Sometimes it feels as though life is tearing you apart. You’re torn between this and that: The pressures, the stresses, your hopes, your dreams … Speaking of which, what are you looking for? What are your hopes? What are your dreams? What are you looking forward to?

Is Life Tearing You Apart?

Great to be starting a new series on a subject that pretty much all of us are really interested in: Hope. I don’t know how much you’ve thought about this, but having hope for the future is fundamental to our wellbeing today. Think about it. If you don’t have any hope to look forward to, if you have no hope for the future, then you and your life are what we call hopeless and hopelessness, if you’ve ever been there, is the place where people start thinking about taking their own lives because they’ve got nothing left to live for. The future looks so bleak that we come to the conclusion: ‘Well, what’s the point?’

I once read a book about a holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, and he makes the point so powerfully when he recalls an experience from a concentration camp. Have a listen to what he writes:

The prisoner who had lost faith in the future, his future, was doomed. With the loss of belief in his future, he also lost his spiritual hold. He let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay. Usually, this happened quite suddenly in the form of a crisis – the symptoms of which were familiar to the experienced camp inmate. We all feared this moment not for ourselves, which would have been pointless, but for our friends. It usually began with a prisoner refusing one morning to get dressed and wash and to go out on the parade ground. No entreaties, no blows, no threats had any effect: He just lay there hardly moving. If the crisis was brought about by an illness, he refused to be taken to the sick bay or to do anything to help himself. He simply gave up, and there he remained lying in his own excrement, and nothing bothered him any more.

What a devastating picture of hopelessness, but a lack of hope in our lives takes many different forms. Sometimes, it’s not quite as desperate as that. It’s just that we’ve had this numbness because we’re so buried in the minutiae. We worry about this and that; we worry about … well, we worry about just about everything really.

I saw a great quote the other day on Twitter that went something like this: Worry is nothing more than your imagination creating negative visions of the future. It’s true, isn’t it? We create all these negative snapshots of how things could turn out, as though that’s any way to live your life.

Hope is the complete opposite of that. Hope is about creating positive snapshots. It’s about a vision in our heads and in our hearts of having a life that’s worth living, and the sort of hope that God’s into is the sort that makes a powerful difference in the good times and in the bad. We don’t find it particularly difficult to have hope for the future when things are going pretty well. The time we struggle is when things aren’t going well, and it’s right in that place that God wants to pour His hope into your life and mine. Romans 12:12:

Rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation; be consistent in prayer.

Did you pick that up? God’s hope is right in there, in the mix, next to, butted up against tribulation – a word which, in its original Greek language, literally means to have the life squeezed out of you. So, when you’re being squeezed and crushed, when it feels like your life is draining out of you, it’s right there that God plans to give you hope.

Our problem is that the hope that we’re all too often looking for is way too short-sighted. We hope that the pain will go away. We hope that the thing that’s causing us grief will go away: Not next month; not even next week; not even tomorrow … We want it fixed now. It doesn’t always work that way.

I can’t tell you the number of letters and emails I receive from people who’ve been suffering for a long time – some of them a lifetime, and they want to know: What the blazers is God up to? How can I possibly have the hope that you’re talking about? Those are eminently reasonable questions for you and me to be asking, so let’s lift our gaze and take a much bigger, much more expansive view of the sort of hope that God has for each one of us today. Let’s have a listen to the apostle Paul, who was going through his own tribulations on death row in a Roman dungeon. This comes from Philippians 1:18-26:

And I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me, and I don’t know which one I prefer. I’m hard-pressed between the two: My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that’s far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

So much hope does Paul have in the eternity that he’s going to spend with Jesus that instead of panicking about the consequences of being on death row, he’s actually torn – not between this and that in life, but between continuing in this life or moving on to the next.

Now, just stop and think about that there for a minute. Take a deep breath; let it sink in. Paul had so wrapped his heart and his mind around the amazing eternity he’s going to spend in the presence of God, with Jesus for ever and ever and ever, he’s completely torn between finishing the course that God’s set for him here on this planet, and letting it come to an early end so that he can be with Jesus. Wow!

So let me ask you this question: How different would your perspective on life be if you had that sort of hope within your heart right now, tomorrow, the next day? Well that’s precisely why we’re talking about this hope – the certain hope that we have in Jesus Christ for all eternity, in this series that I’ve called Merchants of Hope.

When Jesus Comes Again

Ok, tomorrow starts off like any other day. The alarm clock goes off, you roll out of bed, into the bathroom, breakfast, off to work … You look out the window, but … well, the sun’s not there. What’s the time? What’s going on? Here’s the picture that Jesus Himself paints of His return. Matthew 24:29-31:

Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet-call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds – from one end of heaven to the other.

Wow! So is that good news to you, or bad news? Is that something you’re looking forward to, or not? And what about this? Going on in that same chapter, Matthew 24:36-44:

But about that day and the hour, no one knows. Neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in a field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming, but understand this. If the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Are you looking forward to that with a sense of anticipation, or not? Because it could happen anytime. When? Well, we don’t know. We’re not meant to know. It could be today; it could be tomorrow; it could be next Thursday, or it could be in another few thousand years’ time.

But are you looking forward to Jesus’ return? I have to tell you something: I am. I love labouring in His field to play my small part in bringing in the harvest. I love doing what He calls me to do. Sure, some days it’s hard. Some days you groan, right? But by and large, it’s a joy for me to be doing what I’m doing, but the more I read and think and pray about what it’ll be like to be with the Lord for all eternity, the more I yearn to be there with Him, despite how much I’m enjoying this life. Does that make sense? And let me tell you, God has a lot to say in His Word about the return of Jesus.

Here are some interesting facts. One verse in thirty in the New Testament relates to the return of Christ. One in thirty! For every prophecy in the Old Testament about Jesus’ first coming, there are eight in the New Testament about His second coming. In fact, there are three hundred and sixteen references in the New Testament to the second coming, so as much as we get lost in the present, God truly wants us to focus on what is to come because when we actually know what’s coming, when the wonder of spending eternity with Jesus fills your heart, can I tell you? This world, this life, and all its riches and all its tribulations, look completely different.

Have you ever been exhausted at work? It’s been a long year, and you could really use a break? Your nerves are frayed; you’re snapping at people at work; just the smallest thing sets you off and you get home, and you’re grumpy at home with your family too. It’s because the pressure of it all is getting to you, but then you remember: Hang on a minute! I’ve got a holiday break coming up, and all of a sudden, all your anxiety melts away because it completely changes how you face today and the next day, because you know something good is coming.

