Jesus in the Future

By Erin Bird

Back to the Future

Let's get back to our series called The Same. To jog your memory, we are looking at Hebrews 13:8 which teaches us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Since we've already looked at "yesterday" and "today", let's wrap things up this week by looking at "Jesus in the Future."

When I think of the "future," I tend to think of a time far away. Maybe I've watched way too many sci-fi films, but I think of "futuristic" things like flying cars, or what the world will be like for my great grandchildren. In other words, I think about days I will never see.

But in the Scripture, the "future" isn't always seen as "some distant day you will never experience." The future is often viewed as being much closer.

Take 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18. This is a fairly famous set of verses about the second coming of Jesus. Many people tend to think about the return of Christ as coming in years, decades, or even centuries from now. Yet Paul doesn't talk about Christ's return as if it will happen in two-thousand years. Rather, he talks as if it could happen at any point in the future - even his future.

Seeing Paul's viewpoint helps me see that the future isn't about far-off days. The future includes tomorrow- a day I will most likely see. And what is so encouraging to me about this is that Jesus will be the same reliable Messiah tomorrow as He is to me today!

I think this is why Jesus tells us to not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). If I can trust Him with today, I can trust Him with your tomorrow, as well as trust Him with my eternity.

So if you are a Jesus-follower, you can face whatever comes tomorrow, because Christ will be with you. You can trust Him with your next month, because He will still be the same. And you can trust Him with the very end of your life, because He will keep you for eternity.