God’s goal for the world is that His Son receive the greatest glory imaginable and that we as His people benefit eternally from His goodness. God’s greatness and our good are intertwined. He’s going to renew everything, make everything right, purge the world of evil, and then establish a new heavens and earth that will be magnificent. Those who belong to Him will experience the blessing of that new world. Those who reject Him will miss out and instead experience eternal separation from him. The good news for us in the present is that we have the awesome responsibility of living in a way that provides a foretaste of that world to come. When our families are harmonious, when our churches show the world that people who are really different can come together and – without much in common – unite around the gospel, when our communities are peaceful and filled with life and laughter, when justice is present in a society, we are giving the world a glimpse of what that future will look like. The church gives the world a little taste of heaven on earth, inviting others into this way of living that reflects (as best we can, even though we fall short so often) the life of the new world to come.
Trevin Wax born in Tennessee, is a scholar/author/professor who works at LifeWay. His favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life, his favorite smell is bacon, his first job was at McDonalds, and when not engaged in academic rigor he enjoys riding his bike.