Well as much as this works on the micro-scale, knowing your destiny with Christ for all eternity, it completely changes how you look at your life from a big-picture perspective as well. Just listen to these words that Jesus spoke while hanging on that cross to a criminal who was also hanging on his cross beside the Lord. Luke 23:42-43:

The man said to Him, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’

And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.’

Just think. In the middle of that extreme suffering, that man hanging there on a cross next to Jesus, and the Lord (the miracle-working Jesus) – the same one who’d healed lepers and blind men and demoniacs and who’d walked on water and stilled the storm – that Jesus says to this suffering criminal, who by the way deserved every bit of his punishment, that Jesus says to him: ‘Truly, today, you will be with Me in paradise.’ Do you think those words pierced his heart with love and hope amidst his suffering? You bet they did, because Jesus spoke those words into the little that remained of his life on this earth. And when Jesus was telling His disciples (fearful and suffering as they were before the crucifixion) about heaven, He said this to them. John 14:1-3:

‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me, for in My Father’s house, there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also may be.’

Friend, those words are for you as much as they were for the disciples back then, and remembering right at that point those disciples were suffering. They were afraid for their lives and yet Jesus said to them: ‘In My Father’s house, there are many dwelling-places. If it wasn’t so, do you think I would have told you that I’m going to prepare one for you?’ As you take up your cross and follow Jesus every day, He is already preparing a room – a room just for you.

Making What’s Wrong, Right

When Jesus comes again, something that I for one am really looking forward to, one of the things that’s going to happen is that we’re each going to have to give an account of our actions. Like it or not, it’s exactly what’s going to happen. Here’s how Jesus tells it. Matthew 25:31-46:

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left. Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? And when was it that we saw You a stranger and welcomed You, or naked and gave You clothing? And when was it that we saw You sick or in prison and visited You?’

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of those who are members of my family, you did it to Me.’

Then He will say to those at His left hand, ‘You are accursed! Depart from Me, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and all his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome Me, I was naked and you didn’t give me clothing, I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit Me.’

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we didn’t take care of You?’

And then He will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do this to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to Me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

So, how does that make you feel, knowing that Jesus will judge you one day? A little nervous? A little uncomfortable, perhaps? Course it does! We’ve all done things wrong. We’ve all rebelled against God. Even though He gave His very life for us, we’ve rebelled. See, the idea of judgment really makes us feel … twitchy. So, what am I doing talking about judgment in the middle of a series of messages that I’ve called Merchants of Hope? What does judgment have to do with hope exactly? Well I’ll tell you: The answer is, everything.

I was watching a news item on TV recently. They were interviewing a young woman who’d been deliberately set alight by some people who were drug-addicts. They’d poured flammable liquid all over this woman and set her alight. This beautiful young woman now had burns to most of her body. Even her face was covered with one of those body stockings. All you could see were her eyes moving around, and her mouth moving.

The perpetrators were given, wait for this, only thirteen years in prison. I was outraged! I mean, these people had laughed at her, when they set this beautiful young girl alight and ruined her life. I mean, they should have been given life, as far as I’m concerned. Someone should lock them up, throw away the keys, and never let them out. Would you agree?

There are many, many evil things done in this world on a daily basis: Extreme things like that; men beating their wives; women cheating on their husbands; people being enslaved; abused; tortured; demeaned. On the same night as that news item, they showed the trial of a union official who had embezzled over a million dollars from the members! None of that has escaped God. None of it! And all this evil going on in the world, evil that people seem to get away with, is not going to go unpunished. Listen to what God says. Proverbs 11:21:

Be assured, the wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will escape.

 And then Romans 12:19:

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’, says the LORD.

See, one of the great hopes that we have for the future when Jesus returns, when He judges the nations and their peoples, is that finally, finally, finally, justice will be done. I get great comfort from the system of justice in my country which, as fairly as possible, punishes people for their iniquities. And I get a huge amount of comfort knowing that God will one day punish the wicked, on that day of judgment; not because I’m a mean person, but because I (like you) have in me an innate sense of justice. Why is it there? Because you and I are made in the image of God and God is a just God.

Now, so far as I know, I’ve never done anything particularly wicked in my life. I’ve never poured petrol over someone; I’ve never set them alight; I’ve never embezzled union funds; I’ve not committed any crimes, but can I tell you something? I have fallen so short of God’s perfect ideal for my life. In fact, I fall short pretty much every day, so on God’s scale of justice, I deserve to be punished on that day of judgment. Truly I do, and chances are, so do you. The difference is for me, (I don’t know about you) but for me, and anyone who puts their trust in Jesus, the difference is this. 1 John 4:10:

In this is life: Not that we love God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

See, my hope for justice is my hope in Jesus. I know that He’s already paid for all my wrongs, past and present and future, and whilst justice will be done, I am forgiven because in my case, through my faith in Jesus, justice has already been done. It was a done deal when Jesus died on that cross to pay for my sins. I don’t know. It doesn’t seem fair, does it? I get off Scott-free when others will have to suffer. You’re right; it’s not fair – it’s grace, and grace is never fair.

My hope on that day of judgment is in Jesus, and that’s something I’m looking forward to. How about you?

So when was the last time you fell for the devil’s age-old lie that you’re not worthy of God, therefore by clear implication you never will be? When have you worried about this? Well, now you’ve heard the truth: Perhaps again, perhaps for the first time; and knowing that truth, you are totally, totally set free from any condemnation the moment you believe in Jesus.

Martin Luther once had a dream in which he stood, in the day of judgment, before God, and (surprise, surprise) Satan was there to accuse him. And when the books were opened, he pointed to transgression after transgression of which Luther was guilty. Luther’s heart sank in despair, but then he remembered the cross, and turning on the devil he said: ‘There is one entry which you have not made, Satan.’

‘What is that?’ asked the devil.

‘It’s this,’ answered Luther. ‘The blood of Christ, His Son, cleanses me from all sin’ (1 John 1:7).

That’s the truth – the God-honest truth. If you’re one of those people who has given their lives to Jesus, I want you from this day forth to hope in the day of judgment, when justice will finally be done by God. And as you hope in that day, know that your faith in Jesus means that your justice has already been done.

