and others, negatively impact the outcomes we so greatly desire. The New Testament teaches believers to expect trials and difficult times in this life (James 1:2-3; 1 Pet. 1:6, 4:12-13).

Scripture promises us paradise in eternity, not now. We set ourselves up for great disappointment when we define anything in this life as our paradise. That is our future, not our present reality.

Hard Pews

Many see eternity as an unending church service as John Eldredge also notes in his book Desire, “Nearly every Christian I have spoken with has some idea of eternity is an unending church service . . . . we have settled on an image of the never-ending sing-along in the sky. . . . And our heart sinks.”[ii]

Of course we will sing and worship the Lord throughout eternity as we get caught up in the glories of eternity and celebrate the full realization of all that He had done for us.

We are promised an amazing future that we can be excited about and celebrate!

Scripture, however, also speaks of our reigning with Christ during the millennium and then forever. We will have thrilling kingdom responsibilities and forever enjoy a restored earth. We will never get bored in eternity with the exciting future the Lord has specifically planned for each one of us.

Satan’s Opposition

Amir Tsarfati recently gave a sermon titled, “Bible Prophecy – God Gave It – Satan Hates It.” Does that not sum up well what we see today with Satan’s ever growing opposition to anything related to our future hope?

Of course, Satan does not want believers to be aware of the glorious future God has planned for them. Why would he want us to anticipate our future immortal bodies when he can drag us into despair over aging, sicknesses, and other aches and pains?

It also makes perfect sense that the devil would distract us from our future hope and bring division into the body of Christ regarding such things.

Bottom Line

God did not reveal so much about our future hope simply for seminary classroom discussions. No, he provided many details of what’s ahead so we as believers can rejoice in our thrilling hope and rise about the anxieties that so often drag us down.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul writes, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God had prepared for those who love him.’ But the apostle does not stop there, he quickly adds in the following verse, “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.”

We have a glorious future beyond what we can imagine. And yet, the Spirit has revealed some things to us. The Lord did not tell us everything about eternity, but He revealed enough to let us know it will be wonderful beyond all we could hope for.

No one will be disappointed with heaven and long to be back on earth. That will never happen; count on it.

[i] Eldredge, John, Desire (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), pp. 64-65

[ii] Ibid., p. 111

Our Unfailing Advocate

I remember Jay Leno on the Tonight Show mentioning that his whole life was videotaped for security reasons. Leno’s purpose in saying this was to introduce some incident between him and his cat, which he wanted us to assume was totally impromptu.

But what if . . . what if our entire lives, every waking moment, was somehow captured on video? Furthermore, what if this was available for any enemy of ours to use against us?

Far-fetched you might say?? Revelation 12:10 refers to Satan as “the accuser of the brethren” and as someone who “accuses” us as believers “day and night before our God.” Satan is able to recount incidents (and perhaps replay events) from my life and then bring charges against me, “Look at this display of unbelief! Did you see that lack of faith in his display of anxiety! Jonathan claims to be your child, but look at his prideful behavior. Surely he is not who he claims to be.” Satan never gives up in his relentless efforts to accuse us both in person and before our Father in heaven.

However, I John 2:1 says that when we sin, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Whew! I have someone to defend me before my Father, a never-failing advocate on my behalf. We are never left defenseless against Satan's attacks.

Romans 8:33-34 further describes this courtroom scene in heaven, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Because we are justified before God, Jesus never fails to intercede on our behalf and defend us against all charges made against us.

When Scripture says we are justified, this signifies God’s proclamation that we are righteous solely because of Jesus and His death on the cross for our sins. Justification is a legal term indicating a judicial pronouncement made in a court of law. All the legal claims against us have been forever cancelled; they are nailed to the cross and we bear them no more (see Col. 2:13-15); God declares those in Christ forever righteous in His sight. Jesus is our righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). In addition, Jesus remains our advocate, our defense attorney, always ready to defend us before the Father.

Romans 8:1 sums up this wonderful news, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Notice the apostle does not say there is “no condemnation” for the religious or for the moral or for those who always obey God. No, the promise is for those “in Christ,” for those who have a saving relationship with Jesus.

Satan can bring a whole flash drive full of condemning videos; it will never change God’s verdict of righteousness on those of us who know Jesus as our Savior. Jesus is the one who continually defends us and when you think of it, could there possibly be a better defense attorney in the entire universe?

Recently, someone asked me to make a value judgment on a politician’s character based on a short video of less than a minute. While the incident on the video certainly put the man in a bad light, I could not agree it exemplified his entire life. As I later reflected on the discussion regarding the video, I realized I am no better than that candidate. A great number of equally condemning videos against me could be paraded before my Father in heaven to which I could only lower my head in shame.

My confidence, however, rests solely in Jesus and His righteousness. He is my only defense against all the countless charges made against me, past, present, and future. This is what it means to be justified before Him: no future charge can ever change our righteous standing before God or interfere with our hope of someday reigning with Christ. Jesus is not only our unfailing advocate, but coming soon to take us to be with Him in heaven.

He alone is the reason we are secure in our hope of spending eternity with Him. This is why we can confidently look for His appearing. He alone is our unfailing hope.

Romans 8:31-32 says this about those in Christ, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Some might claim, as they did in Paul’s day, that such grace opens the door to more sin. However, as the reality of what Jesus has done and continues to do for us sinks increasingly into our hearts, it energizes our desire to serve and love Him all the more.

Praise God for His amazing grace, love, and mercy! So undeserved but welcomed with much thanksgiving!!

What we Cannot See

 

They come to bat with gritty determination in their faces, hit solid line drives, and run toward the bases with all the intensity of someone in the major leagues.

In the outfield they race toward the ball, sometimes diving, in order to make the put out before the batter reaches base.

On the bench, they listen intently and cheer loudly when their team scored a run.

Sound like baseball in any other league?  Not really. This league has a unique requirement for all its players . . . they all must be legally blind in order to participate.

On July 26, 2016, I witnessed the beginning of the playoffs for the National Beep Baseball Association World Series in Ames, Iowa. I met Nick, pictured above sprinting past first base, and experienced the sights, sounds, and emotions of beep baseball. The baseball beeps to help both the batter and fielders locate it. When the ball is hit, a base beeps and the hitter runs toward the sound.

Spiritually, we have much in common with the players in the Beep Baseball World Series playoffs. We believe God’s Word about the world yet to come, but it remains unseen. With eyes aided by the Holy Spirit, we see our Savior albeit still dimly, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face . . .”[i] We await Jesus’ appearing when we will not only see His glory face to face but be changed to be like Him.[ii]

In the meantime, we battle an unseen foe. The Apostle Paul says that our battle is not “against flesh and blood” but with spiritual powers of wickedness.[iii] In reality, we are all on a team battling together against Satan and his minions.

Unlike the players in the Beep Baseball League, we so often lose heart because of the unseen nature of our battle. The things we see so easily blur our spiritual focus for things that remain unseen. We lose our focus on the unseen and soon our heart for pressing forward through the struggles and difficulties of life.

Jesus, however, will soon appear; our faith will be sight! Until then we press on toward our upward call when Jesus takes us to forever be with Him.

[i] I Corinthians 13:12

[ii] 1 John 3:2-3

[iii] Ephesians 6:12