A Preview of the Christian Hope: Man's Journey on Earth (Part 4)

Luke 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

A PREVIEW OF THE CHRISTIAN HOPE

When most Christians are asked about the Christian hope, they will inadvertently say ‘Heaven’. 

However, the Christian hope is more than the place called ‘heaven’. Although heaven is part of the Christian hope, it cannot be the only hope. Just as if you are staying in an idyllic island, our hope is more than just that. There is no point staying on that island when you are already a cancer stricken patient who is about to die. 

This article provides a preview of the Christian hope. A good understanding of our hope can encourage believers in the Christian path to walk with joy. In the quotation (Luke 11:31) above, the queen of Sheba came to witness the magnificence of Solomon’s kingdom and after the visit, she exclaimed that what she heard in the past was merely half of the greatness. The Christian hope is indeed great— beyond our expectations for the Lord Jesus is, without doubt, a ‘greater’ than Solomon.

The misconceptions of the Christian hope

There are a few misconceptions about the Christian hope. Most Christians relate it to heaven, the destination they go to after passing away. There is minimal consideration of the role that we will play, the vastness of Christ’s domain and the present earthly hope. Some of them are as mentioned below:

• Heaven is a bland place

Many people perceive heaven as a place where you do nothing, except singing songs to God and worshipping Him. Perhaps the climate is good but for some who have visited peaceful countries like New Zealand, they feel bored quickly and yearn to return to their bustling activities.

• Aimless eternity

Other than singing, no one marries or has a family in heaven. We are like angels in heaven. 

A sense of aimlessness sets in when we consider the subject further. There is no business to pursue, no career to build, no sporting trophies to win and no relationship to raise. The daily routine is to attend singing sessions. 

• A sparsely populated place

Some people consider staying in heavily populated places more interesting than deserted places. A common misconception is a flippant comment that they prefer to be in Hell— where most of their friends are there! They believe there are very few people in heaven.

• Christians are at best mediocre people on earth

Most people and some Christians are of the view that Christians will just be very average in the world. They reason that since Christians lack ambition and with their list of prohibitions against unrighteousness, they will not be extremely successful people in the world. They might be successful professionals but unlikely to achieve great expectations in business as they cannot entertain like the people of the world.

The above misconceived ideas of the Christian hope may be the cause for the lack of motivation of some Christians. The only motivation may be just to avoid Hell— the dreadful fiery place. I trust when you consider the Christian hope below, all of these misconceptions can be dismissed.

The Christian Hope

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The Christian hope is not only about our hope after our life ends on earth. Once you have taken the Christian path at the fork, the Christian hope and blessings start even on earth. The Lord Jesus exhorts us to put the things of heaven first and he promises that whilst we are on the earth, we will find the joy of living. In fact, the hope commences on the day when you took the Christian path on earth which continues through your journey to heaven.

Hope on earth

Psalms 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Christians are known to be trustworthy folks. Given a choice, employers and business associates tend to prefer dealing with believers as they are more confident that they would not be cheated. On the social front, Christian marriages generally have very low divorce rates. Lastly, Christians have an omnipotent Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe, to which they can have access to at any time when they need help.

The Lord may not promise us a bed of roses on earth, but when we live our lives in accordance with Christian standards, our journey on earth will be blessed. Close observance of biblical teachings invariably promotes diligence, honesty and clean living. All of these values are key ingredients for success.   I have heard of many testimonies on how the Lord has blessed Christian’s undertakings on earth and I am sure that you as a Christian will also have your own rich experience with God’s blessings and help. I agree that a Christian will unlikely be the richest man on earth. However, the most blessed position is not to be the richest man on earth. 

The Bible has this wise statement in Proverbs 30:8-9:

 “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain”.

Hope in heaven

Revelations 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

When Christians enter heaven, I believe God has a lot of work prepared for us. We will definitely like to sing praises to God but I believe this is only one of our regular activities and not the only activity. If we are only singing praises, there is no necessity for us to be called KINGS. Priests will do.  

The immensity of Heaven

In the Bible, heaven is divided into three sections. The first heaven is the atmosphere, i.e. the abode of birds and where we breathe. In science, this space is about twenty miles above the earth. An aeroplane flies within this heaven. 

The second heaven is space. This place contains the sun, the moon, our earth and the stars. 

Beyond it is the third heaven which is the abode of God. Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 12:2 described it as “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven”. It is probably beyond the galaxies. Our galaxy is known as the Milky Way and astronomers estimate that it contains 100 billion stars and the universe contains billions of galaxies! This is their estimate; even if the astronomers are wrong by 50%, it is still an astronomical number. 

The Lord Christ is the ruler of this universe and in 2 Timothy 2:12, the Lord promises, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him”. If our earthly ambition is just to work for prominent entrepreneurs, how can this compare with reigning with Christ? If the tiny speck we called earth, within the solar system, within the Milky Way, is our hope, shouldn’t we stretch our imagination a bit to see the innumerable galaxies owned by Christ? I believe we will all be fairly busy in heaven helping our Lord in managing this vast domain. 

A good land

Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 

Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

The majority of people in the world are worried about food, health and evil governments. In heaven, these scarcities and plagues will not exist. It will be a prosperous state, governed by the Lord Jesus Christ.  The following is a preview of the situation written in Rev 21:4: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”. The continuity of prosperity we sought after so much on earth is in heaven.  There is no necessity for the vexatious and flimsy family trusts to perpetuate continuity sought so much by the people on earth. 

The presence of loved ones and friends

I estimate that the population in heaven will be more than the population on earth today. Sceptics will immediately sneer at the above statement, alluding to the fact that at 7.8 billion we have the highest population in the history of the world. My estimate has to be correct. The math in heaven is on addition and not subtraction because once a person is in heaven, he never dies. Since the creation of the world, a time of about 6000 years has passed and many people will be in heaven. Serving a righteous judge, we can expect all the infants and young children that die before the reasoning age through the 6000 years will ultimately be transported to heaven.

In addition, we will be able to recognize all our loved ones and also Old Testament saints even if we do not know them on earth. In Luke 16:19-31, the rich man could discern Abraham and the beggar Lazarus. We will certainly be blessed by the presence of our fellow heirs in heaven. 

I trust this preview of the Christian hope can motivate us to walk this Christian path with much felicity. It is God’s will for everyone to be there through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ our saviour. When you have taken the Christian path at the fork, there are wonderful blessings on earth (the present) and hope in heaven (the future). 

With God’s blessings,

CL