The New Testament hope for the Second Coming, including our resurrection and future eternal life, can be seen quite clearly in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15. This week we explore…
- our need for this hope (Sunday)
- how soon is His Coming (Monday)
- when we receive immortality (Tuesday)
- how this hope comforts us (Wednesday)
- what is the “mystery” that happens “in the twinkling of an eye” (Thursday)
The hope for a heavenly reward, dating back to Old Testament prophets and patriarchs, continues in the writings of New Testament authors and in the preaching of Jesus Himself.
It was believed that Enoch preached about the Second Coming, saying “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all…” (Jude 14, 15). Those in Old Testament times had an understanding of our future hope. Hebrews 11: 39, 40 speaks of this promise and the fact that those living back then would not “be made perfect apart from us”.
This statement emphatically declares that we must have a saving relationship with Christ in order to live eternally. It dismisses the belief that those who sin and don’t know know God will also have an immortal life of eternal torture and punishment in a place called “hell”.
God’s punishment for the wicked in a lake of fire is eternal in the sense that it eternally eradicates sin from the universe, burning up Satan and his followers, leaving them neither “root nor branch” (Malachi 4:1). This lake of fire is even called “the second death” (Revelation 20:14).
Our hope is based on a precious promise for an eternal existence of peace and happiness. We therefore embrace our loving Savior, who provides everlasting life to all who believe in Him and live their life for Him.
“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11, 12 NKJV
Memory Text
Hope Beyond This Life
The realization that we are going to die is quite an emotional load to carry, when you stop to think about it. Nearing the end of our life, either by age or receiving a terminal health diagnosis, or perhaps learning of the tragic death of someone close to us, become vivid reminders of our mortal, short-lived existence on this troubled planet.
Without the hope of eternal life, centered on the reality of our future resurrection, we truly are tempted to just “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1 Corinthians 15:32). As one author has stated, “Heaven is worth everything to us, and if we lose heaven we lose all.” Ellen G. White, Sons and Daughters of God, p. 349.
This is why the belief in Christ’s resurrection strikes a common chord of hope with so many who hear the story. His miraculous death and resurrection, based on numerous testimonies of witnesses who saw the risen Lord, give us hope that there truly is something beyond this current life with all its pain and suffering.