But if you don’t believe in Jesus, and if you haven’t yet put your trust in His hands, then I don’t want us to part ways today without giving you the opportunity to pray this prayer of faith with me and to put your life in His hands. This is just too important to leave until tomorrow, so let’s pray now. Pray these words with me right now:

Father God, I’ve heard the truth today that You will judge the living and the dead, and I realise I’m in serious trouble. I confess to you today that I’ve sinned against You in thought, in word, and in deed, and I come to You today Lord God to declare that I believe in Jesus. I believe that Jesus is Your Son: That Jesus died for me, to pay for my sins; that He rose again to give me the gift of eternal life. Please forgive me through what Jesus did for me. I turn away from all that I know to be wrong, and I give my life to You. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today, and give me the power to live this new life – this eternal life, completely for You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

As you think about Easter this week, I want to take a completely different approach to what I normally do at this time of year. We’re not going to look back so much as fast-forward to the future.

You see, what Jesus did for you and me on that cross, and through the empty tomb, is that He purchased for us the most amazing future: Not just here and now, but for all of eternity, and the first thing that’s going to happen when you and I go to be with Him is that we’re going to be reunited with Him. Lay hold of that truth, and your life is completely transformed. Lay hold of that truth, and Easter really starts to mean something. Easter is about giving us hope: Real, true, certain hope and so, if you’ll indulge me, that’s what we’re going to be talking about today on the program: Hope.

Reunited with Jesus

Hope is one of the most important things to our wellbeing that there is. It’s a feeling or an expectation or a desire for good things to happen in our futures. You know when you sit there, and you daydream about this or that, it’s always about good things, isn’t it? It’s as though you’re creating a photo-album in your mind of the good things that you want to happen to you in the future. Worry and fear is pretty much the same, but that photo-album is full of dark and negative images. When we lose hope in the future, we often lose the will to go on. That’s why hope for tomorrow is such an important part of who we are.

It’s really interesting. The word hope appears around 133 times throughout the Bible, but it’s meaning is a little different to what we’re used to today. See, when we talk about hope, when we hope for something, it has that sense of uncertainty about it generally. ‘I hope I’ll get a promotion at work. I hope the scans didn’t detect cancer. I hope that my kids will grow up to lead healthy, productive, successful lives.’

When something is certain, like you know that you’re going on a 2-week holiday starting next Thursday, we look forward to that with anticipation, but when something is uncertain, then we hope that it’ll happen, but the Biblical word for hope doesn’t make any room for uncertainty. The moment you read hope in the Bible, it’s an indication of absolute certainty. As the article on Bible.org says, ‘The word hope in Scripture means a strong, confident expectation’. So you see, there’s a profound difference between the way that we use that word hope today, and the way it’s used in God’s Word. And if we transpose our meaning onto that word hope in Scripture, then we completely miss the point. Take this passage, for instance. Romans 8:24-25:

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he can see? But if we hope for that we do not see, we wait for it in patience.

Now if you read those words using our modern-day understanding of the meaning of that word hope, it’s not a very helpful passage at all. Let me give you the contemporary version: ‘For in uncertain hope you were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he hasn’t seen? But if we have a wishy-washy, uncertain hope for what we don’t see, then we’ll wait for it with patience’. Now, not only isn’t it helpful, but it just doesn’t make sense because if we wait with a wishy-washy, uncertain hope, then there’s no way we’re going to feel patient on the inside.

So, let’s read it the way it was meant to be read when it was written: ‘For in a certain, rock-solid hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen isn’t hope, for we don’t hope for what we can’t see. But if we have a strong, certain hope for what we do not see, then we can wait for it with patience’. Now that makes sense! Now it’s a help!

So the hope that God talks about, the hope the Holy Spirit puts into our hearts, is a rock-solid, guaranteed, done-deal, it’s going to happen, certain kind of hope. It’s more akin to our understanding of anticipation. You know you’re going on holidays next Thursday, so you anticipate and savour that certainty. That’s what the Biblical word hope actually means, and one of the things that we can hope in with absolute certainty is that when we die, and when Jesus comes again, we will be reunited with Him.

In those days before He was crucified, Jesus told His disciples that He was going away. Now that was a scary thing for them because they could sense the assassination plot, and they were wondering if they were going to be next, but this is what Jesus said to them. John 14:1-3:

‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me, for in My Father’s house, there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.’

So this Jesus who was born as a babe onto the earth for us, this Jesus who died for us and who rose again, this Jesus who sits now at the right hand of the Father, this Jesus whose name is above every other name, to whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, this very same Jesus is the one with whom we’ll be reunited on that day. The apostle Paul puts it this way. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:

For the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the archangels’ call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Forget the dramatic happenings around Christ’s second coming for a moment, as glorious and as wonderful as that day’s certainly going to be. The bit that grabs my heart is this: That we will be with the Lord forever – forever! We will be reunited with Jesus and we will be with Him forever, and ever, and ever, without end. ‘Therefore,’ writes Paul, ‘Therefore encourage one another with these words’.

That’s exactly what I want to do today – to encourage you with these words. Because whatever your present circumstances are, and the disciples when Jesus told them that He was going away – their circumstances were terribly desperate; they were in fear of their very lives … So, whatever you’re going through at the moment, if you believe in Jesus, then you have the absolute, rock-solid, it’s-a-done-deal hope that one day, you will be reunited with Him. You will dwell with Him forever and ever and ever, amen. Now that’s what I call something to really look forward to.

A New Body

Eternity, as things turn out, is rather a long time. Right now, the oldest person I know in my circle of friends has just turned a hundred years old. This woman is a great lady with a sharp wit; I love her dearly, but at aged one hundred, her body … Well, it’s starting to show the signs of her age, you understand.

She walks with a walking-frame and she’s kind of stooped over, her eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be and of course, she has just a few more wrinkles than the rest of us. Her body is in pretty good nick for her age (a hundred years old), but as you’d expect, age is taking its toll. One day, she (like you and me) will return to dust. That amazingly complex, finely tuned body that we’ve all been given, that has served us all so well, one day will be no more.

So the question then arises, ok; we die, so what happens then? The Bible promises resurrection. That’s the point of Jesus rising from the dead. The writer of the book of Hebrews puts it this way. Hebrews 1:18:

He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything.

So, how does that work? You’re dead, your body’s decayed either in a coffin or through cremation, and then one day Jesus returns. You and I are raised with Him, but what do we do for a body? It might on the one hand seem like a bit of a strange esoteric question for us to ask and answer, but hey; it’s a very real question, because this resurrection thing isn’t a theory.

