Q52
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Q52
Q52
NCC Question 52: What hope does everlasting life hold for us?
We made it. An entire year of systematic theology from Q1: What is our only hope in life and death to today Q52.
Who has moved into middle school in the last year? Who has moved into high school? Who has graduated? Gotten married? Had a kid? Gotten a job? Gotten their license?
A lot can happen in a year—but we have stuck with it and made it through the entirety of the curriculum. If we gave out badges you would all get NCC badge to put on your bible.
Think back with me to a couple years ago when we studied worldviews. And we covered a very important truth that all worldviews in the world have to cover 4 main questions. What are they?
Where did everything come from? (Why is there something rather than nothing)
Why is the world broken? (What happened or what went wrong)
How will the World get fixed? (Is there any hope)
How will the World end? (How does the story finish)
Today we are going to cover the last question—how does the world end? How does this story finish?
Last week Josh covered Q51
Q51: Of what advantage to us is Christ’s ascension?
Does anyone remember?
A51: Christ physically ascended on our behalf, just as he came down to earth physically on our account, and he is now advocating for us in the presence of his Father, preparing a place for us, and also sends us his Spirit.
Josh & I were talking last week and I have always wondered why Jesus has to advocate for us—its not like God forgets or doesn’t know we are chosen, but thats how it is designed. Like your friend or brother sticking up for you when you don’t deserve it, Jesus is advocating for us.
Lets look at our question:
Q52: What hope does everlasting life hold for us?
A52: It reminds us that this present fallen world is not all there is; soon we will live with and enjoy God forever in the new city, in the new heaven and the new earth, where we will be fully and forever freed from all sin and will inhabit renewed, resurrection bodies in a renewed, restored creation.
There is hope to come. This is not how it was supposed to be.
There is a Steven Curtis Chapman song from about 15 years ago—
“This is not how it should be, this is not how it could be, this is how it is, and our God is in control.
This is not how it will be, when we finally will see, we’ll see with our own eyes, He was always in control.”
That song by the way written after a tragedy in his life when his son accidently hit his daughter with his SUV and killed her in their driveway.
This world is broken, something is wrong, this is not how it is supposed to be but yet there is hope.
Our hope is Jesus Christ. And He is in control.
Q20: Who is the Redeemer?
A20: The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in whom God became man and bore the penalty for sin himself.
That Redeemer had to be truly human and truly God, and it was necessary for Christ, the Redeemer to die.
And we can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross.
And so how does this all end—what happens? What doesn’t happen?
I want to spend the rest of our class discussing what we know for sure will happen. The bible talks about end times on various occasions and there is great consternation and debate on exactly how things will happen.
And to be perfectly transparent I believe that no one knows exactly what will happen. I’m pretty confident of this because scripture tells us:
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The only one that knows exactly when and what and where is God the Father.
And we could debate about what takes place and in what order and what happens to Israel and where so and so will be but I don’t think that will be profitable.
However I want to review 9 things we know for sure that will happen and for each of them I going to give you a why—why does it matter or why do we care.
We will die.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
We all face death. We are mortal and our lives were appointed a time of birth and a time of death. We don’t know when that is, in an instant any of us could be gone.
More than that we are all closer to death each and every day.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Our bodies, our muscles and brain and organs are being destroyed, being broken down. And while we can do things to preserve and care for our bodies none of us can stop father time. The best athletes in the world eventually have their bodies break down to the point they can’t do it anymore.
The most fit people still get to a point naturally they can’t do basic tasks.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Death is guaranteed and we can’t stop it. We long for the redemption of our bodies.
Why: we are mortal—death is near, you will never not hear about it, see it or have to deal with it until Christ returns. The Gospel revolves around death. Were it not for the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection we would have no hope but while we must die we will be be united with Christ in life forever.
2. Christ will return to rule and reign
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Our church teaches there will be a millennium on earth as seen here in Revelation.
Christ will return from his spot in heaven and He will rule and reign.
Why: when Jesus came in Matthew, what was the main problem the Jews had with Jesus? He claimed to the be the Messiah, but the Messiah was coming to establish a kingdom. As a matter of fact it wasn’t just the Jewish leaders, the disciples were in that crowd
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Peter said no Jesus—if your the “Messiah” your not going to die your going to reign.
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus wasn’t a liar—he promised all throughout the bible he will reign and what the Jews & disciples didn’t understand was first he would come to defeat death on the cross and then he will return to rule and to reign. And in doing so he fulfills the prophecies of the entire bible which means everything he says to us is true—he will return for us and he is preparing a place for us.
3. There will be a new heaven & a new earth
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Creation that was broken has been made new and it is free from corruption.
Why: creation had an intended design that was tainted and ruined by sin, and the redemption of Christ reverses that curse of all things including creation and a new heaven and new earth will come as it was meant to be.
4. All things will be made new.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Christ’s resurrection means we can defeat death and be made new. Our old life, our old things are gone. We have new life we can walk in and while we daily have to take off X, Y, Z and put on A, B, C, we are made new and have new life.
Why: there is hope! While sin and death has reached every corner of this earth, we can be made new in Christ.
5. Judgement will take place.
22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
There will be judgement.
Why: in perfect judgement apart from mistakes and trials there is only two verdicts: guilty or innocent. And every person that has ever lived will face judgement and be on one of the two sides.
6. Eternity awaits.
The result of the judgement is eternal—this is no retrial, no appeal.
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
There is this balance of punishment or life for eternity.
Why: again—there is only two sides and the judgement is forever. We will look at the next two on the contrast of the two.
7. Condemned are vanished to hell.
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
We see three important things about this condemnation:
a) apart from God (2 Thess 1:9 “away from the presence of the Lord)
b) weeping and gnashing
42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
c) justly punished
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have all fallen short and broken the law. We are worthy of punishment. And were it not for the grace of God, everyone would be in this position.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Why: there will be judgement and those who have not repented and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord will be condemned and vanished to hell and it will be just and right. It is right to be afraid of this.
8. Redeemed are entered into heaven.
The second half or verdict of the judgement is the redeemed be ushered into heaven.
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
(Revelation 21-22)
a) With God…Forever
Jonathan Edwards pondered this and if we would ever bore of being in the presence and knowledge of God...
“The fountain that supplies [the] joy and delight, which the soul has in seeing God . . . is infinite . . . The understanding may extend itself as far as it will; it doth but take its flight into an endless expanse, and dive into a bottomless ocean. It may discover more and more of the beauty and loveliness of God, but it never will exhaust the fountain . . .”
b) free from tear, pain, sickness, sin
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
c) deemed worthy because of the lamb
John Piper put it this way,
“1) we are unworthy of Christ, and we have great worthy because of Christ, at the cross. 2) With all your worth, you are not yoru own treasure, Christ is, at the cross. 3) Trust that looks away from self to Christ becomes the ultimate satisfaction of the self, at the cross.”
If you know me you know I love music. The is a great song called “My Worth is No in What I Own”
“Two wonders here I confess: my worth and my unworthiness. My value fixed—my ransom paid, at the cross”
“I rejoice in my Redeemer, greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in Him, no other, My soul is satisfied in Him alone.”
Why: we can enter into heaven—we can have eternal life. Not because of my worth or value, but because of the cross.
What hope does everlasting have for us? How does this all end? Why does this matter?
Because of the cross of Jesus Christ this present fallen world is not all that there is. There is life with God forever in a new city in the new heaven and the new earth, where we will be fully forever freed from sin and be renewed in a restored creation.
Amen.
