“Living in Light of Eternity”
Events surrounding the return of Christ are an important part of Paul’s message to the Thessalonian church. It is, however, easy for these concerns to be divorced from anything practical. Our understanding of how history ends is incredibly practical.
Consider the parable of the rich fool.
The phrase ‘eat, drink, and be merry’ brought to mind the similar phrase from Paul in 1 Cor. 15:32, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”
So Paul says, if the dead aren’t raised, live it up today for tomorrow we die. Jesus says, if you do that, you’re a fool.
Living in light of eternity, in light of the resurrection, has immense bearing on how we choose to live now. Since we know there is a life after this, we will strive to be rich towards God. This may look like foolishness to the world around us, but storing up treasure in heaven where rust and moth can’t destroy is wise.
Eschatology is an important ingredient in godly wisdom.
