Find Hope When The End Is Nigh

Revelation 21:1-5 NIV 

[1] Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” [5] He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.21.1-5.NIV)

Due to its geography, Europe has some of the longest tunnels in the world. For example, the Gotthard Base railway tunnel in Switzerland is an incredible 57km long. The Channel Tunnel between England and France is 50.4km long. The Lærdal road tunnel in Norway is the longest in the world at 24km. To avoid some incredible rough sea, the Faeroe Islands have a network of undersea tunnels so extensive that one of them even features a roundabout! 

Why am I starting the last study in my ‘Find Hope’ series by talking in a really nerdy way about European tunnels? 

Because when we find ourselves in times of suffering, we feel like we are in a long, dark tunnel and often we can’t see the light. 

Or if we can see any light, we are afraid that it’s the headlights of an oncoming train. 

But for a Christian, there is light. There is always light. No darkness is forever. Even the darkest midnight has a dawn. 

Every other religious and philosophical system can provide zero guarantees that your suffering will one day end. 

Not Christianity. 

God guarantees it. 

In this final study, we will look at the promised end to all our pain and suffering. 

We’ll start by looking at The Beginning. 

The Beginning 

Revelation 21:1-4 NIV 

[1] Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.21.1-4.NIV)

It is something of a tired cliché, but you would be amazed about the number of IT problems that can be solved by simply turning a computer off and restarting it again, especially with Windows computers. Memory can start to get too full, buffers clogged up, processors over-occupied, and turning your computer off and on again sorts all of that. 

So the next time your IT help desk agent tells you to do it, don’t be insulted: give it a go. It may well solve the problem. 

Or better still, do it before you call them. 

Life can be like that. We can get ourselves into such a mess that the only way we can fix it is to stop what we are doing and start again. 

Look what happened in the Old Testament, just before the events we covered in our first study: 

Genesis 6:12-13 NIV 

[12] God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. [13] So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.6.12-13.NIV)

Mankind’s evil ways had reached the point where all God could do was start again. 

Look at the words David used when he sinned with Bathsheba: 

Psalms 51:1-2, 9-10, 12 NIV 

 [1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 

[9] Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. [10] Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

[12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.51.1-12.NIV)

Look at what God did at the Exile: 

Isaiah 10:20-23 NIV 

[20] In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. [21] A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. [22] Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. [23] The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.10.20-23.NIV)

God’s people had gone so far wrong that all He could do was start again. 

Look what Jesus taught Nicodemus: 

John 3:3 NIV 

[3] Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.3.3.NIV)

The concept of a reset is written right through Scripture. It should be no surprise that it is a key part of the Gospel; that being born again could be so central to Jesus’ message. 

But the end of our faith, the event it leans towards more than anything else, is the final resurrection and God’s renewal of all things. There the sin and the pain and the suffering and the tears and the disappointments will all be gone. They will be swept aside as God makes everything new. 

In Jesus God dwelt among His people for just thirty-three short years (John 1:14).  

One day that dwelling will be forever. And nothing will ever come between us and God ever again. 

Listen, if you are suffering, this is the one event in all of life towards which you must long.

Because the one thing anyone wants when life is tough and they are experiencing stress and struggle and pain is for it to end. 

Look at these verses. God says that it will end. The whistle will be blown. The flag will be waved. The lights will flash. 

It will be over. 

And with it all of the pain. All of the tears. All of the struggle. All of the regret. All of the anxiety. All of the stress. 

All of it. 

Because all of these will be gone from the new order and will never come back. 

That is what heaven truly is. 

And if we have been reborn on earth by accepting Jesus as our Saviour, we will be there. 

Hallelujah! 

But as well as the beginning, we also see The End. 

The End 

Revelation 21:4-5, 8 NIV 

[4] ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” [5] He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 

[8] But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.21.4-8.NIV)

There are times in life when a new beginning for some people is an end for others. I’ll give you an example. Around seven years ago I was made redundant. As part of my redundancy I was required to train up three people in India to take over my job. My position was ending. Theirs was beginning. 

