Anchored in Hope, Advancing with Purpose

Introduction — We don't like talking about the end

There are some subjects that are easy to talk about in church.

Grace. Love. Forgiveness. Joy.

Then there are the subjects that make everybody a little uncomfortable.

Death. Judgment. Hell. Eternity.

And today we're talking about all of them.

Doctrine 11 is probably not the doctrine you would choose if you were trying to make everybody feel comfortable on a Sunday morning.

It says:

“We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.”

That's a lot.

And it's heavy.

But here's what I want us to remember as we work through this doctrine:

The Christian hope isn't ultimately about death. It's about life.

It isn't ultimately about judgment. It's about the God who will finally set things right.

It isn't ultimately about the end of the world.

It's about the beginning of something new.

That's why I want us to look at Revelation 21.

Revelation 21:3–8 ESV

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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.” 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.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

John has seen the judgment. He has seen the defeat of evil. He has seen death itself confronted.

And then he sees something else.

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people.”

And then God says:

“I am making everything new!”

That's where I want to take us today.

Anchored in hope. Advancing with purpose.

1. Our hope is bigger than heaven

Revelation 21 begins with John seeing:

“a new heaven and a new earth.” — Revelation 21:1

That language is important.

Because sometimes the way we talk about Christian hope is much smaller than the Bible's vision.

We say things like, “When I die, I'm going to heaven.”

And there is truth in that.

But the Christian hope is actually much bigger.

Resurrection. Renewal. Restoration. New creation.

The Bible doesn't end with humanity escaping creation.

It ends with God renewing creation.

God's dwelling place is with humanity.

The story ends with God making all things new.

And I think that's worth recovering because sometimes our idea of heaven sounds like an eternal retirement plan.

You get your mansion. You get your cloud. You get your harp.

And apparently there's no yard work.

That sounds pretty good.

But Revelation gives us something far more substantial.

The Christian hope is not that God will rescue us from everything that makes us human.

It is that God will redeem everything sin and death have broken.

Our bodies matter. Creation matters. Relationships matter. Justice matters.

The things we do matter.

Because God's plan isn't to throw creation away.

God is making it new.

That's what makes resurrection so important.

Doctrine 11 doesn't just say that our souls survive.

It says we believe in “the resurrection of the body.”

Christian hope isn't simply that some spiritual part of us goes somewhere after we die.

We are looking forward to resurrection.

Paul says something similar in Philippians 3:20–21.

Philippians 3:20–21 ESV

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Paul points toward the day when Christ will transform our bodies.

That's the Christian hope.

Not disembodied existence.

Resurrection.

God has the final word over death.

2. The reward isn't just waiting for us

And this is where I want to slow down.

Because Doctrine 11 talks about “the eternal happiness of the righteous.”

And absolutely, there is a future reality to that.

There is a reward that awaits the people of God.

Revelation 21:7 says:

“Those who are victorious will inherit all this and I will be their God and they will be my children.”

There is something coming.

There is a fullness of life with God that we have not yet experienced.

There is a day when we will see Christ face to face.

There is a day when resurrection will be complete.

There is a day when death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more.

There is a day when we will experience the fullness of God's presence in ways that we can only glimpse now.

That is worth looking forward to.

Christian hope isn't just about surviving this life.

There is something better coming.

But here's where our Salvationist understanding of sanctification becomes really important.

We don't have to wait until we die to begin experiencing the life of the Kingdom.

The reward is future.

But the Kingdom is already breaking into the present.

The Holy Spirit is already at work in us.

Christ is already transforming us.

Holiness is already possible.

The love of God is already being poured into our hearts.

We can already experience something of the joy, peace, love and presence that will one day be complete.

The Salvation Army's Handbook of Doctrine puts it beautifully: our future hope is already part of the present because the Holy Spirit brings the living Christ and the reality of his Kingdom into our lives now.

So there is a “not yet” to Christian hope.

But there is also an “already.”

We are not waiting until heaven to experience God.

We can know him now.

We are not waiting until heaven to become holy.

Sanctification begins now.

We are not waiting until heaven to experience the life of God's Kingdom.

We can begin living that life now.

3. Holiness is learning to live the life we're promised

This is where Doctrine 10 and Doctrine 11 really belong together.

Doctrine 10 says:

“We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified…”

And then Doctrine 11 tells us where this journey ultimately leads.

That's not accidental.

We are being formed now for the life that God will bring to completion then.

Holiness is not simply about being better behaved.

It is about becoming more like Jesus.

It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our desires, our relationships, our priorities and our character.

And if heaven is ultimately the fullness of life with God, then sanctification is learning to live with God now.

We don't pursue holiness because we're trying to earn the reward.

We pursue holiness because we have already been invited into the life of the Kingdom.

We don't become holy so that God will love us.

