June 23rd, 2024
The Nicene Creed ends in hope, orienting us to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world or age to come. God’s Word speaks of two ages, the present evil age and the age to come (Gal 1:3; Mark 10:30). When we are raised on the last day, we will enter the life of the age to come (Luke 20:34-26).
Hebrews 11:9-10 reminds us that the saints of old also looked for the age to come: “By faith [Abraham] went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
Abraham looked forward to that city, but the Apostle John saw it. He describes his vision in Revelation 21:1-5:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
And again, in Revelation 22:1-5:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.
The glory of the age to come is the glory of the Triune God, whom we confess in the Nicene Creed. The life of the age to come is life in the eternal light of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eternal life is life in communion with the Triune God. This is the life Jesus promises: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). This life is his own life, which is the very life of God: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26).
By faith, we have already received eternal life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). Even now, we know and have communion with the Triune God: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). But, for now, we live in this present evil age and we look for the life of the age to come: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12)