We find ourselves in a strange time. Many Christians are extremely confused about the nature of the biblical hope for the future – both individually and globally. What is it, on the individual level, that will happen to believers at death? And, on a more global level, what is the ultimate future of the world in which we live? Many are lacking clear answers to these questions.
Because Christians are confused, the world is as well. Many think that Christianity teaches that our ultimate destiny as individuals is to die and go to heaven there to dwell on puffy clouds for eternity. At the end of history the world will be destroyed and we’ll all live on in some type of ethereal, angelic state for eternity. Far Side cartoons and other caricatures regularly capture this notion with men in togas carrying harps amid the clouds. But this vision is – at important points – seriously out of step with the biblical hope. And so we have a need to explore what the Word of God has to say in these areas.