Back to The Lent Encounter home
Read today's devotional. Or click the play button to listen.
There are all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas about what the return of Christ will look like, most of them drawn from incautious readings of the book of Revelation, and that can make us a bit reluctant to be too positive about the idea. But it’s unquestionably there in the New Testament. One day God will intervene again and he will make all things new.
We have no idea what this will look like or when it will happen, and it’s pointless to speculate. Talking about the early Church, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams once said, ‘For all we know, we are the early Church.’ But we do, in Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible, have glimpses of what God’s glorious future will look like. In John’s vision, ‘Now God’s home is with human beings! He will live with them ... and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared’ (Revelation 21.3–4).
That’s a great vision. But if we cast it into some distant future, we’re missing the point: we’re called to live today in the light of that promise; to make the future present, and live as citizens of that future kingdom right now. John speaks of God as the one ‘who is, who was, and who is to come’ (Revelation 1.4). Not just the future, but the past and the present are in his hands.
This reflection was written by Mark Woods, Head of Communications at Bible Society.
If you have two minutes: Listen to the audio reflection and ponder how it might be relevant in your life.
If you have up to ten minutes: Read the Bible passage and listen to the audio reflection; you might want to keep a small journal, or note on your phone, to jot down words and phrases that jump out at you. Finish with a brief prayer to put what you have read and heard into practice.
What if I miss a day(s)?: Don’t worry, life happens! Just pick up the devotional again on the current day, and, if you wish, you can use the space for reflection on Sundays to listen to those reflections you may have missed.
Read the Bible 
Processing...