Chapter 7

THE FUTURE

Psalm 16:7-11

I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor, will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Hebrews 13:5-8

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?" Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

One of the most deep rooted fascinations in the course of human history has been the desire to know what the future holds for us. Writings on prophecy always excite interest, because they appeal to the element of curiosity which is prominent in human nature[1].

There have been many well intended failed prophets and predictions over the centuries. Despite the many failures of these predictions and predictors, inevitably someone else jumps into the lime light and spews out another ridiculous claim about what they are convinced will happen and how and when the world will culminate in some apocalyptic catastrophic event.  

The notorious 16^th century physician and fortune teller Miguel de Nostradamus has been a constant point of reference down through the years of people trying to determine what exactly will take place in the years to come. Most of the same adherents spend most of their time trying to make historical events fit the mold of his famous over rated prophetic quatrains.

There was a recent deluge of media fear mongers telling everyone that the end of the world was going to take place in December of 2012. This was almost all based on a pagan Mayan calendar and the twisted 16^th century words of the afore mentioned Nostradamus. Yet, today we have all survived December 2012 much like we have the many numerous other such predictions over the last four or five decades of our personal lives.    

It’s no different in the realm of the Christian Church. Since the early days of the Apostle Paul numerous Christian prophets have stepped into the pulpit of eschatological interpretation and made their claims regarding the return of Jesus Christ to earth. Martin of Tours was emphatic that Jesus Christ must return before 400 AD because of the way he interpreted Scripture by the society and culture that he experienced and lived in. Pope Sylvester II prophesied that Jesus would “return within 1000 years of the Lord’s crucifixion”.

Christopher Columbus wrote a book titled “Book of Prophecies” in which he predicted the end of the World in 1656.An early American theologian named Cotton Mather, a Harvard graduate and the man thought to be most responsible for the Salem Witch Trials, yielded a date of 1697 for the return of Christ which obviously never occurred.

Self-proclaimed 19^th century preacher and theologian William Miller predicted the return of Jesus Christ on March 21, 1844 and revised it promptly to October 22 of the same year, when it did not happen in March. Needless to say it did not take place in October either.

The 1970s best-selling pseudo-novel by Hal Lindsey “The Late Great Planet Earth” dealt out a series of Biblical interpretations attempting to build a case that the return of Jesus Christ was imminent within the following decade. Today, Hal Lindsey is considered a false prohet by much of the non-Pentecostal Christian community in North America. 

Edgar C. Whisenant, the author of “88 Reasons Why the Rapture could be in 1988” a bestselling Christian book in the 1980s, clearly predicted the return of Jesus Christ between September 11 and September 13, 1988. There were “Christian” families all over the country maxing out their credit cards and putting their pets to sleep during the month of August 1988, fully believing that Whisenaut had made a completely accurate prediction. It never happened and all those “believers” ended up in a lot of debt.   

Contemporary televangelist and failed presidential candidate Pat Robertson wrote a book “The New Millennium” that strongly suggested the year 2007 as a likely year that Jesus would return to earth. All of these prophecies, and hundreds more throughout the centuries were given in the name of what many theologians call “Biblical Apocalypticism”, which is simply the belief that when Jesus returns, the world will be radically transformed spiritually as well as politically and militarily.  

With the hundreds of failed predictions of the return of Jesus Christ during the last 2000 years it is obvious that no one has a real clue when, where or how the world will end and what the experience of Jesus Christ’s return to earth will really be like. However, there is a very interesting verse in the Gospel of Matthew 24:14. Jesus is speaking; “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come”. 

The text is basically telling us that once the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ has been made known to every living human on the earth, and once everyone has been presented with the choice to receive or reject this great provision of God’s grace through the display of God’s love for His creation, the world as we know it will come to a close. If we truly believe the Bible, we must come to the conclusion that this project of global evangelization has not yet been fulfilled. If it had been fulfilled, Jesus would personally be here with us right now. We are still called to fulfill that task as Jesus commissioned us in Matthew 28. Jesus is coming. We can agree on this. Christians are to live every moment as if the world may end tomorrow.[2]

 So what is the Biblical standard for thinking about or preparing ourselves for the future? The answer is actually rooted in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The core text from Psalms 16 tells us that we can live securely in our relationship with God. This is accomplished through knowing His Son - Jesus Christ. This does not mean that everything will go great for us in this mortal life. What it does mean is that our lives are built on a sure foundation – security - that will not give way to the attack of the enemy or the unknown or unseen potentials and realities or our daily experiences during this mortal life. 

There is a reason we can live securely with God. In Hebrews chapter 13 we see that Jesus has been our consistent friend and that He will always be with us, regardless of the direction our lives may take. In verse 8 of Hebrews13 it reads “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The author is actually saying that life as a Christian can be dependable because Jesus never changes the rules on us. He remains the same Savior and lover of our souls regardless of what happens or even what we do or say. The redemption from sin that God offers through Jesus Christ and His shed blood at the cross will never have any less affect than it does  right now.

Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1). Because every word of the Bible points in some way to Jesus Christ, it never changes and remains constant in its meaning and definition also. The very words of Jesus in Matthew 5:18 & 19 say "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”       

The last words Jesus Christ said before His ascension to the right hand of God the Father was “I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20) We have nothing to fear in our future. We don’t have to know the future or even attempt to predict the future. Jesus has already been to our future and He knows what is best for us. All we really need to do is trust Him for our future. We have Jesus Christ living in us through the power of His Holy Spirit. And He has promised to be with us – no matter what happens in this life. Amen.