I spent a little time today visiting a forum where people posted images and pictures on things that gave them emotional responses. The images ranged between the absolute heart-wrenching to God-glorifying beauty. The contrast was astounding.

Of course, there were many things that exhibited the truthfulness of the fall. From families mourning the loss of loved ones from natural disasters and war to the effects of poverty on the image of God in people everywhere- whether the streets right here in Louisville to villages in third-world countries. The images are in-your-face digital realities of both sin and redemption. They cry out along with John, “Come, Lord Jesus!” They speak to us of our thirst for justice, and of our need of mercy. All the abstract talk on evil, sin, and salvation become frighteningly real.

So then, what are we Christians to do? Well, certainly, if someone brings up questions on God’s character and evil we should answer them, but there are a couple more points I want to bring out. These are in no particular order.
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The following is an extended quote from N.T. Wright’s new book, “Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church”. In this quote, Wright establishes the two main questions that the book seeks to answer.

“This book addresses two questions that have often been dealt with entirely separately but that, I passionately believe, belong tightly together. First, what is the ultimate Christian hope? Second, what hope is there for change, rescue, transformation, new possibilities within the world in the present? And the main answer can be put like this. As long as we see Christian hope in terms of “going to heaven,” of a salvation that is essentially away from this world, the two questions are bound to appear as unrelated. Indeed, some insist angrily that to ask the second one at all is to ignore the first one, which is the really important one. This in turn makes some others get angry when people talk of resurrection, as if this might draw attention away from the really important and pressing matters of contemporary social concern. But if the Christ hope is for God’s new creation, for “new heavens and new earth,” and if that hope has already come to life in Jesus of Nazareth, then there is every reason to join the two questions together.” (pg. 5).

When Wright says that the two questions (What is our hope? How can it effect the present?) should be joined together, I believe he is in good company, namely, the New Testament authors. When I took New Testament II, my professor gave us a challenge to find any passage that teaches on the “end times” that did not have an explicit or implicit application for the present time. I have yet to find any.
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