Hope: The Future
JESUS IS COMING AGAIN TO FULLY ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM AND END SATAN’S
The kingdom of God and Satan’s kingdom on earth are mere shadows of the eternal reality awaiting all mankind after death. We would have “hell” on earth right now were it not for the influence of the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God, which is keeping a lid on Satan’s influence and power. Physical death has no fear for true believers--in fact, it's our reward and our hope, for when followers of Jesus die, they go immediately to heaven and are with Christ.
Part of our hope is this promise from Jesus himself: There will come a day, known only by the Father, when Jesus will return to earth to fully establish his kingdom and directly reign over all things and all his followers forever. This present earth and everything evil and sinful in it will be destroyed and this new heaven and new earth will be the dwelling place of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, angels and believers forever.
Non-believers who die go to Hades (see Appendix), as hell does not yet exist. No one gets a second chance of being saved after death, and Christians do not believe in re-incarnation. Both groups await the final judgment of “works”. The decisions regarding where we spend eternity (heaven or hell) is made while in this life. We will find out how we will spend eternity at the final judgment of all people.
The Bible says “On that Day” everyone will gather before Jesus and be judged. True followers of Jesus or believers have no fear of this judgment because its purpose is to reward them for their faithfulness and obedience while on earth. The judgment of believers has been compared to the Olympics where some will receive gold and others bronze.
The Bible is also unclear about the exact nature of the rewards for believers. However, it strongly implies that in the heavenly kingdom believers will have organized tasks to do and believers who were faithful in life will be given special authority. There are four criteria which Christ will use to judge our faithfulness in managing the kingdom he entrusted to us while on earth.
Stewardship: There are certain people, gifts, or assets that God entrusts to each individual believer in this life to accomplish his purposes. The quantity and quality differ for each person. These resources include such things as spiritual gifts, time, money, intelligence, health, opportunities and relationships. God will not judge believers on the basis of what they’ve been given, but rather on the basis of what they did with what was given them.
Obedience to God’s Commands: The moral laws of God are given with God’s best interests and ours at heart. They are designed to help us live life the way God intends it to be lived and to accomplish our assignments on earth. God will call each believer to account for the way they have kept or broken his commandments. Rewards in the Kingdom of Heaven will not be based on how much we know about God's commands, but on what we did with what we knew.
Circumstances: Just as the resources God gives each of us differ, so also the circumstances he brings us differ. Some people suffer great pain, others great poverty in life. Still others have a Christian heritage and others not. It is not the “hand that God has dealt us" that will be the determining factor on Judgment Day, but rather how we “played the hand."
Our Motives: Why we did what we did will be very important to Jesus. It’s clear in scripture that it’s possible for believers do good things, but with the wrong motive, for which we will get no credit. If God has not received the glory, whatever praises or benefits we got from other people while on earth, is all the reward we will receive.
Just as believers will be rewarded for their faithfulness, non-believers will receive their punishment in hell based on the extent of their knowledge of God and Christ and what they did or didn’t do with that knowledge. There is a myth that Satan is waiting to punish sinners in hell. The truth is God will create hell and determine an outcome, which is just and fair for every person – the greatest punishment is reserved for Satan, his demons and false teachers, and we trust those who never heard about Jesus into the hands of a merciful God. The Kingdom of Heaven after death is living forever in the glorious presence of God, without any influence of sin or Satan. Hell is living with no hope of God, or the goodness of God, forever.
When the judgment is complete, believers will reign with Christ forever, in the eternal, perfect Kingdom of God. There will no longer be a visible and invisible kingdom. The redemption of all things will be complete – never to be lost again. God will dwell with man, in peace forever.
Jude 2:14-15; Rev. 2:26; Acts 3:21; John 5:22; II Thess. 2:6-7; John 12:47-48; Hebrews 9:27; II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15; Luke 12:47, 48; Rev. 21:1; I Cor. 3:12-15; Matt. 16:27; Matt. 19:28, 29; Luke 19:12-27; Rev. 21:1-4; I Cor. 15:24
Note: The author gratefully acknowledges The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn as a source for some of these ideas Multnomah Publishers, Sisters Oregon.