Six Amazing Truths About the Christian’s Future
So much about the future seems so uncertain right now. We got a taste of indefinite uncertainty during the pandemic. I’ve heard many predictions, some quite troubling: “The future holds one or all of the following: “greater persecution, great revival, great falling away, or great tribulation.” In the Middle East “a culture of life has met the culture of death!” Edwin Black: “If the Jews go on Saturday, the Christians will go on Sunday!” Unprecedented evil has met us at every turn at home and abroad with the massacres that began on October 7, 2023.
These days require us to turn to the Author and Finisher of our faith. God loves us and is in control of the future! If you’ve taken steps to prepare for the future, your future is is secure! If you haven’t, don’t waste another day on doubt, fear, or lack of commitment. Take the first step toward Him today! Billy Graham once said, “The future is in God’s hands—and we can trust Him no matter what happens.” For those of us who know Christ as our Savior…
Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil.3:20), and one day our Savior will lay His hand on our shoulder and say, “Come home!” The thing is, we never know when the call may come. It comes way too soon for those we love! We may be in the midst of our work. For some it comes after weeks and months of lingering illness. The good news is that this will happen to all who know Him as Savior and Lord
Are you “in Christ Jesus…?” You came to Jesus weary, worn and sad…but He took your sins away… you’ve been forgiven…you’ve been transformed…but are you now you are walking in the light as He is in the light (1Jn.1:7)? Have you confessed your sins and experienced God’s faithfulness to forgive your sins and keep on cleansing you from sin and its contamination (1:9)? His Word speaks to us not to scare us but to prepare us! Knowing what’s next prepares us for now. One thing is certain, where you are is where you will be when Jesus comes or when you die.
1. We know what will happen to us and our Christian loved ones when we die.
Heaven awaits all who know Christ as Savior and Lord! To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). When Christians pass into eternity, the material body is laid in a grave, but the immortal (soul/spirit) slips out of the physical body and immediately goes to be with Jesus.
The Bible even tells us what will happen when the rapture of the saints takes place: the spirit will be reunited with our bodies. Multiple Scriptures imply this: Matt 22.30-31 … Luke 14:14 … 1 Cor. 15:52 … 1 Thess. 4:16. What kind of resurrected body will we have? Phil. 3:20-21. Christ’s resurrection is the pattern of our resurrection, we will therefore be raised in a physical body as well.
2. All Christians will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ:
Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 5:10 that “we will receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” All Christians will be saved, but not all will have equal rewards in heaven. The ungodly face “a dangerous future…” they shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous (Ps.1:5). Only Christians will stand at the judgment seat of Christ and make no mistake, we know what will happen there: we will give an account of ourselves to Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 14:10-12).
The judgment seat of Christ does not determine our salvation; that matter was settled by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him (John 3:16). All our sins are forgiven, and there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
It will be a time of examination and a time of reward. Jesus will inspect our works. What did we do with the resources God gave us? How faithful were we? Were we yielded to the Spirit, seeking to honor Christ and further His work in the world? If so, we will have reward (see Matthew 10:41–42). Did we neglect the opportunities He gave us to serve the Lord? If so, we will suffer loss of reward.
3. Jesus will return and one day Christians will reign with Him.
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). Curious minds want to know! No one knows! Meantime, He has given us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).
Some believe that the actual return of Jesus back to earth will be at the end of the seven year Tribulation Period and Jesus will then begin His reign over the earth for a period of 1K years. What we do know is that during this 1K years, the redeemed will assist Jesus in His reign over the earth. And here’s what Paul said, “If we endure, we shall reign with Him” (2 Tim.2:12).
“The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps my deeds until the end,” Jesus said, will be given “authority over the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father (Rev.2:26-27).
4. We know that God has a future plan for satan and the unsaved:
After we have reigned with Christ for a thousand years, the Bible says in Revelation 20:7-10 CEV – Satan Is Defeated.
7. At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan will be set free.
8. He will fool the countries of Gog and Magog, which are at the far ends of the earth, and their people will follow him into battle. They will have as many followers as there are grains of sand along the beach,
9. and they will march all the way across the earth. They will surround the camp of God’s people and the city God loves. But fire will come down from heaven and destroy the whole army.
10. Then the devil who fooled them will be thrown into the lake of fire and burning sulfur. He will be there with the beast and the false prophet, and they will be in pain day and night forever and ever.
But then, the Bible says, there will be the white throne judgment of the unsaved: Revelation 20:11-15 – CEV — 11I saw a great white throne with someone sitting on it. Earth and heaven tried to run away, but there was no place for them to go. 12I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done. 13The sea gave up the dead people who were in it, and death and its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then everyone was judged by what they had done. 14Afterwards, death and its kingdom were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15. Anyone whose name wasn’t written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Now we understand why the Hebrew writer said… “it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment…so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27-28).
5. We know there will be a new heavens and a new earth:
Revelation 21:1 – CEV — 1I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea.”
2 Peter 3:7 – CEV — 7But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed.
2 Peter 3:10 – CEV — 10The day of the Lord’s return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.” Even the prophet Isaiah revealed a new heavens and earth:
Isaiah 65:17 – CEV — 17I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten.” In other words…this universe is temporal but remember what Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
6. We know that the New Jerusalem will be the primary feature of the new heavens and earth:
Revelation 21:1-4 – CEV — 1I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea. 2Then I saw New Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband. 3I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. 4He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past will be gone forever.” I have a dear for whom I am praying because a day never goes by without pain. I am asking God to give him at least one day without pain and to lower his A1C so that he can have pain-relieving surgery on his foot. When Fred goes to heaven–think of that–no more pain and agony!
This is what is in the future of the Christian! No more crying, tears, or pain! And to top it off, a whole new City. The New Jerusalem is a real place where resurrected saints and a holy God will dwell together forever! With brand new physical bodies we’ll be living in a beautiful physical place. Will we know each other there? Yes I believe we will. And Jesus tells us He is preparing this place for us now.
This glorious city has no need of the sun, for the glory of the God is its light! Some of you work very hard now. And the older you get the more tired you feel.
But there…there’s no night and our glorified bodies will never need to rest.
Jesus is building the biggest city ever built! You think Miami is big…(Miami-Dade County encompasses more than 2,000 square miles (larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware). The New Jerusalem will have 2 million square miles!
The world’s highest skyscraper is only 2,717 ft. tall (160 stories). I was in Dubai in September 2022 with a Southern Florida Mission Team and saw it. The New Jerusalem will be 1400 miles tall. This is mind-boggling, but at 12 ft. per story it could easily have 600,000 stories!
If there were 20 billion people living there, each person would have a massive 75 acres each! 1 Corinthians 2:9 — “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Do you know Him? Won’t you come to Him today? Are you where you want or hope to be? You must choose. Today is the day of salvation…Now is the accepted time!