God loves us, and his grace begins making us holy.

That's grace. That's sanctification. That's hope.

And it means that eternal life isn't simply something that starts after we die.

Jesus says in John 10:10:

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

That's now.

And it's forever.

The life of heaven begins to grow in us before we ever arrive there.

4. Our hope requires us to take evil seriously

And then Revelation 21 takes a turn.

Verse 8 is uncomfortable.

John talks about those who reject God and describes the consequences of that rejection.

And this is where we can't simply skip over the uncomfortable parts of Doctrine 11.

The Salvation Army believes in judgment.

It believes in eternal life.

And it believes in the endless punishment of the wicked.

Those are not easy doctrines.

But we shouldn't be embarrassed by the fact that Christianity takes evil seriously.

Because think about what it would mean if God didn't.

If God simply looked at violence, abuse, exploitation, hatred, cruelty and injustice and said,

“Well, that's unfortunate.”

We wouldn't call that good.

We would call it unjust.

Part of the hope of Christianity is that evil does not get the last word.

There is going to be judgment.

There will be accountability.

There is a final setting-right of things.

And honestly, I think most of us believe in judgment a little more than we admit.

We want justice when we've been wronged.

We want consequences when somebody hurts someone we love.

We want the person who did the terrible thing to be held accountable.

But then we remember that we're also going to stand before God.

And suddenly we're a little less enthusiastic about the whole judgment thing.

That's where the gospel becomes so important.

Because the Christian message isn't:

“There will be judgment, so you had better be good enough.”

The Christian message is:

“There will be judgment, and God has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to him.”

Doctrine 6 reminds us that Christ's atonement is for the whole world, “so that whosoever will may be saved.”

Judgment tells us that evil matters.

Grace tells us that sinners matter.

Both are true.

And we need both.

5. Our hope has a face

One of the most beautiful things about Revelation 21 is that the centre of the new creation isn't simply that everything bad disappears.

The centre is God's presence.

Revelation 21:3 ESV

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

That's the promise.

God with us.

And then:

Revelation 21:4 ESV

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.”

I love that image.

The God who is powerful enough to remake the heavens and the earth is also gentle enough to wipe away a tear.

That's not an abstract theological promise.

That's personal.

Because there are tears that we don't know what to do with.

There are losses that don't make sense.

There are prayers that didn't get answered the way we wanted.

And sometimes Christians can make the mistake of thinking that having hope means we aren't supposed to grieve.

But Revelation doesn't say there won't be grief.

It says there will come a day when grief is gone.

There's a difference.

Christian hope doesn't tell us that our pain isn't real.

It tells us that our pain isn't permanent.

God doesn't say, “Your tears weren't important.”

He says, essentially: “I'm going to wipe them away.”

There will be a day when death is no more.

A day when mourning is no more.

A day when crying is no more.

A day when pain is no more.

And that is the hope we're anchored to.

6. Hope changes the way we live now

But here's where this connects with our series.

Because we're not calling this series Anchored to Sit Still.

We're calling it:

Anchored to Advance.

Christian hope is not an excuse to disengage from the present.

It's actually what gives us courage to engage the present.

If God is making all things new, then what we do today matters.

If God is ultimately bringing about justice, then we can pursue justice now.

If God is reconciling people to himself, then we can participate in reconciliation now.

If God is healing what sin has broken, then we can become agents of healing now.

If God is forming a holy people, then we can pursue holiness now.

We don't do these things because we think we're going to make the Kingdom happen.

We do them because God has already promised that the Kingdom is coming.

That's a very different motivation.

We're not trying to manufacture the future.

We're living faithfully in light of it.

Paul describes this tension in Romans 8.

Romans 8:18–25 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 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. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Paul acknowledges that creation is groaning.

We are groaning.

There is still suffering.

There is still brokenness.

But he says that we wait for the day when God's redemption is complete.

And that waiting isn't passive.

It's hopeful.

We live today in anticipation of what God will complete tomorrow.

7. Hope gives purpose to mission

And that brings us to mission.

If Doctrine 11 is true, then what we do with the gospel matters.

If there is resurrection, it matters.

If there is judgment, it matters.

If there is eternal life, it matters.

If God is inviting people into reconciliation with him, it matters.

People matter. Eternity matters. Our neighbours matter. Our community matters.

And so we advance.

We serve. We proclaim. We love. We feed. We welcome. We pray. We make disciples. We pursue holiness. We participate in God's mission.

Not because we're afraid that God might lose.

We do it because we know God wins.

That's the confidence of Christian mission.

We aren't trying to save the world.

We're participating in the work of the One who already has.

And maybe that's one of the most important things Doctrine 11 gives us.

It gives us perspective.

Sometimes ministry feels painfully slow.

Sometimes people don't change as quickly as we'd like.

