What does the future hold?

Ha! What would you give to know what the future holds for you? I mean, we’ll all be in it… At least we hope so!

Now, if we could only find someone who has been to the future, then we could ask them what the future holds, right? Well, Christians believe in a God who transcends time. He is eternal and has always existed and will always exist. He knows the future just as well as the past. So, that’s why I think it’s worth looking at what God has to tell us about the future in the Bible.

Now, the issue here is that Christians throughout history have liked to read the Bible and then work out all kinds of scenarios and timelines of what will happen in the future, particularly as it relates to the end of the world.

So, what does the Bible tell us about what the future holds?

Well, a key book in the Bible that tells us about the future is the book of Revelation. It’s full of symbols, and it’s got some scary monsters in it. But it’s important to remember that the main character in the book of Revelation isn’t any of the beasts. The main character of Revelation is Jesus Christ.

And here is the message of Revelation. It’s really very simple: Jesus wins, and because Jesus wins, you win with him.

Throughout history, followers of Jesus have wanted to put a whole lot of detail around this, and nail down exactly what is going to happen, and when. Even the disciples asked Jesus after his resurrection, “when was he going to restore the kingdom?” And Jesus kind of said to them,

“It’s none of your business”

except in a much more polite way.

While trying to work out that kind of detail isn’t helpful, it’s clear that a big part of the future is that Jesus promised to return back to earth. He is coming back to put an end to sin and suffering forever, and to establish his eternal kingdom here in glory.

And now I’m going to tell you something I think is very important. No-one will ever understand the future unless they understand the past. No one will be ready for Jesus’ second coming unless they have accepted the first. Because the future of this world, and even your own personal future, is entirely based on what Jesus did by dying for your sin and by rising from the grave, and on your response to that.

I can also tell you another thing about the future. We’re all going to get older, not younger. And, it could be sooner, or it could be later, we’re all going to take out last breath in this life. And your destiny in eternity will be determined by the decision that you make about Jesus between now and then. So, you don’t need to look too far into the future, because that one decision about Jesus, is all that really matters.