What will the future be like? Will it be good? What will happen to us at the end of lives? These are questions we all want an answer to. Deep down we desire a future for ourselves and others that is good. But how do we know that in the end it will be good? In this episode James Bryan Smith explores these questions and how we can find answers to them.

Smith begins with a passage from Isaiah 65:17-25. In the passage we learn that a day will come when God will create a new heaven and a new earth. It gives us a glimpse into a world where all is well and all manner of things shall be well. A place where we will rejoice and be full of joy, a place that is without tragedy. This passage is so beloved because it describes a kind of world we all long for. This may be hard for many of us to accept, as the world we live in appears to be broken and, in many ways, is the complete opposite of the world described in the passage from Isaiah.

However, Smith says that much of the despair and distress we feel comes from a failure to realize that the kind of life described in Isaiah truly lies before us. He uses two more examples from the Bible to help us understand this, Matthew (17:1-8) and Philippians (3:20). Both of these passages give us evidence that God is good, beautiful, and true. Smith goes on to explain that since God is the ultimate sustainer of the universe, then the future of the universe must also be good, beautiful and true.

James concludes by reminding us, “Jesus is altogether good. Can there be any other ultimate end than this same goodness? And if it is so, if all is well that ends well, how shall we then live? We live with hope. Hope, as Smith has defined it, is certainty in a good future. Not wishful thinking. Hope is certainty. I know that Jesus is real. He is with me every day and I know him to be all powerful and all good. So I know—notice the word ‘know’—that it ends well.” This point underscores a powerful quote by John D. Zizioulas, who said, “Christians have their roots in the future, and their branches in the present.”

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