Archive for June 2026
The Destination: Living with Hope in View of God’s Future
We continue to explore what it means to become a people of hope. So far we have discovered that biblical hope is very different from the uncertain hope we often speak about in everyday life. Christian hope is an unshakable certainty, grounded in the historical, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ resurrection was not simply a remarkable event in history; it was the decisive turning point in God’s grand story of redemption. Through His victory over death, Jesus opened the way to an eternal future where death no longer casts its shadow of fear over humanity. Yet, as in the Garden of Eden, each person is still invited to choose whether they will participate in God’s restored creation.
But important questions remain. If death has been conquered, why do we still experience suffering, pain and death? How does the resurrection make a practical difference to our lives today?
Tim Keller offers a helpful illustration. Imagine two people doing the exact same difficult job for a year under unpleasant conditions. One is promised $15,000 at the end of the year; the other is promised $15 million. Their circumstances are identical, but their experience of them is dramatically different because of what they know about their “destinations”!
In the same way, understanding our ultimate destination transforms how we live in the present.
Many people think the goal of the Christian life is simply “going to heaven when we die.” Yet Scripture presents a much richer and more beautiful picture. While Jesus ascended to be with the Father, the Bible consistently points towards His return and the renewal of all creation.
Jesus promised His disciples that He would come back for them (John 14:1-3). The angels reminded the disciples of this promise at His ascension (Acts 1:10-11). His return will not simply be about escaping earth, but about restoring relationships, renewing creation and bringing God’s kingdom fully to earth.
God’s original purpose has never changed. In Genesis, humanity was created to partner with God, filling the earth and enabling it to flourish as heaven and earth overlapped. Though humanity repeatedly failed in this calling, God did not abandon His plan. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are once again invited to participate in His kingdom work.
The early church was transformed because ordinary people accepted that invitation and allowed God to shape them. The Christian life remains a process of spiritual formation. Pain, sorrow and mistakes are still part of that journey, but the destination is secure.
What about those who have already died before Christ’s return? Scripture doesn’t answer every question, and theologians refer to this mystery as the “intermediate state.” While details remain unclear, we can be certain that those who belong to Christ are safe in His presence (2 Cor 5:8) for nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).
Finally, Revelation 21 gives us a breathtaking picture of our ultimate destination. The Bible does not describe believers leaving earth to go up to heaven. Instead, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, comes down from heaven. God’s dwelling place is once again with humanity. The broken relationship is restored, creation is renewed, and God’s people will flourish in perfect partnership with Him.
The story that began in a garden in Genesis reaches its fulfilment in a glorious city where heaven and earth are united.
As N. T. Wright reminds us, our ultimate hope is not “going to heaven when we die,” but being bodily raised into the transformed and glorious likeness of Jesus Christ.
This is the certain future that shapes how we live today and the hope we are called to share with others.
Last week, we began exploring what it means to become a people of hope. We discovered that biblical hope is very different from the way we commonly use the word today. Our hope is often rooted in uncertainty—“I hope things work out.” Biblical hope, however, is an unshakable confidence in God’s promised future. It enables us to live faithfully in the pain of the present because we are certain about what is yet to come.
But what is the foundation of that confidence?
The answer lies in one of the most remarkable claims of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul makes a startling argument. While Christ’s death for our sins is central to the gospel, it is His resurrection that changes everything. Without the resurrection, faith is empty, hope is futile, and death still reigns. But because Christ has been raised, everything is different.
To understand why, we need to step back into the larger biblical story. In Genesis 1 and 2, we see God’s original intention for creation—a world filled with life, creativity, relationship, and flourishing under His rule. Humanity was created to walk with God, cultivate His world, and experience life as He intended.
That changed in Genesis 3. Through deception and disobedience, death entered the world. From that moment, death and all its consequences—fear, conflict, suffering, and brokenness—began to dominate human experience. Yet even in humanity’s fall, God promised that one day evil and death would be defeated (Genesis 3:15).
The rest of Scripture tells the story of God’s rescue plan. Through Abraham, Israel, the Law, the Temple, and the prophets, God continually pointed His people toward a coming King who would restore what had been lost. The prophets spoke of a day when death itself would be swallowed up forever (Isaiah 25:8).
