BROADCASTS.com

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God\u2019s possession\u2014to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

One last expedition in these verses. As I have said, salvation is a multi-faceted affair. It is not only God forgiving our sins. Redemption is God\u2019s restoration of the entire cosmos into a universe that pulsates with the goodness of his love. It is a place without destructive forces in which we can live unashamed and unhindered. The redeemed creation teems with life and harmony and an economic system that leaves none behind.

So often, when Christians think about this renewed creation, having put aside the images of rosy-cheeked cherubs playing harps on fluffy clouds while eating cream cheese on bagels, we think about the things we want. Those injured or disease riddled, think of fully abled bodies; those constantly under stress, think of a permanent stress-free vacation; those who do not have sufficient financial resources, think about the freedom to spend without worry; those who struggle with mental illness, long for freedom.

None of these things are wrong in themselves. Except for the \u2018permanent stress-free vacation\u2019 we can reasonably expect God\u2019s kingdom in all its fullness to include these things. But who is the centre of attention in the way I expressed things? I am! And that is often the problem with our imaginations about redemption. We think about it as life the way we want it to be.

But when Paul tells us that the Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, making payments until we take possession of this inheritance, he also tells us that this whole redemptive enterprise that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are pulling this world towards\u2014that this inheritance is not about us. Its about \u2018the praise of his glory\u2019.

This is the golden thread that weaves the Biblical story into a whole. Israel, freed from Egypt sings, \u201cI will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted\u201d (Exodus 15:1). David, established as king over Israel, sings, \u201cYours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor\u2026\u201d (1 Chronicles 29:11). In Luke\u2019s account of Jesus birth, Mary, Zechariah and the angels all ascribe glory to God (1:46, 68; 2:14). When Paul concludes his exhortation concerning Israel and the Gentiles becoming the one people of God, he concludes, \u201cTo him be glory forever! Amen.\u201d (Romans 11:36). Is not the book of Revelation the crescendo to this great song? \u201cTo him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power for ever and ever!\u201d (Revelation 5:13).

Our thoughts about heaven and the new creation tend to be \u2018me focussed\u2019. When it comes to life after death, our imagination tends to run out because \u2018a permanent stress-free vacation\u2019 is, frankly, quite boring. When, through the redeeming work of Jesus and the Spirit, our lives shift towards keeping the first commandment, \u201cYou shall have no other gods besides me\u201d (Exodus 20:2) and living into the prayer, \u201challowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven\u201d (Matthew 6:9-10), then our lives become about his glory, not our own.

Then we will be able to do what we were created for. That is the best way to begin imaging life after death: we will finally be able to do what God created us to do. Recall Genesis 1, God spoke: \u201cLet us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself\u2026\u201d (Genesis 1:26 MSG).

Psalm 8 is part praise for God\u2019s glory, part lament that humanity is not fulfilling its purpose. Hebrews 2 picks up this theme, acknowledging that humanity is a disaster, but pointing towards Jesus as the true human who brings \u2018many sons and daughters to glory\u2019 (10). In the here after, we will participate in the glory of God, able and willing to fully do what God created us for.

If that is not reason to hope for heaven, what is? Its also reason to walk in step with the Spirit, catching glimpses of future glory in the here and now. For that, we are included in Christ.