[Revelation: The Comeback] VictoriousSample

A Plan, A Hope, And A Future

Are you aware that you stand and have been approved by God? Have you considered that your faith in Christ causes you to attain the righteousness you would never be able to reach? Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. He justified us as if we were innocent. His resurrection is directly linked to our being declared free of charge!

It is quite difficult to fully understand the implications of being justified and righteous when we have not yet faced an accuser with a file full of evidence, a judge, and even witnesses to testify against us. It can be hard to truly appreciate what Jesus accomplished for us. 

It is because of the work of justification that God has a plan, a hope, and a future for us. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God knows the plans He has for us, a plan to give us a hope and a future.

Let us begin with the plan. The plan of God for the Church is to rapture the believers, to transform our mortal bodies so that we can meet our Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds, as promised in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 ̶ 17.

Colossians 1:27 tells us that Christ in us is the hope of glory. Christ is our Hope and will lead us to glory and to His presence in heaven. We need to pay attention because this verse tells us that Christ in us is the hope of glory. The keyword is "in," because God has purposed to dwell in our hearts. The apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:2 that we still do not know what we will be, but when Christ appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. He adds that all who have this hope will purify themselves. We need to realize that we will become like Christ as soon as we see Him appear.

God also has a future for us. Revelation is the book of the future, not because of the end-time judgments, but because chapters 20–22 reveal what the future holds for the believers: a wedding where the Bride of the Lamb has a shining dress. The future holds a wedding supper. Furthermore, chapter 20 reveals a new millennium reign of peace, after which God will make all things new, with new heavens and a new earth.

The last verses of the New Testament give us a tremendous invitation. We are invited to say: “Come, Lord Jesus.”  If we are thirsty, we can come to Him to take the free gift of the water of life!

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