We often find this happening in life. It’s very hard for the person leaving. It’s much easier for the one coming in. 

Our great hope – and it’s right that we hope for it – is a double edged sword. For those who believe with us and have decided to follow Jesus, it is also a new beginning. It is everything they, and we, have hoped for. 

But for those who do not believe, it’s something completely different. 

Now, this is a tough concept to hear for those who have gotten themselves so used to the idea of God as a loving and merciful and kind God that they cannot conscience the idea of God punishing sin. But He must, otherwise He is not loving and merciful and kind. 

Allow me to explain. 

Heaven is a place of utter perfection. On that we can all agree. 

For Heaven to be perfect, it stands to reason that imperfection cannot enter. Again, it’s hard to disagree with that. 

Every human being is a sinner (Romans 3:23). Anyone who disagrees with that is exhibiting a level of ignorance that is off the scale. The evidence is all around us and is obvious.

Therefore, on our own, we cannot get into Heaven. It is far beyond us. Left to our own devices, these verses would be true of us. We would be utterly lost with no hope of redemption. 

But Jesus did this:

Hebrews 10:14 NIV 

[14] For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.10.14.NIV)

Romans 5:17 NIV 

[17] For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.5.17.NIV)

Romans 8:1-4 NIV 

[1] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.1-4.NIV)

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV 

[21] God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.5.21.NIV)

We are, by nature, not righteous, but because of the cross, we have been made righteous by Jesus Christ. We enter Heaven not on our merit, but His. 

What happens, though, if we decide to stand before God on our own merit, not His? 

Then we fail. 

We are judged because we were presented with the way to be saved and we rejected it. That judgement is righteous and it is just and it is holy.  

It is also loving. It would not be loving for God to tolerate and not judge wrongdoing. 

Think about it. 

How could a loving God allow evil to prosper unchecked? How much harm would it do to the objects of His love? 

If you are a Christian, particularly if you have been beset by suffering, pain and struggles with sin, addiction, bereavement or hurt caused by sins committed against you, this is good news. Everything that caused you pain will be gone on that day. And it will never come back. 

But if you are a source or pain and suffering for those around you, this is bad news. Really bad news. 

It means that you are facing the prospect of a lost eternity if you do not repent and follow Jesus right now. 

All of us long for a new beginning. There are fewer things more precious in life.  

But in the Bible, and in life, new beginnings come with a price. They are not free. 

You must repent (Matthew 4:17). You must believe. You must follow Jesus. 

If you do not, then the full consequences of your sin will be visited upon you. 

And let me tell you: it will not be pretty. 

So we have seen how we are promised a new beginning, but how this new beginning must bring about an end. 

We now finish this series by looking at The Endless. 

The Endless 

Revelation 21:6 NIV 

[6] He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.21.6.NIV)

I have often referred to this in this series, but perspective matters. If you take a toy from a young child because it has become dirty, they’ll cry because they miss the toy, they won’t see the dirt. 

Often our sufferings are brought on not just because we are passing through a difficult and painful situation, but because our perspective and our reactions to it make it worse. Often it helps if we just take a step back and try to see things from a different angle. 

I can recall several very painful situations I went through, such as bereavement, redundancy, loss of a ministry. At the time, they hurt. They hurt really badly. I wondered if I would ever get over them. 

But looking back now, with the benefit of time and the absence of the severe pain I felt at the time, I can see how God was working through them for my good. 

You see, what we see here is a statement of God’s nature. If we are not careful, we will miss it. This is what sets Him apart from all other major religious figures. 

Think about it. 

Mohammed was born and he died. 

Buddha was born and he died. 

Great leaders were born and they died. 

Only our God has always existed, was born, died and rose from the dead. There was never a time when He was not. There will never be a time when He is not. 

