“Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again! This simple liturgical refrain reminds us of the profoundly important truth that eschatology is deeply and inextricably grounded in the gospel. The twofold past tense ‘has died’ and ‘has risen’ is the basis on which the Christian perseveres in hope that ‘Christ will come again.’
Simply put, what God has already achieved in the past through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son is the foundation for what Scripture says He will do in the future, at the consummation. Christian hope is not a wishful grasping at an uncertain tomorrow but a confident expectation rooted in the reality of what transpired 2,000 years ago.
The efficacy and finality of Christ’s redemptive work, together with His resurrection and exaltation as Lord to the right hand of the Father, alone accounts for the anticipation all Christians have of the return of Christ and the consummate fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose in the new heavens and new earth.”
–Sam Storms, The Restoration of All Things (The Gospel Coalition Booklets; Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 7.
