Living in Anticipation | Sunday, August 31, 2025

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

When the resurrection is certain, death loses its grip—and grief is no longer without hope.

Closing the Nicene Creed

All summer long we have looked at the Scriptures as they relate to the Nicene Creed—what we believe about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Creed simply builds a statement of what Christians have believed for 1,700 years, drawn right from the Bible. As we close this series, I want to zero in not only on what we believe about the future, but on how those beliefs shape the way we live.

So we focus this morning on the last seventeen words of the Creed: "We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." For more than a few people, these may be the most fascinating words in the whole Creed. American Protestant evangelicalism over the last quarter century has become increasingly enamored with future things—the resurrection of the dead, the life of the world to come.

Living in Anticipation of His Coming

This focus isn't only the last half-century; much of American Christian history has been millennial in its outlook, fixed on the second coming and Christ's kingdom. But really, for the last 2,000 years, Christians as a whole have been living in expectation of Christ's second coming. That is what this ancient statement is focused on—that there is coming a day when Christ will come again.

That is why Christians have long prayed as Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount and in Luke 11: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We live in anticipation of what the Scriptures call the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to Titus:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

We don't know when the Lord will return—Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour. There's a group online right now claiming the second coming or the rapture will happen at the end of September around the Feast of Trumpets. I'm planning an evening of eschatology on September 28th. If Jesus comes and takes us out of here before that, praise the Lord—you can learn eschatology from Jesus himself. If He delays, I'll see you on the 28th. We don't know all the details of how He will return, and yet, like Christians for 2,000 years, we wait, pray, look, and hope for His glorious appearing.

Death Is Not the End

This morning I want to talk less about the details and more about how the reality of the resurrection affects us. If we truly believe "we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come," then how shall we then live? How does that change how we think, how we talk, how we look at the world?

Weeks ago we affirmed that Christ "was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered death and was buried, and on the third day rose again according to the Scriptures." The tomb was found empty; His followers saw Him alive. And because of His resurrection, He will also raise us up to be with Him forever.

Point one: Christ's resurrection gives me assurance and hope that death is not the end. Since the news of my brother Danny's death over a week ago, many have asked, "Miles, are you doing okay?" One of our elders, Mark Searle, asked me that just before I came in to record this. I told him, "I kind of feel like I should feel worse than I do." That's not to say I'm not sad—I truly am—but I don't feel as bad as I would have expected. And I think that has much to do with what the Scriptures say about the resurrection.

We Do Not Sorrow as Those Who Have No Hope

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4 that "we do not sorrow as those who have no hope." Over 26 years of ministry I've done more than fifty funerals, and in every one I say that death is a part of life. Death is real, and there is a finality to it that strikes us hard. But for the Christian, death is not the end.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus... For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Paul says this not as his own meditation but "by the word of the Lord." And don't miss verse 18: "Therefore comfort one another with these words." He grounds our hope in the resurrection of Christ, then tells us to comfort one another with it. As Romans 15:4 says, through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures we have hope. The Scriptures reveal a future hope we could not know otherwise.

The Sting of Death Removed

Paul picks up the same theme in 1 Corinthians 15:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet... Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?... But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Point two: Christ's resurrection removes the fear and sting of death. Death-anxiety is very real, even for Christians, because death is deadly to your body. But your body is not all that you are. God made you a body and a soul—some would say body, soul, and spirit. There's a difference of opinion among theologians about whether we are a dichotomy or a trichotomy, and that's not the most important thing; what matters is that you are more than your body. To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.

When surveyed, most people name death as their number one fear, and that's completely understandable. Yet in Christ we can have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, which guards our hearts and minds (Philippians 4). That peace has no earthly explanation. Because Christ rose from the dead, my soul can be at rest as I hope in my own future resurrection.

