TOPIC 9: 
LIVING IN LIGHT OF THE FUTURE

     One of the most famous military battles of all time was Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815.  Had Napoleon been able to gaze ahead into the future and discover beforehand what the outcome was going to be, surely he would have changed his strategy.  Because he had no way of knowing the future, he was soundly defeated by the combined British and Prussian armies.

     In contrast to Napoleon, those of us who are Christians do know a great deal about the future . . . thanks to what God has revealed to us in His Word.  We know, for instance, that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return again to earth one day.  We call this the second coming of Christ. 

     Following His resurrection from the grave, His disciples were witnesses of His ascension into heaven.  Acts 1:10-11 records, "And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.  They also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?  This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.'" 

     Christ's second coming is described in many other places in the Bible.  [Matthew 24 records Jesus' own prediction of His return].  Unlike His first coming, Jesus' return will be significantly different.  In His second coming, He will come as a victorious king, and the whole world will be brought under His righteous rule.  This will usher in a time of unparalleled peace, justice and righteousness that will last for a 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-6).

     In conjunction with Christ's second coming, we who are His disciples will be resurrected and made like Him (the final stage in our transformation).  The Apostle John wrote, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).

     There are many things that will result from Christ's second coming.  One of the more important for us as Christians is the fact that we will each have to stand before the presence of Christ individually for Him to evaluate us in terms of our faithfulness and our service to Him while we lived here on earth.  The Bible calls this "the judgment seat of Christ."  This is a judgment for Christians only and is not for the purpose of determining our eternal destiny (that issue has already been settled), but for determining what rewards we shall receive and what role we will be given in Christ's kingdom.

     The Apostle Paul described this scene in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10:  "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."  What then is our ambition while we live here on earth?  To please Him!  Why?  Because we will have to answer to Christ one day.  That is a very sobering thought that every Christian needs to take seriously.  The life we live now does matter and will have consequences into our future resurrected life!

     In Matthew 25:14-30 Christ told a parable of a man going away on a long journey.  Before he departed, he entrusted to each of his slaves a sum of money for which they were to be responsible.  Upon his return, the master brought them in to evaluate how they had done.  Those who had been faithful were commended:  "Well done, good and faithful slave."  The one who was unfaithful was rebuked and suffered great loss.

     So we as Christians cannot afford to console ourselves with the thought that after we die we will simply go to heaven.  Although that is true, the reality is far more complex.  Our goal is to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful slave" and to be rewarded for a life of faithfulness to our King, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Therefore we must live our lives now in light of the future we know is coming!