And by that we don’t just mean God the Father, we also mean Jesus. This was said of Him: 

John 1:1-3 NIV 

[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.1.1-3.NIV)

God therefore has a perspective on our suffering that we do not have. He sees our whole timeline, including our eternity, we only see what’s happening now and remember poorly what came before.  

What this means is that when God tells us through His people that our sufferings are light and momentary (2 Corinthians 4:17-18), we should believe it. 

We should also understand that only He is uniquely qualified to rid us of our suffering forever. 

We often put our faith in human heroes or leaders to rid us of our pain. But every single one of them has a flaw. A fatal flaw, we might say: 

Psalms 103:15-16 NIV 

[15] The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; [16] the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.103.15-16.NIV)

Isaiah 40:6-8 NIV 

[6] A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. [7] The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. [8] The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.40.6-8.NIV)

Their flaw is that they are mortal. Their flaw is that they die. Look at all the history books of the Bible: Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 King’s,1 and 2 Chronicles. What happened in all of them? Even when you had the very best of leaders, every one of them died and had no control at all over what outlasted them. More often than not, a good king was followed by a bad king, and, on a few occasions, a bad king was followed by a good king. 

This is because God’s people put their faith in people and people die. That is a fact of life. 

But God is forever. Only He can remove our pain and our suffering forever: 

Hebrews 7:25 NIV 

[25] Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.7.25.NIV)

Eternal freedom from our suffering and pain is one hundred percent guaranteed because the One who brings that freedom is eternal. 

And there is no-one else who can do that for you. 

Conclusion 

Revelation 21:1-6 NIV 

[1] Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” [5] He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.21.1-6.NIV)

Whether we like it or not – and I’m pretty sure that we don’t – suffering and death are part of life in a fallen world. Sometimes we can see why they came. We understand it. We might still have the pain, but we can grasp the cause. 

At other times, it seems to be completely random and without explanation. 

We can struggle in both scenarios. The cold reality is that reasons and explanations solve nothing. For example, a schoolmate of mine injured himself quite badly by riding his bike down a steep hill and braking with his front brake first, all while not wearing a cycling helmet. You could have stood at his bedside and reasoned with him how the brakes on a bike work and why he should wear a helmet. All of that is useful. But it wouldn’t change the pain he felt with a fractured skull and a broken arm. 

The Gospel gives us the reasons. It explains why suffering exists. It doesn’t always explain why we suffer as individuals.  

It also gives us truths to make us more resilient. These are so very welcome and make an incredible difference. 

But what it does so much better than anything else in this world is that it gives us an end. It tells us that one day all suffering and pain will end. It tells us that even death – the greatest and darkest threat we face, will one day be no more. 

Now, we do not know when that day will be. Neither should we speculate. Giving people false hope is way worse than giving them no hope at all. 

But we know for sure that it will end. 

Why? 

Because God has told us. 

And that ought to be enough. 

We see here three core truths on which we can build our resilience and our hope. Firstly, that the Gospel of new beginnings will provide us with a final new beginning when all our suffering will be gone.  

Secondly, that all sources of that suffering will meet their end. 

Thirdly, that all of these will be guaranteed by the One who is endless. 

Our suffering may be deep and it may be painful. We may not understand it or why we have to endure it. Other people may be tactless and heartless in their dealings with us. 

But today, Christian, I want you to lift up your head. Each passing day brings you one day closer to Jesus (Romans 13:11). So be encouraged, brother. Be encouraged, sister. 

Suffering will not have the last word. 

Because that last word belongs to Jesus Christ. 

Find hope. Find hope in Jesus. 

Because He will not let you down. 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, I thank You that my suffering will end, and it will end in the greatest joy. Help me to never forget it, to keep a right perspective on what is happening to me and to remain strong in my faith in You. Amen. 

Questions for Contemplation 

• What does a Christian have that a non-Christian does not? Why is this? 

• What things will come to an end in the future? What is the cause of these things? 

• What will begin at the end? What difference does this make to us when we are suffering?