So I have to ask: do you look forward to it? Are you living in expectation of the redemption of your soul, or do you live under the bondage of the fear of death? The author of Hebrews writes about those held in slavery by that fear. If you have no hope of life beyond this, you need to know Christ—the first to experience resurrection, who promises resurrection to us. "Because I live," Jesus said in John 14:19, "you will live also."

Comfort for Those Who Grieve

This is why Jesus could say to His troubled disciples:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

I share those verses at every funeral, along with John 11. When Jesus came to Bethany after Lazarus had died, Martha said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died... but even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered that she knew he would rise at the last day. Then Jesus spoke one of the great "I am" statements:

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Point three: Christ's resurrection brings comfort to those who sorrow and grieve over death. That final question is the one every one of us must meditate on. If you don't believe in Christ and His resurrection, it makes all the sense in the world to be anxious and fearful over death, to grieve without hope. But for those who have faith, the resurrection gives hope, comfort, peace, and even joy in sorrow. We do sorrow—Paul doesn't say otherwise—but not as those who have no hope. We have absolute certainty, not wishful thinking, that those who die in Christ are with Christ.

The Life of the World to Come

We are not weirdos looking forward to death—we are looking forward to the life that is to come. What is it? Jesus calls it everlasting life: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." He also calls it abundant life: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

It is life in the presence of God. Psalm 16:11 says, "In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." It is life without sorrow, pain, sickness, or death. John writes in Revelation 21:

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Point four: Christ's resurrection ensures future glory. This is not blind optimism but absolute certainty. So Paul could say in Romans 8:18, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," and in Philippians 3:20–21, that our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for the Savior who will transform our lowly body to be conformed to His glorious body.

How Shall We Then Live?

In the Nicene Creed we learn who God is—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and what He has done: Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose, ascended, is seated at God's right hand, and will return to judge the living and the dead. Because of who He is and what He has done, how shall we respond?

Paul closes 1 Corinthians 15: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." The author of Hebrews uses the same "therefore" in chapter 10—because of all this, let us draw near with full assurance, hold fast our confession without wavering, and stir up one another to love and good works, "and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

What day? The day we are looking for—the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Maybe it's the day you breathe your last breath here and your first breath in His presence. Maybe it's the day Christ returns in the clouds. That day is approaching, and until then, let us press on. Hebrews 12 calls us to lay aside every weight and the sin that ensnares, and to run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, lest we become weary and discouraged in our souls.

Encouragement to Press On

Point five: Christ's resurrection encourages our present faith and faithfulness. It is so easy to grow weary and discouraged as you look at your circumstances, your family, your workplace, the culture, the world. It's easy to think your labor is in vain. Yet Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." So we press on, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

This last Wednesday my friend Jared called me. His sixteen-year-old daughter died of cancer earlier this year, and he had just heard about my brother Danny. He said, "Miles, I'm sorry—I don't even have the words." I told him he didn't need words; the fact that he called was an encouragement. One of the awesome things about the body of Christ is that we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Sometimes you don't need the right words—you just go back to the words of Scripture.

After that conversation I kept thinking of 1 Thessalonians 5, right after Paul says to comfort one another with the words of the resurrection:

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another.

The Creed reminds us that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. There is coming a day of God's wrath poured out on all ungodliness—a sobering, fearful reality. But not for you if you are in Christ, because on the cross Jesus absorbed all of God's wrath against sin in your place. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might receive His righteousness.

A Sure Hope

So this is my final comfort and exhortation as we close this series. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. And I am sure of this: when we get there, my brother Danny is there, my friend Jared's daughter Laya is there, your loved ones who have died in Christ are there with the Lord. Comfort and edify one another with this. God desires that you will be with Him for eternity. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, you believe also in Christ. He has prepared a place for you.

Closing Prayer

God, I pray that You would help us to rejoice in that good news, to rejoice in You and Your power to raise us to be with You in Your presence forever. God, help us to keep this in our hearts and minds, and that Your peace which surpasses all understanding would guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus, that we could even experience joy and peace in believing in the midst of sorrow and grief. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.