In “a future life” Jefferson Vann shares more thoughts about the Christian hope based on a reading of John Eldredge’s All things New.
a future life
“For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:27 NET).
This week I finished reading John Eldredge’s All Things New. I really enjoy his approach. Although he is not a conditionalist, and he does not believe in an unconscious intermediate state, he is absolutely on target when he talks about the restored new earth being the Christian hope.
“I have never had one private conversation with any follower of Christ who spoke of their hope of being handsomely rewarded.” (p.187).
Eldredge shows that rewards for faithfulness in this life will be given to believers in future life, on a restored earth. In addition to the verse above, he cites Matthew 5:12, which says that our reward is waiting for us in heaven. But according to 16:27 it will come to us when Jesus returns. We don’t come to it when we die. It is being stored up (Matthew 6:20) — not to be given at our death, but to be given when Jesus comes to restore all things.
He also cites Matthew 6:1-4; 10:41; Ephesians 6:7-8; Colossians 3:23-24; Hebrews 10:35; 11:24-26. The challenge for us as conditionalists is to show Christians that death is not the time for reward. Perhaps these verses will help:
“(Look! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!)” (Revelation 22:12-13 NET).
We look to the return of Christ when there will be an accounting: Matthew 25:14,19; Luke 19:12; Matthew 24:42; Philippians 3:20; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Peter 3:12; 1 Peter 1:13.
Eldredge engages in a great deal of speculation about what we will actually do, the way the earth will look, the presence of animals, etc. And why not? Why should we not dream about our future life. Dreaming about the substance of our future life is so much better that the sickly answers people give about disembodied spirits floating around in heaven.
I recommend Eldredge’s book because it puts its finger on the pulse of the biblical hope: not a distant unknown place, but this place, renewed, restored and glorified.
For more book and article reviews, see:
The Garden of Eden and the Hope of Immortality
The Immortality of the Soul: A Protest Joseph Agar Beet
“He Descended to the Dead” An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday
What are human beings that you remember them?
Book Review: Life, Death and Destiny By Warren Prestidge
Divine Bodies: resurrecting perfection in the New Testament and Early Christianity | Book Review
Body, Soul and Life Everlasting | Book Review
Aristotle – On the Soul | Book Review
Book Review: Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism
BOOK REVIEW: Christus Victor by Gustaf Aulen
Hades; Or, The Intermediate State of Man by Henry Constable
Book Review : Conditional Immortality – A Help to Skeptics By G.G Stokes
Book Review Conditional Immortality (The case for orthodoxy on the doctrine of Annihilationism) By Tanwin TanotoBOOK REVIEW: Between Cross and Resurrection: A Theology of Holy Saturday
Review of Hell a Final word by Edward Fudge
Review of The Meaning of Jesus
Review of “First Doctrine” | Conditional Immortality
Review of Neighbor To The Nations by Ronald A. Murch
Erasing Hell Review by Jefferson Vann
Earth’s Final Dawn by Clinton E. Taber | Book Review
The Tree of Life: A Biblical Study of Immortality | Book Review
Sleeping In the Dust By Jonathan Burke | Book Review
Love Wins by Rob Bell | Book Review
Body Soul and Human life : The Nature of Humanity in the Bible by Joel B. Green | Book Review
Book Review Rethinking Human Nature
A Summary and a Review Of What About The Soul?
Two Views of Hell: A Biblical and Theological Dialogue | Book Review
About Jefferson Vann
Jefferson Vann pastors Piney Grove Advent Christian Church in Delco, North Carolina, USA. He is a teacher, Bible translator, and avid blogger. "My hope is that everyone who reads my writings will have an opportunity to understand the gospel, and will know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior." He has written books on theology and Bible commentary. You can read more of Jeff's writing at Devotions | Jefferson Vann | Commands of Christ | Learning Koine Greek Together
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