Blessed Hope
Friday Highlight – Blessed Hope
We’ve all been to weddings. They’re fun, happy, joy-filled days. The bride and groom look stunning, the venue is decorated to perfection, and the food is prepared magnificently. Everyone dresses their best to honor the couple, and after the ceremony comes the feast. The book of Revelation describes the return of Christ, and the metaphor it uses is that of a bride walking down the aisle.
Revelation 21:2 – And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
In that city, Jesus is right now preparing a room for everyone who believes in him (John 14:1-6). Picture it: you have a room waiting for you in the Father’s house. When Christ returns, you’ll see him face to face, and it’ll be like a magnificent bride walking down the aisle. And after the ceremony comes the feast.
Revelation 19:6–9
[6] Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. [7] Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; [8] it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. [9] And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Imagine being at that feast for a moment. Every believer from all of time seated at a huge table. It stretches on for miles and miles in every direction, but with your perfected eyes you can see every face. And you’ll see some faces you know, some you’ve only seen in pictures, and many billions of unknown brothers and sisters you’ll have eternity to enjoy Christ with. And as joyful as that moment will be, the source of all that joy will be seated at the head of the table: Jesus Christ. His life, death, and resurrection made it possible for everyone seated there to be invited, and the worship of him will be our joy and crown for all eternity. In his presence there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:3-4), but only the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). That’s what we call our blessed hope. We’re awaiting our savior who will make us like him and usher us into our true home (Philippians 3:20-21).
What do we do with this blessed hope in the meantime? Do we just sit on our hands, disregard the world, and anxiously watch the skies for Christ’s return? Far from it. In Titus 2, the Apostle Paul tells us how we should wait.
Titus 2:11–14
[11] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, [12] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, [13] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, [14] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
We are to be zealous for good works, renouncing ungodliness, and living godly lives. Not to make him love us more or to earn a spot for ourselves at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but because he has set us free from lawlessness. Remember, we’ve not only been saved from something (the dominion of sin and death), but we’ve also been saved for something (a life of righteousness and joy). Christ’s work on the cross enables our godly living, the indwelling Holy Spirit empowers our godly living, and our blessed hope in Christ’s return motivates our godly living. As we long for his return, we can’t forget the work he has called us to do on Earth. But as we serve others in this life, we also can’t forget that his return is what all of creation is waiting for.
As Swiss theologian Emil Brunner (1889-1966) once wrote, “Faith in Jesus, faith in his life, and his death, and his resurrection from the grave, without the expectation of his [return] is a cheque that is never cashed, a promise that is not made in earnest. A faith in Christ without the expectation of a [return] is like a flight of stairs that leads nowhere, but ends in the void.”1
We don’t believe the universe ends in the void, but in a wedding feast. Let’s seek to serve each other while we wait for that day with blessed hope.
1Emil Brunner, The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith and the Consummation: Dogmatics, vol. 3 (Eng. trans., London: Lutterworth, 1966), p. 396.