Writing a Different Future #12 – God’s Writing

People look at the future in three different ways.

Some say everything will stay the same. This view states that everything has always been much the same as it is now. Reincarnation probably fits this view. Life doesn’t actually have an end, but just goes on and on in an endless loop.

Others say that everything will get better. This view claims that people and our world are progressing. As people improve or evolve or get educated, they’ll figure out ways to solve humanity’s problems and the world will get better.

Still others say that everything will get worse. This view holds that our world is breaking down. Whether it’s your desk, your body, or the universe, everything is deteriorating. Everything that lives slowly dies. Everything is getting worse and will continue getting worse.

Christians maintain this third view of the future, but with an important difference. We believe that a personal God created all things perfectly. That humans rebelled against God and brought sin and death to humanity and the world. Nevertheless, God is still in control.

What is more, God intervened in human history by sending Jesus Christ to earth and making available a different kind of life. And in bringing human history to a fitting conclusion, Jesus will return to rule the earth as his kingdom.

One way to visualize this is to imagine all time and history as one long straight line.

Creation •—————————— ✝ ——————————• Eternal State

At the beginning is creation. At the middle is the first coming of Christ – born as a baby, lived as a man, died on a cross, and rose from the dead. At the end is the second coming of Christ, and further, the final judgment and our entrance into eternity.

While the world got worse, God wrote a different future. He intervened to save humanity through Christ!

And while everything continues getting worse, God will intervene again to establish his kingdom of righteousness and peace!

As bad as it is in this suffering world, God is writing a very different future.

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13).

~ Pastor Dave