MORALITY - Christian morality and future hope

EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY - MORALITY

THE BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?

EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?

GOD - MAN
Is Jesus really God?

RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?

SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?

TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.

SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.

FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?

GUIDANCE
How does God guide?

REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.

BORN AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?

SAVING FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven

ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?

TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?

MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.

THE CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the new millennium.

PURPOSE
How can I find a great purpose for living?

IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of God.

SELF-ESTEEM
How can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.

LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.

THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.

Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.

Christian morality and future hope

You will note from the Index to New Testament teaching on how we should live that there is a strong emphasis on living in the light of Jesus' return at the end of this age. One reason for this is undoubtedly that we may receive his commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things" (Matthew 25:21). The Bible often mentions rewards for those who have lived faithfully for Jesus. However, there is more to it than that.

Christians are called to demonstrate here the marks of the future kingdom of God. In contrast to those whose "god is their stomach" Paul says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3:18-21). In other words, because we know the value of our bodies and what they will be in the future, we will want to look after them here. Similarly, John, in speaking of Christ's return, says, "My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be has not yet been seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ is holy" (1 John 3:2, 3).

Dorothy Sayers had something worthwhile to say on this theme:

It is precisely because of the eternity outside of time that everything in time becomes valuable and important and meaningful. Therefore, Christianity...makes it of urgent importance that everything we do here (whether individually or as a society) should be rightly related to what we eternally are. "Eternal life" is the sole sanction for the values of this life.

This is one of the reasons Paul puts such emphasis on love. Stanley Grenz, in his excellent book The Moral Quest, puts it like this:

Whereas all other aspects of Christian existence will one day cease, love will carry over into the new [age] (1 Corinthians 13:8-13). Of the various dimensions of the moral life, love is central to the whole, for it alone provides insight into the coming age. Indeed, love is the actual quality of the age to come. Where love exists the new [age] is present. And the moral life is eschatological living [living for the future]: It involves acting now as those who belong to the age to come.