Vindication of God's People
Read Hebrews 9:27, 28 and 1 Corinthians 15:51–54. What is being described here, and what hope does it offer us?
The realization of our ultimate hope in Christ consists, first, in the radical transformation of human nature (1 Cor. 15:53), when we go from our corrupted and disfigured self to our true self, one no longer distorted and perverted by sin. We will be rid, too, of our wretched mortality.
Second, the realization of our hope at the Second Coming will consist in our being removed from the presence of evil in all its forms. This will lead to a new mode of existence, one permanently detached from the sphere of sin. Removed from the sinful social conditions that predominate all societies and cultures, we will be restored to the conditions originally created by God for the human race.
Third, the realization of the Christian hope at the return of Christ will consist of a permanent, unhindered, and visible access to our Savior. Believers look forward to a time when they will exist in the immediate presence of the Savior, never to be separated again (1 Thess. 4:17). This permanent union with our Lord and Redeemer will enrich the quality of human life in dimensions that we cannot even begin to anticipate now.
Finally, the consummation of the Adventist hope at the Second Coming will also consist of a harmonious social interaction. That will be a moment of reunion, a reencounter. The separation from loved ones occasioned by the power of death comes to an end through the re-creative power of the Savior (1 Cor. 15:54–57). The individual hope merges here with the collective hope of those who, throughout the ages, died in Christ while embracing the promises of God. This is the consummation of our reconciliation and will not be threatened by the presence of sin.
| Why are all these promises shown above so important to us? What would our faith be without them? Why must our hope be “other-worldly;” that is, beyond anything that this present world offers, no matter how much good we seek to do here and now? |
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