Years ago, I learned that my stepfather was… Maybe not afraid of the Rapture, but definitely concerned about what it meant for the world. His words were, to the best of my knowledge, “That will be the end of everything.”
More recently, I heard a young mother tell someone else that the Rapture wouldn’t be happening any time soon because God had told her that her newborn is going to be a preacher.
Recently, I realized both speakers were operating under the same assumption: That the Rapture is the end.
But it’s not.
It’s the beginning.
For believers, the Rapture isn’t the end of God’s work—or of ours. It’s simply the turning of a page, the beginning of a new chapter. You have the Rapture, then the Tribulation, and then one thousand years of Jesus Christ reigning on earth—and us reigning with Him.
It seems most people think we’ll just be hanging out once we get to Heaven. Or, more likely, they’ve not even thought about it. The truth is, Scripture doesn’t in any way indicate that we’ll be floating around on clouds playing harps, as the stereotype would have us believe.
Adam and Eve had responsibilities in the Garden of Eden, and in many ways God is restoring that kind of intimate and unhindered relationship with Him that sin destroyed. Just as surely as Adam and Eve had purpose, so will we. We were created to serve and glorify God and that fact won’t change just because we’ve received our glorified bodies. If anything, our lives will have even more purpose because we’re not limited by human flesh.
So yes, the Bible makes it clear that we will reign with Christ and have responsibilities in His Kingdom. And it’s easy to see where those responsibilities could line up with the gifts God has been developing in us in this life.
Which brings me to this thought, and it’s one I’ve shared before. We will live by the Word of God forever, and it will figure in our eternal lives every bit as much as it ought to be ruling our lives today. So every effort we put into getting to know God and His Word, every lesson we learn today is preparing us for our eternal responsibilities.
For my part, knowing that the gifts and callings of God are not revoked (Romans 11:29), I believe God will continue to use the gifts He’s given me during those thousand years just as surely as He uses them today.
Only I’ll be a whole lot better at it!
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C