The atheist and the eschaton.

by Jacob Toman

As Christians one of the greatest joys we possess is our hope for the future. It is a hope in things not yet fully realized, but already fully guaranteed. The same covenant keeping God who has kept all of his promises, has promised to return, and to spend eternity dwelling among his people. What a hope for the future we have! Regardless of earthly circumstance, or spiritual persecution, this hope cannot be shaken or robbed from the Christian. The hope is not found in the circumstances of the individual Christian, but in the words of the One whose words are never idle.

For the atheist this is not so. There is no great hope for the future. There is no promise beyond mere fleshly imagination regarding potentialities. Those same potentialities transform into eventualities as quickly as the days turn to months, and months to years. Still no future awaits the atheist. No promise, no security, no covenant of blessing waiting. It’s all just a matter of time. The future of the Christian and their inheritance of eternal abundant life is as far from the atheist as the east is from the west. In due time the future becomes the present for the atheist, and all that awaits is the same thing they had all along, emptiness, devoid of sure hope.

What a tremendous, overwhelmingly gracious God the Christian has! To rescue lost sinners from such a bleak and dark future. To exchange the terror of everlasting night, for the joy of everlasting day. If you have a hope that rests in the assurance of Christ’s return, that is nothing to be taken for granted. The return of Christ is sure, and so also is the future for those who have faith in Him.