THE FUTURE OF HOPE: WHY ESCHATOLOGY MATTERS

Message by Josh Mutter - May 8, 2026

Eschatology explores what the Bible teaches about the “last things,” including the future, the end of the world, and God’s ultimate plan. 

1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV - Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror ...

Big Idea: We may not agree on every detail, but we anchor our hope in the same ending.

Six Things (Most) Christians Agree On

1. One day Jesus will return

Acts 1:11b NIV - This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven

1 Thessalonians 4:16a NIV - For the Lord himself will come down from heaven ...

2. God will set things right

2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 NIV - God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well…He will punish those who do not know God.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26 NIV - For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

3. Evil does not win

Revelation 20:10 NIV - And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation 21:4 NIV - He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

4. God will make all things new

Revelation 21:1 NIV - Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Romans 8:21-22 NIV - ... the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth.

5. Death is not the end

1 Corinthians 15:12 NIV - But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

1 Corinthians 15:42 NIV - The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.

1 Corinthians 15:54 NIV - Death has been swallowed up in victory.

John 5:28-29 NIV - A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out ...

6. Eternity is real

John 3:16 NIV - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Closing Thoughts

• Our hope is not in our ability to hold everything together.
• Our hope recognizes that the hard things do not get the final say.
• Our hope shapes how we live now.

About Josh Mutter: Josh Mutter has been our lead pastor since 2018 and is passionate about helping people discover what it means to follow Jesus in our daily lives. Josh is married to Michelle and together they have two boys and a dog named Zeke. When not engaged in ministry, Josh can be found puttering around the house (summer time outdoors is his favourite), playing with his kids or out on a run.