How Does the Story End?

Our future hope is that Christ will return, raise the dead, execute perfect justice, and establish His kingdom without end. Death does not have the final word.

The end of the story is God dwelling with humanity forever. Until that day, rejoice in the hope that you have, because God has been merciful to us:

He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 1:3–7)

Our understanding of the story we’re living in—from how it begins to how it ends—shapes every aspect of how we live. The Christian story gives us lives filled with meaning, purpose, value, contentment, and joy. We all live toward whatever end we believe is coming. The return of Christ is the perfect ending that makes yesterday, today, and tomorrow matter more than any other story.

If the grand conclusion of our story is Christ returning to dwell with His people forever, what should the posture of His people be today? The first and last instinct of Christian theologians is simple:

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Christian theologians are those who are beginning to learn that our greatest hope is God’s kingdom here. God’s will here. All theology is bound up in the hope for the King and His kingdom. And the good news is, that is exactly the hope Christ is coming back to fulfill.

The Bible ends with this beautiful promise, “He who testifies about these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’”

And all Christian theologians respond: “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

The best stories have the best endings. And the Christian story has the best ending of them all. Because the ending of the Bible is that Christ’s kingdom never ends. We look forward to the return of Christ eagerly, not just because we love the kingdom, but because we love the King.

Thank you for reading!

This plan was adapted from You Are a Theologian: An Invitation to Know and Love God Well (B&H Publishing, 2023) by Jen Wilkin and J. T. English. Click here to learn more or purchase your copy.