That promise found its fulfilment in Jesus.
Yet even Jesus’ closest followers struggled to understand. When He spoke of His coming death and resurrection, they could not grasp what He meant. When He was crucified, it seemed all hope had died with Him.
But then came the resurrection.
The resurrection was not merely a resuscitation like those performed during Jesus’ ministry. The risen Christ appeared physically to His followers. He was seen by hundreds of witnesses, showed them His scars, ate with them, and yet also displayed a transformed existence beyond ordinary human limitations. The dramatic transformation of the disciples—from fearful and defeated to courageous witnesses willing to suffer and die for their testimony—provides compelling evidence that they had encountered the risen Lord and the resurrection was real.
So why does the resurrection matter so much?
Because the resurrection is God’s declaration that death does not have the final word. What was lost in Eden begins to be restored. Through Christ, the gate back into God’s kingdom is opened. The reign of death has been broken, and the reign of the true King has begun.
This means our hope is not simply about what happens after we die. It is about life now. Because Jesus lives, we can experience glimpses of God’s kingdom today. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians are called to build communities marked by love, grace, justice, and hope—communities that reflect God’s coming kingdom in the present world.
The resurrection secures our future, but it also transforms our present.
That is why Christian hope is certain. It is not wishful thinking. It is confidence grounded in a historical event: Jesus Christ is risen. And because He lives, we can face today—and tomorrow—with hop
Does Hope Matter?
In a world marked by uncertainty, suffering, and disappointment, the question is worth asking: does hope really matter?
The story of Katherine Wolf offers a powerful answer. In 2008, at just 26 years old and the mother of a six-month-old son, Katherine suffered a catastrophic brain stem stroke. Against all expectations, she survived, enduring months in the hospital and numerous surgeries. Though she continues to live with disability, chronic pain, and significant challenges, her life has become a testimony to hope through the ministry Hope Heals. How can someone facing such ongoing struggles speak so confidently about hope?
The answer lies in understanding the difference between the hope we commonly talk about and the hope the Bible describes.
In everyday language, hope is often little more than a wish. We hope for good weather, hope our team wins, or hope circumstances improve. Such hope is rooted in uncertainty. Even in the Gospels, before the resurrection, Jesus’ followers often spoke of hope in this way: “We had hoped…” they said on the road to Emmaus after His crucifixion.
Yet after the resurrection, something changed dramatically. The New Testament writers speak of hope not as wishful thinking but as confident certainty. The writer of Hebrews describes hope as an anchor for the soul, while Paul speaks of a hope that does not disappoint. Why the difference? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection changed everything. Humanity has lived under the shadow of death since the fall in Genesis 3. Death remains the great destroyer of hope, the reality we spend our lives trying to delay or avoid. But through His resurrection, Jesus conquered death itself. For those who trust in Him, death is no longer the end but a doorway into His presence and ultimately into God’s eternal Kingdom.
This is the hope that sustained Katherine Wolf. It is also the hope that sustained my late wife Sarah and me during her illness. As doctors offered treatments and possibilities, we naturally hoped for healing. Yet over time we learned to live in a deeper hope—not based on desired outcomes, but on the certainty that Jesus had overcome death. Whatever happened, our future was secure in Him.
That same hope is available today. It does not remove pain, erase grief, solve financial pressures, or instantly fix broken relationships. Instead, it gives us a foundation that cannot be shaken by present circumstances. It allows us to face uncertainty with confidence because our future is held securely in Christ.
As we look around at a world filled with conflict, loneliness, anxiety, and fear, perhaps the most important question is: where is our hope rooted? Is it resting on circumstances that may change tomorrow, or on the unchanging reality of Christ’s resurrection?
The Church is called to be a community of hope—not offering simplistic answers or quick fixes, but walking together through life’s challenges with confidence in God’s promises. In a world desperately searching for stability and meaning, followers of Jesus have the privilege of sharing a hope that is not based on wishful thinking, but on the certainty that Christ is risen and that His Kingdom is coming.
Hope matters because it changes how we live today. It enables us to face tomorrow with courage, whatever tomorrow may bring.
From the Zebra Bag 