Story of the Bible, Act 12: New Creation

We might not know much about what it will look like or how it will arrive, but the Bible is clear that history is moving towards a point, when God's purposes for creation will be fulfilled. 

In the book of Revelation, John envisages this as the City of God, the new Jerusalem. He says: 'The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. There shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings for ever and ever' (22.4–5). Elsewhere the New Testament speaks of the return of Christ (e.g. Acts 1.11). 

We shouldn't be too dogmatic about the 'End Times' – people have been making calculations about the end of the world and the second coming of Christ ever since the Ascension, and they have all been wrong. But in these times of fear and stress because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the probable results of climate change and rising international tensions, there's perhaps a tendency to side-line God and to imagine that the world's destiny is a grim and dark one. We can't assume our actions today don't have consequences, but we can trust in the bright future God has promised. As the old hymn says: 

God is working his purpose out,

as year succeeds to year,

God is working his purpose out,

and the time is drawing near;

nearer and nearer draws the time,

the time that shall surely be,

when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God

as the waters cover the sea.