I know, I know; most of us think that our death is a long, long way off, unless (I guess) we’ve just celebrated our hundredth birthday. We push these things way off to the side because it’s all about living life today, and the things we can buy and the fun we can have, and the things we need to tick off our to-do list today and tomorrow and all the busyness of life.

But friend, listen to me. One day that will stop dead, if you’ll pardon the not-so-gentle pun. One day, none of those things will matter any more and indeed the only thing, the only thing that will matter, is our relationship with Jesus or not. Full stop, end of story.

So, on that day, what are you and I going to do for a body? Well, here’s the answer. The apostle Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 15:35-58:

But some will ask, ‘How are the dead to be raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies, and as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed perhaps of wheat or of some kind of grain, but God gives it a body as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed, He gives its own body. Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, another for fish. There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is entirely another. There is one glory of the sun, and there is another glory for the moon, there’s another glory for the stars – indeed, star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 

Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, but it’s not the spiritual that is first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth (a man of dust); the second man, Jesus, is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have been born in the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all die, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and be changed, for this perishable body must put on imperishability, and the mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, o death, is your victory? Where, o death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord, your labour is not in vain.

So you and I, if we believe in Jesus, will receive an imperishable spiritual body, through which we will inherit the kingdom of God – a body that won’t age like the one we have today. We see that in Jesus: His resurrection-body, the body He had after He was crucified and rose again … He had a body; he ate food; His body bore scars of His crucifixion, and yet, He didn’t seem particularly bound by physical restraints like locked doors and distances.

Will our bodies be exactly like His? Will we look the same as we look now? Those things, we don’t quite know, but this we do know: That the body we receive will be a new body, and one that will be good enough to last us for … well, pretty much all eternity.

So those of you with a few aches and pains, I think this is pretty good news. Don’t you? A new body that’s completely imperishable. One that won’t decay, won’t wrinkle, won’t get sick, won’t hurt, won’t give up over years, decades, hundreds of years, millennia, billions, trillions of years – eternity, that you and I are going to need it for. My friend, I don’t know about you, but I think this is absolutely brilliant news.

A New Heaven and Earth

We tend to think and live and behave as though this life we’re living right now is going to go on forever and ever. Here’s a little tip: It’s not, and in fact the things we take for granted (this great planet we live in, the sun getting up every morning, the moon), one day, all those will be gone too.

So then what? Some people find these sorts of discussions a little … well, unsettling, the idea of Armageddon. We’re all wary of those doomsday cults, all preparing for the end of the world next Thursday or the week after. How many times have you seen one of those on the evening news? And of course, they’re always wrong. We’re still here, right?

Well, don’t worry; I’m not one of those. That’s not what I’m going to be talking about today. I’m simply going to the point that the Bible tells us that at some stage, all this stuff we take for granted is going to come to an end, and those who have put their trust in Jesus will spend the rest of eternity with Him in their new resurrection-bodies, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

So how does this all turn out? Well, fortunately, we know to some extent how it’s going to end. Have a listen to what God says to us from the last book of the Bible, the second-to-last chapter. Revelation 21:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ And the One who was seated on the throne said: ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also He said: ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns of fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

See, there’s the good news, and the bad news. All throughout the Bible, you see God talking about the fact that He wants to be our God, and He wants for us to be His people, and yet over and over again, His people rebelled against Him until eventually, He sent Jesus to dwell in our midst, and then the Holy Spirit to dwell in each man and woman and child who believes in Jesus. But look at how it ends! We are reunited with Jesus. The old earth and old heaven pass away. All things are made new: No pollution, no tsunamis, no earthquakes, no disease, no pain, no suffering, none of that. Jesus, God Himself, in our midst.

And those who persevere and conquer, those who trust in Christ, all of those will inherit this new, perfect creation. And those who don’t, won’t. And then John, the writer of this book of Revelation, goes on to paint this most amazing picture of what this new heaven and new earth will look like. We don’t have time to read it all, so I really encourage you to grab a Bible, grab a cup of tea or coffee over the next couple of days sometime, and sit down, and just immerse yourself in Revelation chapter 21 and 22. The picture that God paints for us there of what’s coming is utterly amazing! Anything we have today, any joy, any beauty, any trials, any pains, just pale into insignificance when you compare them to this. John goes on to write:

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the LORD God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of a sun or a moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations, but nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

I don’t know what you’re looking forward to the most in the future, but this is what I’m looking forward to. As big and as important as all the things going on in my life today and tomorrow seem, they will be completely meaningless when I stand one day, on that day, in the presence of God.

We’ve been given a beautiful world to live in. We’ve been given amazing bodies. God has given us the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and the animals and the beasts and the insects, and the weather and the wind and the sunshine and the rain and the moon and all these amazing things! But friend, one day, one day those will all pass away. They will all be gone: The good, the bad, the ugly, it’ll all be gone, and it’ll be replaced by this. Revelation 22:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the Tree of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month. And the leaves of the tree are the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face and His name will be on their foreheads, and there will be no more night. They need no light of lamp or sun, for God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever. And He said to me: ‘These words are trustworthy and true, for the LORD, the God of the spirits of the prophets, He has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place. See, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.’

What are you looking forward to in your future? I’ve said this a few times in this series that without hope for the future, our lives cease to have value and meaning and purpose. People who take their own lives do so because they’ve completely lost hope, but look at the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Have you given your life to Jesus yet? Would you like to? Well, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t give you the opportunity to do just that, so if you want to step into the hope that you can have through Jesus and what He did for you, then why don’t you pray this prayer with me in your heart right now?

Lord, as You’ve shared this amazing picture of what is to come with me today through Your Word, I can’t put this off any longer. I’ve been running from You, and running, but it hasn’t been working, so today Lord is the day that I’ve finally come to my senses. Today, I want to say sorry for all the things that I’ve done wrong, and turn my life over into Your hands. Please forgive me, through the price that Jesus paid for me on the cross, and give me a new life. Put Your Holy Spirit in me. Give me the power to live my life for You. Lead me wherever You will. Call me to whatever You would call me into, and give me the courage to take up my cross and follow You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Friend, if you’ve just prayed that prayer with me, then you are forgiven. You have a new life in Christ. All the old things have passed away; the slate is wiped clean, and all things are new, and you have just stepped into the certain hope of resurrection after death, and a life eternal in the very presence of God. Welcome to the rest of your eternity with Jesus! Let me encourage you to find a Bible-believing church. Become part of a dynamic, vital faith-community to worship and to serve God, and to grow in your relationship with Him. Get ready! Eternity’s coming.

