A firm grasp on the natural human longing for a better world will take your application skills to the next level.
Unrequited Hope
As we grow to love our neighbors as ourselves, this world becomes a better place to live. Good but not great. Finer but not final. A place of progress but not perfection. We long for a better world.
When God created the heavens and earth, all was very good (Gen 1:31). But man sought out many schemes (Eccl 7:29), and the consequence was a curse upon the ground (Gen 3:17). Now the human experience is one full of sickness (Ps 6:2), waiting (Ps 6:3), injustice (Ps 10), poverty (Ps 12:5), abandonment (Ps 13), corruption (Ps 14:3), abuse (Ps 22), grief (Ps 31:9), sin (Ps 51), fear (Ps 55:5), violence (Ps 59), sleeplessness (Ps 77:1-4), war (Ps 79:3-4), depression (Ps 88), chronic suffering (Ps 88:15), weakness (Ps 109:24), interpersonal conflict (Ps 120:2), disrespect (Ps 123:4), and loneliness (Ps 142:4)1—to name just a few of the things we now suffer.
When God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden, he did it so that they would not live forever as sinners (Gen 3:22-23). In that action was the shadow of a hint of a hope of resurrection. If they would die, it means they could live again, right? So prophets such as Isaiah foresaw a new world to come, a new creation to replace the fallen creation (Isaiah 65:17-25). A place where lives would be long and full, no person would labor in vain, and weeping and distress would never be heard.
When Jesus came along, he spoke often about how the age to come was breaking into the present through his own person and work (Mark 1:15, Luke 17:20-21). But that presented a tension with the reality that the age to come was … still a time to come. A time when those hearing Jesus’ words would get to dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matt 8:11). A time when a faithful servant would receive their full reward (Matt 6:20). A place of joy that the persevering steward would enter (Matt 25:21). Jesus associates this new age with both bodily resurrection (John 5:28-29) and a new, regenerated world (Matt 19:28-29).
Paul speaks of a new creation, where the sons of God are fully revealed and suffering is replaced by disproportional glory (Rom 8:18-25). Peter motivates us to wait for the new heavens and new earth—the place where sin and suffering are gone and only righteousness is left (2 Peter 3:11-13). And John caps off our hope with his glorious picture of the dwelling place of God with men. A place that is already here but also not yet fully here. A place without tears, pain, or death (Rev 21:1-4).
Whatever we face now is but a photo-negative of what those who have trusted Christ will face then. And does not every human heart long for such a place? Isn’t that what people seek whenever they expose abuses of power, contribute aid to the needy, and rectify injustice? We all want to live in a world that is better than the one in which we now reside. And the Bible holds out much hope that such a place is coming. Just hold fast to the grace of God, persevere through these light and momentary afflictions, and testify persistently to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Help with Application
So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?
In nearly any text, you can ask “unrequited hope” questions with respect to the author’s main point:
- What would the world look like if everyone trusted and obeyed what the Lord declares in this text?
- What hope do we have for that to take place in this world?
- What hope do we have for that to take place in the next world?
- Wouldn’t it be great to finally get to such a place?
- How does this text highlight your pain, your suffering, or your sin?
- What can you do now to prepare for a world without such things?
- How does your coming resurrection in the new world motivate you to endure further hardship here and now?
- What can you give up now, knowing you’ll have an eternity to enjoy it with the Lord Jesus?
- If you do not trust Jesus, what hope can you have for the present world to ever act in righteousness and justice?
- For the unbeliever: What has been the best time of your life? What if that is the best it will ever get for you? How does Jesus offer you far more than you can imagine?
- In light of the new creation Jesus will bring, what is there left for you to be afraid of?
I am intentionally sidestepping matters of creation, gifts, strengths, law, grace, salvation, and sanctification when I ask these questions. That’s not because such matters are unimportant, but only because the focus of this post is on the natural human longing for a better world.
Sometimes, robust reflection on our hope for the future will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: lament, oppression, injustice, sin, suffering, tragedy, misery, perseverance, joy, hope, satisfaction—to name just a few.
Deepen your grasp of the natural human longing for a better world, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.
- This list of human experiences from the psalms was collated by my friend Clint Watkins in his wonderful book Just Be Honest: How to Worship Through Tears and Pray Without Pretending (affiliate link). ↩︎
