December 27
December 27
No story ends more gloriously than the biblical story.
Luella and I were sitting in a room lit only by the huge screen in front of us. The movie we were watching was engaging, dramatic, and surprising. As we sat there, trying to keep up with the twists and turns of the plot, Luella leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I wonder how all of this is going to end.” In that moment, she captured one of the most important questions a person will ever ask. How will the grand story of life end? Or, even more personally, how will my life end? What am I living for? Why have I worked so hard for so long? Why have I invested so much time and energy into my relationships? Why have I been so intent on saving so much money? Why have I studied so hard? Why have I had to go through so much hardship and suffering? Where is my life heading?
I have never understood the attraction of atheism. We go through all the effort of work, relationships, physical health, and perseverance through suffering, and then we die and everything just goes black? That’s it? Is our existence just an exercise in inescapable futility? How could this ever be a satisfying way of making sense out of life?
Thankfully, the Bible is clear about where the grand march of history is going. Everything in heaven and earth is moving according to God’s great preordained plan. The cosmos moves according to his will. And the Bible is clear about where your life is going as a child of God. No, your faith and obedience have not been in vain. No, your endurance in suffering and hardship has not been wasted. No, your steadfastness in your commitment to God and what he says is right has not been meaningless. God has been at work in all that you have experienced to prepare you for your final destination, because by grace your life is moving toward an end more glorious than anything you could imagine. You will look back and say, “All of the effort and hardship was worth it.”
The glory of your final destination as a child of God is captured in a hymn of praise, sung before God’s throne and captured for us in Revelation 5:
They sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:9–10)
Here is where you story is going. You have been ransomed out of the sinful mass of humanity by the blood of Jesus. This means that your story will never end. You will reign with your Lord forever and ever, with everlasting peace and righteousness, in the new heavens and new earth. Now that’s a good ending!