Sometimes we work and work and wonder whether anything is actually happening.

But if God is making all things new, then our faithfulness is never wasted.

Every act of love matters.

Every prayer matters.

Every person we point toward Jesus matters.

Every moment where we choose holiness matters.

Every time we participate in God's mission, we're living as people who believe the future belongs to God.

Conclusion — “I am making everything new”

And so we come back to Revelation 21.

John hears God say:

“Look! I am making everything new!” — Revelation 21:5

Notice the subject.

God.

Not us. Not the Church. Not politicians. Not governments. Not technology. Not human progress.

God.

“I am making everything new.”

That means our hope isn't ultimately anchored in our ability to fix everything.

Because we can't.

There are things in this world that we cannot fix.

There are wounds we cannot heal.

There are questions we cannot answer.

There are people we cannot save.

There are circumstances we cannot control.

But we know who holds the future.

And that changes how we live today.

So when life is difficult—we remain anchored.

When ministry feels slow—we remain anchored.

When grief comes—we remain anchored.

When the world seems chaotic—we remain anchored.

When we don't understand what God is doing—we remain anchored.

Because our hope isn't anchored in circumstances.

Our hope is anchored in God.

And because we're anchored in hope...

we can advance with purpose.

We can keep serving.

We can keep loving.

We can keep proclaiming.

We can keep pursuing holiness.

We can keep participating in God's mission.

Because one day, the One sitting on the throne will say:

“Look! I am making everything new.”

And when that day comes,

death won't win.

Sin won't win.

Evil won't win.

Pain won't win.

The grave won't win.

God wins.

And until that day—we advance.

Anchored in hope.

Advancing with purpose.

Reflection and Invitation

I want us to sit with this for a moment.

Because Doctrine 11 isn't just telling us what we believe will happen someday.

It asks us what we're doing with Jesus today.

There is a future. There is resurrection. There is judgment. There is eternal life.

There is a Kingdom that is coming in fullness.

But the invitation of Jesus is not: “Wait until you die and then I'll give you life.”

Jesus offers life now.

And the life that he offers now is a foretaste of the life that will one day be complete.

That's why this matters.

Because maybe you've been waiting for some future moment to take Jesus seriously.

Maybe you've been thinking, “Someday I'll get my life sorted out.”

“Someday I'll come back to God.”

“Someday I'll start following Jesus.”

“Someday I'll take my faith seriously.”

But there is no promise that we have a someday.

We have today.

And Jesus is inviting you today.

Not because he's trying to frighten you into making a decision.

Not because we're trying to manipulate you with the doctrine of judgment.

But because Jesus loves you.

Because he died for you.

Because he rose again.

Because he offers forgiveness.

Because he offers new life.

Because he offers his presence.

And because the future he promises can begin shaping your life right now.

So if you're here today and you've never made the decision to follow Jesus, I want to give you an opportunity to do that.

And if you're here and you've followed Jesus for years, maybe the invitation is different.

Maybe you've been following Jesus, but you've become discouraged.

Maybe you've lost sight of hope.

Maybe holiness has become something you talk about rather than something you pursue.

Maybe you've stopped advancing.

Maybe you've been living as though the future depends entirely on you.

Today, I want you to remember:

God is making everything new.

And he wants to begin that work in you.

So as we move into a time of reflection, I want you to ask yourself—not simply, “Do I believe Doctrine 11?”

But:

“Am I living as someone who believes it?”

Am I living with hope?

Am I pursuing holiness?

Am I trusting Jesus?

Am I participating in his mission?

Am I ready for the future God has promised?

And if the answer to that last question is, “I'm not sure,” then don't let fear be the reason you run from Jesus.

Let hope be the reason you run toward him.

Because the same Jesus who will one day make all things new is the Jesus who is inviting you into new life today.

Transition into “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”

In a moment we're going to sing:

“I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”

I want us to treat it as a response.

Because everything we've talked about today ultimately comes down to a decision.

Who will I follow? What will I anchor my life to?

And the words we're about to sing are simple:

I have decided to follow Jesus.

No turning back. No turning back.

That's what it means to be anchored to advance.

We don't know everything that tomorrow holds.

We don't know exactly what the journey will look like.

We don't know how long we have.

But we know who we're following.

And we know where we're going.

So if today you need to make that decision for the first time, I invite you to respond.

If today you need to recommit yourself to Jesus, I invite you to respond.

If today you simply need to come before God and say, “Jesus, I want to follow you again. I want to trust you again. I want to become more like you again,” then I invite you to respond.

Don't wait for someday.

The life God promises for eternity can begin in you today.

So as we sing: “I have decided to follow Jesus…” let that be more than words we sing.

Let it be the decision we make.

Anchored in hope. Advancing with purpose. Following Jesus.

No turning back.