Quick question: What’s going to happen to you when you die? One way or another, at some point, your time on this earth will be over. So … then what?

The Dead Will Rise in Christ

It’s an interesting question isn’t it? What’s going to happen to you when your time on this earth is done and dusted? That will happen in one of two ways. Either Jesus will return – at which point everything on this earth will be over.

Or – and perhaps you consider this option to be more likely – your body is going to give up the ghost, when you breathe your last breath and your heart stops beating. And it’s that latter option that we’re going to talk about right now.

We’re in the middle of a series of messages that I’ve called Merchants of Hope. Hope is such an important thing. Without hope, today’s not worth living – and tomorrow … well who cares? So many people – can I say, even people who believe in Jesus – are living without hope.

And that’s crazy. Because our lives – whether we believe in Jesus or not – don’t end with a beep. There’s life after death – either in the presence of Jesus for all eternity – hallelujah – or apart from Him, in a place of eternal punishment an anguish and regret – that place with Satan and his demons that we call … hell. Hmm.

So … where are you going to go after your beeeeep? Well, I believe … in fact I know … that last heart beat is not the end. It’s just the beginning of where you’re going to spend the rest of your eternity. And there are two parts to that eternity for anyone who believes in Jesus. The part between when you die and when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, and the part after Jesus’ return.

Let’s talk about the first part first. If you believe in Jesus, here’s what  will happen to you. Immediately upon your death, you will go to be in the presence of Jesus, in conscious blessedness – having escaped your punishment because you have put your faith in the death and resurrection Jesus – in the fact that He paid for your sins on that cross. Just like the criminal who hung next to Jesus on that fateful day. Have a listen to what happened to him Luke 23:39-42:

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

So … exactly when would this man be in paradise with Jesus? Today. The Apostle Paul knew it too, that straight after his death, he would be in the presence of Jesus. Philippians 1:21–23:

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

What happens to him when he departs this life? He is going to be with Christ. So if you and I die before Jesus returns, and if we believe in Jesus, we go immediately to be with Him, in His Presence. Just sit there now for a minute and look at all your present circumstances – all your pressures and worries – through the lens of that truth. See that hope, that certain hope – is meant to make a huge difference in your life.

Paul the Apostle wrote that letter to the Philippians while he was in a Roman dungeon on death row. Have a read of it some time. It’s full of hope and rejoicing – because it’s written by a man who sees his present bleak circumstances through the lens of his certain hope in Christ. And at some point Jesus will return and we will all – those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t – stand before Jesus in judgement. We’ve already talked about that.

And when that happens, those who believe in Jesus who have died, will rise in Him. Have a listen – 1 Thess 4:13-16:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 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, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Now we’re going to talk about what happens after that next week on the program. I’d love to go there right now because it’s awesome, we just don’t have time, so you and I are just going to have to wait.

Just picture this glorious day. The dead in Christ will rise first. I was in a hospital a few months ago, visiting a friend who has since died of cancer. Hospitals have always seemed to be impersonal, sterile places. He was in a room of three other men who were also dying. The smell of death is a powerful thing, in this sanitised, brightly lit place with linoleum floors polished so much that it squeaks when you walk on them. There’s something stark and confronting about death.

It’s inevitable. It’s not pleasant. And yet at the other end of that, is this triumphant, jubilant day when all those who have died in Christ will rise again with Him. Hallelujah. That’s the hope. That’s why you and I and anyone else who believes in Jesus can look at our present day circumstances through the same lens as the Apostle Paul on death row. That’s why Paul wrote:

When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Hallelujah!’

I know there are some people listening today who have lost a loved one … and you miss them terribly. Perhaps your wife or your husband. Well the good news is that if they believe in Jesus, one day you will see them again – because they will be raised in Christ.

Or perhaps you’re getting pretty close to the end of your life, through old age or sickness – and you’re staring death down the barrel and that’s a scary thing for you.

Wherever you and I are on our journey through life and towards death, the important thing to know, the thing that Jesus wants you to know – not just in your head but in your heart is this. Death is not the end, it’s just the beginning.

It’s the beginning – for anyone who believes in Jesus – of an eternity praising Him and worshipping Him and celebrating with Him. It’s the beginning of an eternity without fear or tears or sickness or pain or illness.

It’s the beginning of an eternity, that compared to our fleeting lives on this earth, is so awesome, so forever that you just can’t compare the two. That’s why Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote this to his friends in Rome – Chapter 8 verse 18:

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.

Friend, the eternity that lies ahead for you is as glorious as it is certain. That’s what Jesus wants you to know today. That’s the hope, the certain hope that He wants to fill your heart with … today.

The Living Will be Taken Up

So you get up tomorrow, it’s a day like any other day – or so you think – but completely unbeknown to you – it’s not just any day. It’s the day that God decides to send Jesus back to this earth. The thing that Christians call … the second coming.

Jesus Himself described what it would be like. Not some guy on television claiming to be Jesus. But a huge, cataclysmic event that none of us – not you or me or anyone else – will possibly be able to miss:

Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

I’m imagining – that’s going to be kind of hard to miss isn’t it. You’re getting ready to go to work, you’re brushing your teeth, thinking about what the day holds. If you’re anything like me, you’re mind is already running through your to–do list and then … this.

Friend, that’s what it’s going to be like. Your mundane, every day reality, totally interrupted, totally disturbed, totally come to an end – together with the day that all the other 7 billion plus people on planet earth had planned – it’s going to be over. Because Jesus has just returned. The 24 hour news cycle, over. The news reader on TV – nothing left to read. Can you imagine? Are you ready? Because it can happen at any moment. 1 Thess 5:1-5:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.

So here’s the question, if you believe in Jesus and you are still alive on that day when Jesus returns? What’s it going to be like? And more importantly, what’s going to happen to you on that day? That’s worth knowing I think. Well the Bible has the answers. In fact, Jesus has the answers:

Then he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, ‘Look there! ’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them —it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.’ Then they asked him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’ (Luke 17:22-37)

It’s pretty dramatic. Do you see the picture that Jesus paints – it’s a business as usual day. Everybody is going about their normal business and then … one will be taken up and the other left. Whoo! The Apostle Paul describes it this way:

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

Friend, are you ready for that? In your heart of hearts are you looking forward to the day when the Lord returns?

