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Contrary to what you’ve probably heard, Jesus offers you far more than the hope of a better tomorrow and EVEN more than the hope of heaven.
Some new Christians in the bustling city of Corinth just could not fathom how God could raise people to new life. Sure, Jesus rose from the dead, but he’s God! So that’s easy to believe. These believers in Corinth embraced Jesus for the new way of life he offered. They followed him because of his offer of forgiveness and freedom from guilt. They understood they urgently needed God’s favor and they enjoyed interacting with God’s spiritual presence during worship. But they scoffed at the idea that God would raise them from the dead and give them new, eternal bodies.
Responding to their claim, the apostle Paul made a sharp assertion. If our hope in Jesus is only about attaining a better tomorrow, if our hope in Jesus is only about this life and offers nothing beyond death, then we who follow Christ are to be pitied more than anyone else in the world. Following Jesus requires a lot from us. From a non-Christian standpoint, following Jesus requires immense self-denial, self-restraint, and self-sacrifice. Following Jesus postpones a lot of happiness and calls you to forsake immediate gratification of many desires or dreams. That’s Paul’s point. Now, the secret is that selfless living, when fueled by faith in Christ and aimed at loving God and others. It actually is the only path to true joy and peace . . . in this life. But Paul is talking about more than immediate joy. Yes, Jesus calls us to give our all to him. But his offer is nothing less than eternal life, in an imperishable body, on an incorruptible earth.
And that’s what I want to emphasize right now. Yes, Jesus does offer a better tomorrow. You will have a better life if you follow Jesus than if you don’t. Period. And, yes, Jesus does offer you the hope of heaven. When you die in the faith, you immediately awaken in paradise. Free from all the troubles and sorrows and pains. But that isn’t the end. Jesus offers you more than a better life now and more than the hope of heaven. Jesus offers you a world better than heaven. He offers you a new earth. At the end of all things, Jesus will remake the earth and return with his people to live on a perfected earth forever.
Paul said in his letter to the church at Rome that all creation is in bondage to futility and decay, but that it is awaiting redemption and renewal just as we are. Then, Paul says. “in this hope we were saved.” What hope? The renewal of creation and redemption of our bodies. Which begs the question: so what does Paul imply that we are saved from? We are saved from the futility, the vanity, the decay, the corruption, the curse of the earth as we now know it. We are saved from the corrosion of our bodies, the death-like existence we now have, from the final sleep beneath six feet of dirt. The hope Jesus offers is exceptional. It’s unique. It defies and surpasses our wildest dreams. And It’s for you to have if you don’t have it already. Thanks for listening. I’m Aaron Massey.