#255 THE BEST IS YET TO COME 10-8-26
One of the great mistakes we make in life is assuming that our best days are behind us. We look backward and remember what once was. We remember strength, opportunities, people, places, seasons, victories, and moments that seemed almost too good to end. Then something changes. The years pass. Circumstances change. People leave us. Our bodies grow older. Doors close. And we begin to wonder if the best has already happened.
For the child of God, the answer is no.
The best is yet to come.
The Bible is filled with people whose greatest moments came after their darkest moments. Abraham waited for the promise. Joseph went from the pit to the palace. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before God called him to deliver Israel. David spent years running from Saul before he sat upon the throne. The disciples watched Jesus die before they saw Him alive again.
God has always been capable of making the future greater than the past.
And nowhere is that truth more clearly seen than in Jesus Christ.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME BECAUSE CHRIST IS STILL OUR HOPE.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
Notice that Peter calls it a living hope.
Our hope is not optimism with a religious vocabulary. It rests upon an empty tomb.
Jesus Christ died, but death did not have the final word. He was buried, but the grave could not keep Him. On the third day He arose, and because He lives, the future of every faithful child of God is different.
Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).
That changes everything.
We may lose something here, but we have not lost everything. We may grow older, but we are moving closer to eternity. We may experience sorrow, but sorrow is not our final destination.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
Our present suffering is real. Paul does not deny that. But he places it beside the glory that is coming and says the comparison is not even close.
The best is yet to come.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME BECAUSE OUR BODIES WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS WAY.
One of the strangest things about growing older is realizing that the mind may still feel young while the body begins sending increasingly opinionated correspondence.
But Christianity does not teach us merely to endure physical decline. It gives us the promise of resurrection. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53).
What a promise.
God is not finished with us because our earthly bodies are wearing out. The Christian does not look at the grave as the end of everything. The grave is not the final chapter. It is a doorway through which we await the resurrection.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:42).
We cannot fully imagine what resurrection glory will be like. But we know who promised it.
And sometimes it is enough to know that the One who made us the first time knows exactly how to raise us the second time.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME BECAUSE OUR SORROW WILL END.
Revelation 21 gives us one of the most beautiful promises in all the Bible: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4).
Think about that.
There will come a day when God Himself wipes away the tears.
Not merely removes the circumstances that caused them. He wipes away the tears.
There will be no funeral homes because there will be no death. No hospital rooms because there will be no sickness. No goodbyes because there will be no separation. No broken hearts because sin and death will have lost their power.
Everything that makes this world groan will one day be gone.
We sometimes think the greatest part of heaven will be what is missing. No death. No sorrow. No pain.
But heaven is even greater than that.
Jesus will be there.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME BECAUSE WE WILL BE WITH CHRIST.
Jesus told His disciples, “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3).
The Christian hope is not simply a better environment. It is the presence of Christ.
Paul said that to depart and be with Christ was “far better” (Philippians 1:23).
That is what makes heaven heaven.
We will see the One who loved us enough to die for us. We will be with the One whose blood purchased our redemption. We will finally understand what it means to dwell in the presence of the One whom we have trusted by faith.
Here, we walk by faith.
There, we will see.
Here, we read about Jesus.
There, we will be with Jesus.
Here, we sing about His glory.
There, we will behold His glory.
The best is yet to come.
So do not let yesterday become an idol. Thank God for yesterday, learn from yesterday, remember yesterday, but do not live there.
And do not let today become your master. Today matters. Today is a gift. Today is an opportunity to love, serve, forgive, teach, encourage, evangelize, and glorify God.
But today is not the end.
There is more.
There is a resurrection.
There is a kingdom.
There is a home.
There is glory.
There is Christ.
And because Christ lives, the best is yet to come.
When your body grows tired, remember it will not always be this way.
When your heart is broken, remember it will not always hurt.
When you bury someone you love, remember the grave does not have the final word.
When life disappoints you, remember this world was never meant to be your final home.
And when you wonder whether your greatest days are behind you, look toward Christ.
Your greatest day may still be ahead.
The resurrection is still ahead.
The glory is still ahead.
The presence of Christ is still ahead.
And for those who belong to Him, the best is not behind us.
The best is yet to come.
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Father, thank You for giving us a living hope through Jesus Christ. When we become discouraged by the passing of time, remind us that our future is not determined by this world. When our bodies grow weak, remind us of the resurrection. When our hearts are heavy, remind us that sorrow will not last forever. When we face death, remind us that Jesus conquered the grave.
Father, help us believe with all our hearts that whatever good we have known in this life, whatever beautiful moments we have experienced, whatever blessings we have enjoyed, the best is yet to come.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, Amen.
BDD