There are two things that I’m sick of. I’m sick of these doomsday people who keep predicting the day on which Jesus will return. I think to myself – What are they nuts?! Jesus made the point, you’re not meant to know when … just be ready.

But at the other end of the scale I’m so desperately concerned about people who believe in Jesus and yet don’t seem to believe in the imminent return of Christ. We behave as though this life is going to last forever. We behave as though the rest of eternity is a million years away. Friends, it’s a lot closer than you think. In the context of eternity, it’s just around the corner. It could be this very day, this very hour that Jesus returns. That’s the certain hope that you and I have if we believe in Jesus. That’s the future that lies ahead.

Jesus could come back – today, tomorrow, next week. I don’t know whether you’re enjoying your life so much that you’re completely immersed in it – or whether you’re having such a rotten time that you’re drowning in your misery – or whether you’re somewhere in between. Wherever you are, whatever’s going on in your world, if you believe in Jesus, you have a certain hope that Jesus is coming back for you soon. And that … that’s meant to make a difference.

Just as I sit here chatting with you, I’m about to head off on a couple of weeks’ leave. I love doing what I do – but it’s hard work and I need a break. So with my wife, I’m heading off for 12 days – away from emails and writing and recording radio programs, and managing a global team and all that stuff that I love – just to take a break and have a rest.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to that these past weeks, how much I’m looking forward to it now. The sun, the ocean, the rest, the time with my wife. Awesome.

But here’s what I’ve been thinking about – if Jesus returned the day before I head off on my holiday, would I feel robbed … or rewarded? Would I want to say to Jesus – Look Lord – I’ve got a 12 day holiday planned, can you please come back at the end of it. In fact Lord as I look at my diary, hmmm, busy that day, meeting, speaking engagement – I’m thinking next month would be a much better time. Does that work for you? Let’s get it into our diaries and it’s a date.

Do you se my point? So many of us are so caught up in the things of the world, in our day-to-day reality that our hearts aren’t filled with the hope of Jesus’ imminent return. And I have to tell you – that is such a tragedy.

Listen to what Paul says Colossians 3:2:

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Come on. Set your gaze, your vision on the things that are above, on the certain hope you have. Because Jesus is coming – ready or not.

A Chance to Repent

I’ve said a few times in this series that without hope for the future, our lives cease to have value and meaning and purpose. People who take their own lives do so, because they’ve completely lost hope.

But look at the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Have you given your life to Jesus yet? Would you like to? Well, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t give you the opportunity to do just that. So if you want to step into the hope that you can have through what Jesus did for you on the cross, then why don’t you pray this prayer with me in your heart. Pray it to God:

Lord God as you’ve shared this amazing picture of what is to come with me today through your Word, and I can’t put this off any longer. I’ve been running from you and running but it hasn’t been working and today Lord is the day that I’ve come to my senses. Today I want to say sorry for all the things that I’ve done wrong and turn my life over into your hands. Please forgive me through the price that Jesus paid for me on the Cross and give me a new life. Put your Holy Spirit in me to give me the power to live my life for you. Lead me wherever you will. Call me to whatever you would call me to. And give me the courage to take up my Cross and follow you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you have just prayed that prayer with me then you are forgiven, you have a new life in Christ, all the old things have passed away, the slate is wiped clean – and all things are new. And you have just stepped into the certain hope of resurrection after death and a life eternal in the very Presence of God. Welcome to the rest of eternity with Jesus.

Let me encourage you to find a Bible believing Church and become part of a dynamic, vital faith community to worship and serve God and to grow in your relationship with Him. Because none of us can walk this walk with Jesus on our own.

Sure the moment that we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, He pours His Holy Spirit into us. But He also means for us to learn and to be encouraged and held accountable by other members of his family. I can be a bit of a loner sometimes, and I have to tell you sometimes the people at church can drive me a bit batty. And so the easiest thing in the world would be for me not to belong to a church.

But over the last almost 20 years, what I’ve learned is that the transformation of my life has happened in community, as I’ve been part of God’s family. That’s why being part of His church is so incredibly important. Giving your life to Jesus isn’t a one time thing, that you do for a few weeks and then forget, any more than permanently losing weight is about a 3 week crash diet.

Giving your life to Jesus is about living the rest of your life for Him. Jesus promised that that wouldn’t be an easy thing to do. He promised us that the path would be narrow and hard. He promised us that we would be persecuted. He promised us that taking up our cross and following Him would be a tough gig. So – here’s the thing. If you have just given your life to Jesus, get together with some fellow believers and let them help you on the journey.

In fact if you’ve just given your life to Jesus – I’ve recorded a series of 10 messages called So Now What? and probably the best thing that you can do right now is have a listen to them, because they’re all about the thing that you need to do and to put in place to lay some solid foundations early, in your relationship with Jesus.

You can get a hold of those messages online, in the Jesus section of our website – at christianityworks.com. I really encourage you to get along and have a listen – establish a prayer life, get into God’s Word and read the Bible every day. Become part of a vibrant bible-believing church. Because I want to see you in eternity. I want to hear you say to me – ‘Hey Berni, remember that day you shared that message on the radio? It changed my life. I’m here now, because God used that message in my life.’

I want those promises of eternity to be for you!

Can I ask you – when was the last time that you cried. I mean really cried. What caused you to cry? I bet it was something that hurt deep inside. It’s tough isn’t it? But one day, here’s a promise from God that I absolutely love, one day, He will come and wipe away every tear. Yours …. And mine.

No More Tears

Over the past little while on the program we’ve been talking about the importance of having hope in our lives. Hope is like a photo album in our hearts and in our minds … images of the good things that we hope are going to happen to us and for us in the future. And when we run out of positive images, that’s called … hopelessness.

But the important thing that I’ve learned over the course of this series is this: that the sort of hope that the Bible talks about is entirely different to the sort of hope that we talk about. For us, hope has a dimension of uncertainty to it.

You’re sitting in the doctor’s surgery, you’re waiting to go in to be told whether the x–rays reveal cancer or not. You hope that it’s going to be okay, but … well, you just don’t know. Or you hope that next week, you’ll receive that promotion at work. The bosses are getting together over the next couple of days, to evaluate the candidates. You’re hoping that your name will be at the top of the pile, but … you just don’t know.

