God planned from eternity past to save specific people as a treasured possession for himself. And this plan of salvation didn't stop at the Cross of Jesus. C.S. Lewis describes it this way:

“God is not merely mending, not simply restoring a status quo. Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity would have been... The greater the sin, the greater the mercy: the deeper the death the brighter the rebirth.”

There is a final act to the cosmic play God is directing and the presentation of the ransomed people of God is the apex of the story. The ultimate purpose of the church is to be living, breathing evidence proving God’s greatness to the world.

Yet our lives are full of afflictions and struggle. And Paul says the antidote to the hopelessness we are prone to is look to the unseen, eternal things. To stop being enamored with the here and now. He says that the plodding process of transformation comes through gazing at Jesus. To be astonished at the redeeming love of God, fixated on it like a groom watching his bride coming down the aisle.

When we lose heart in life, what we need is a God-entranced vision of our life. An orientation of hope toward the future glory God has promised to fulfill in us.