There’s a kind of a tension involved in the way that we think about hope. I hope it’s going to be okay. I hope it’s going to be great. I hope my marriage doesn’t fall apart. I hope my teenage kids are going to be okay at the party tonight.

And when things don’t turn out the way we want, often there are tears. The disappointment that ensues when the hope that we had proves to be misplaced, is really, really tough. It often leads to tears. Think about the last time that you shed tears. What was it about? A betrayal? A relationship breakdown? Missing out on that promotion? A scary prognosis from the doctor?

I read on Wikipedia that according to the German Society of Ophthalmology, which has collated different scientific studies on crying, women cry on average between 30 and 64 times a year. Men cry on average between 6 and 17 times a year. Men tend to cry for about two to four minutes and women cry for about six minutes. Crying turns to sobbing for women in 65% of cases, compared to just 6% for men. But these differences don’t start to occur until adolescence.

Inevitably, these tears are related to the disappointment that comes when hope has failed us. Think back to the last time that you cried. What was it about? Why did you cry? What was the trigger?

Sometimes it’s physical pain, but mostly, it’s when there’s some trigger or breaking point that brings lost hope to a head; that thing we’d hoped for: a good marriage, an obedient child, trustworthiness in a work colleague, good health. Whatever it is … that thing that we hoped for … has failed us.

Do you enjoy crying? No. I don’t think there’s a single person on the planet who enjoys crying. And if you or I had our way, we would never, ever, ever encounter another situation that causes us to cry anything but tears of joy, for the rest of our days on this earth. Right?

The things we hope for on this earth don’t always happen. But the sort of hope that the Bible talks about is completely different, and there’s no better passage to tell that story than in Romans chapter 5 verses 3 to 5:

And not only that, (writes Paul) but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Did you pick it? The sort of hope that the Bible talks about is the sort of hope that doesn’t disappoint us. It never disappoints us, because God is faithful; God’s Word is true; God’s promises never fail and so we can hope in Him with absolute, rock solid, certain hope. No ifs. No buts. No maybe’s.

Even, as is the case here, during times of suffering. Because during that suffering, God is building our character and our endurance and through that, He grows a godly hope in our hearts, by pouring the Holy Spirit into us.

So, when it comes to the tears that you and I shed from time to time there is a promise that I want to share with you today that you can have a rock solid, unfailing hope in. Revelation chapter 21, verses 3 to 5. This passage tells us what our eternity with Jesus is going to be like. Have a listen:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’

Just think about that. Whatever sadness and tragedies that you’ve had to travel through, whatever disappointments and losses that you’ve experienced in your life, God Himself will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Death, suffering, sickness, pain, mourning, loss, tragedy, disappointment … none of those things will ever be again, because those things will have passed away.

All the things that matter today, all the things that cause you hurt today, every single thing that brings a tear to your eyes today, will be gone because those things … the first things … will have passed away.

It’s hard to imagine isn’t it? I know there’s someone listening today who has lost a child. Another whose life’s work was taken away from them. Another whose wife or husband has just died and was suddenly taken away from them. And there’s no doubt someone listening whose marriage is a complete mess, not at all what you’d planned when you walked down the aisle together all those years ago.

One day, all those things will be gone. And if you believe in Jesus, all that will be left, will be you, with countless others, in glory with the Lord your God for all eternity.

Billy Graham once said this: ‘I’ve read the last page of my Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.’ That’s the rock solid truth in which you and I can place our hope … and never, ever, ever be disappointed.

So let’s bring that hope now, into the middle of the situations and circumstances that you’re travelling through at the moment. The things that you have uncertain hope about. The thing that last moved you to tears and to sobbing, the pain so deep, that you don’t have words to express it.

What difference does God’s hope, this certain hope make? What difference can it make? Does it completely take away the pain and the tears now? No, I don’t think so. Probably not. Some hurts are incredibly deep. But what it does do, is it puts them into a whole new eternal perspective. Just stand back and look at the whole picture. What you’re going through now in the context of the hope that you can have for where you’re going to be and what you’re going to be doing and what God will have done on that day that you go to be with Him.

And listen to His Words again, as He speaks them personally to you:

‘I will dwell with you; and you will be mine, I myself will be with you; I will wipe every tear from your eyes. Death will be no more; your mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for those things will have passed away.’

And my friend that very same God, the God that speaks those words of love and hope to you now, is with you, now. Through your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit … the very Presence of God … dwells in you. He feels your pain. He knows your tears. He is there to comfort you. And He is there to pour his rock solid certain hope into your heart, so that you will know beyond any shadow of a doubt, that one day, these things will come to pass.

The Word of God is able to do things that no man can do. May His Word and His Spirit bring deep comfort and great hope to you today.

What Will We Do for the Rest of Eternity?

Have you ever tried to imagine eternity? It’s a bit like infinity. You and I are these tiny specs in the cosmos. In fact, we live on a tiny speck hurtling around the sun at 30 kilometres a second. So we’re tiny, tiny, tiny in the overall scheme of things. At least a hundred trillion stars out there, and those are just the ones we know about.

Of course day-to-day, we don’t think too much about that at all. As I sat at my desk this morning pecking away at the keyboard it seemed totally incongruous to me that I was hurtling through space at 30 kilometres per second. (Actually it’s a whole bunch faster than that, because as well as flying around the sun at breakneck speed, our solar system is whirling around the centre of our galaxy at the rate of 220 kilometres per second. That’s 792,000 kilometres or 490,000 miles per hour … but I try not to think about that).

So when it comes to our sense of space, we cope with these ridiculously, unimaginably large numbers, by retreating into our few square miles in which we live, and somehow fencing our mind and our imagination to live in that space, because it’s much more comfortable that way, right?

And the same is true with our sense of time. I’m now 54 years old and every now and then I think to myself if I live to what is an average life expectancy for a male in Australia … say to my mid-eighties, that’s what, another thirty years. Could be more, could be less … only God knows. I’m pretty fit, I’m pretty healthy, I’m hoping it’ll be more, but who knows?

Thirty years left. Thirty birthdays. Thirty Christmas’. Thirty Easters. Thirty summers. That’s not that many is it when you think about it. Basically I’m almost two-thirds the way through an average lifetime.

And yet, every day, it can be a long time. I look back on yesterday. Hey, I got a lot done yesterday. I tend to pack a lot into my days, because I love living life to the full. It’s just me. So, thirty years, is another 10,950 days. Well, I tell you something if I get as much done on each of those as I did yesterday, then that’s an awful lot. So now, I turn my mind to the lyrics of that wonderful old hymn – Amazing Grace:

When we’ve been here ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise,
   than when we’ve first begun.

Hang on ten thousand years! That’s three million, six hundred and fifty thousand days! (I’m assuming we’ll have given leap years the ditch by then). What do you do for that many days?! I mean after a three-week holiday, I’m raring to go to get back to work, back into harness, back to do stuff.

And yet 10,000 years is a still just an infinitely small drop in the ocean, when it comes to eternity, which by definition, is infinity years. Have you ever wondered what we’re going to do for all that time in heaven? Well, when we talk about heaven, we’re really talking about the new earth that God is going to create. When God creates that new earth, heaven will literally be on earth as God makes His home with us.

Okay, so if you believe in Jesus today. If you put your trust completely in what He did for you on that cross. If you’re living out your life for him … then you’re going to be spending eternity in the new heaven on the new earth, with Him. As we’ve seen in this series, the effects of our sin will be rolled back. As one author writes, we’ll effectively be picking up where the garden of Eden left off.

Will we be working in heaven? Or will it be one long holiday? Will we get bored? Is that pain in the neck, busy-body, gossip, Mrs so and so from down the road going to be there to bend my ear for all eternity? Come on, eternity is an incredibly, unimaginably, long time. What are we going to be doing?

The last book of the Bible, Revelation gives us the best indication of what we’ll actually be doing. Now it’s written in a style of literature called apocalyptic literature, for which we have no real equivalent in our culture today. The best way to describe it is picture language. So, here are the words, let them paint a picture in your heart. Revelation chapter 5:

Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood, ransomed for God, saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on all the earth.’

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and living creatures and elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.

I don’t know … I don’t know about what else we’ll be doing, but one of the main things that we’re going to be doing is worshipping Jesus. What? For all eternity? Sure. He is an infinite God … He is an amazing God and when you and I stand in His Presence, I have to tell you, our instinctive reaction will be to worship and to worship and to worship. Have you ever been in a great time of worship at your church and wished it would never end? Well that … was only a shadow, just an inkling, of what is to come. We will be in His Presence and worship Him. Forever.

There’s a great song by Mercy Me called I Can Only Imagine. It goes like this:

I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by your side.
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see when your face is before me.
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.

Surrounded by your glory what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your Presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only Imagine.

I don’t think that you and I can begin to imagine what it will mean to be in glory with Jesus, knowing that we are only there by His grace, through His suffering on that Cross. And because of His great love, God is our God, and we are His people and the home of God is amongst us.

Friend, do you believe in Jesus? Then this is the certain hope that is in you. This is absolutely what is going to happen. And it will go on forever and ever and ever, AMEN!

And that hope my friend is meant to fill your heart today. That hope is meant to overflow out of you into the lives and the hearts and the hurts and the fears and the failures and the sin of the people around you today. That hope is meant to spill out and flow out and touch them with the love of your God today.

Are you a follower of Christ Jesus? Then you are meant to be a merchant of hope. An ambassador of Christ. We don’t see people around us coming to Christ through the condemnation that we hurl at them, do we? How well has that ever worked for you?

We see them come to the Christ when they see the hope that is in us, and they ask: why are you so up-beat? How can you be so happy? Why are you so strong through all the trials that you face? And you turn to them with a smile and you say, let me tell you about the hope that is in me. You and I are meant to be … merchants of hope.

Cross Roads 

Over these last few weeks we’ve talked a lot about the future that Jesus has planned for you. A future so great, that it doesn’t bear comparing to the suffering that we might have to travel through in this life. That’s what the Apostle Paul said, right in the middle of a time of great suffering, in Romans chapter 8, verse 18, he said:

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory about to be revealed to us.

But I know that there are some people who struggle to imagine that this eternal future, being in glory with Jesus for all eternity, could possibly be meant for them. I get that. In fact, the more you’re struggling with the issues of life at the moment, the harder it is for you to lay hold of the truth that this eternal glory is actually meant for you.

Jesus’ disciples were struggling when He was telling them about what lay ahead for them. They were struggling because there was a plot afoot to assassinate Jesus. They were struggling because they weren’t just afraid for Him, they were in fear of their own lives. All these amazing things they’d seen this Jesus do … would all be lost? Would He indeed be assassinated? So Jesus said to them:

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me. For in my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it weren’t so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may also be. And you know the way to the place where I am going. (John 14:1-4)

And my friend just as He was preparing a place for them, He was preparing a special place for you and for me. That’s how personal this is. That’s how real this is. So, do you know the way to the place where He was going, where He is today?

Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we possibly know the way?’ and Jesus said to them, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:5,6)

Friend, there is only one way. And that way is Jesus. All the things that we’ve talked about these past weeks, all the amazing blessings that lie ahead are only available to those who have put their trust in Jesus, the Son of God; who have given their lives over to Jesus.

Now, if you haven’t done that yet, if you’ve been listening to the amazing things that lie ahead in eternity and you want those for yourself, I am going to invite you right now to pray this prayer with me. To accept Jesus into your life as your Saviour, to hand your life over to Him as your Lord, to receive forgiveness and to receive eternal life. If you would like to do that, then please, pray this prayer with me in your heart:

Dear God, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that you sent Him to die on that Cross to pay for my sins. Thank you that He rose again to give me eternal life. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And so I give my life to You, Lord Jesus, today. Forgive me please for all the things that I’ve done wrong. I turn away from those things today. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit, so that I can know you personally and have your power to live my life for you. From this day forward Lord God I belong to you and I believe in Jesus. All these things I’ve prayed in His name. Amen.

Friend, if you just prayed that prayer with me, then you are forgiven, you have received the gift of eternal life freely given through Jesus, and all the things we’ve spoken about in this series about your eternal future belong to you. It’s time for you to be filled with the certain hope that you have in Jesus Christ. It’s time for you to become a merchant of hope, to share that hope with others around you.

So let me encourage you to become part of a Bible believing church. In fact, I’ve recorded a series of messages called So Now What for anyone who just prayed that prayer. You’ll find them in the Jesus section of our website: christianityworks.com. So go and have a listen and be blessed in your new life in Jesus Christ.