VI. The Ultimate Goal of Calling
Being with God Forever
1. God’s Call Carries Eternal Hope
Careers, roles, and specific forms of service in this life have their limits, and death ends our present way of living. Yet God’s call in Christ directs our hope toward a future beyond death.
Peter explains that God has called believers in Christ to His eternal glory (1 Peter 5:10). Paul likewise teaches that God called believers through the gospel so that they might obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14). This hope rests on Christ’s redemption and God’s promise.
Christ has risen from the dead as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). Paul uses “first fruits” to explain the close connection between Christ’s resurrection and the future resurrection of those who belong to Him. He has already risen, and those who belong to Him will also rise when He returns (1 Corinthians 15:20–23). Believers’ ultimate hope includes bodily resurrection and the new heaven and new earth God has promised (Revelation 21:1–4). Our hope is more than escape from the body. It is life brought to fulfilment in God’s renewed creation, where sin and death no longer rule.
Eternal hope also strengthens our commitment to today’s responsibilities. After discussing the resurrection, Paul urges believers to stand firm and abound in the Lord’s work, because their labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Particular work comes to an end, but a life faithful to the Lord does not thereby lose its meaning. Resurrection hope enables us to take life seriously without making immediate results our final measure. When faithful effort has not yet produced visible results, we can still trust the Lord because His promises will not fail.
2. Paul: Responsibilities Have Their Stages, and Life’s Hope Is in Christ
As Paul faced the end of his life, he said, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). He took his entrusted responsibilities seriously while knowing that his service would reach its end.
Human service has limits, but God’s work does not depend on any one person continuing to carry it out. Acts 17:25 explains that God lacks nothing; rather, He gives people life, breath, and all things. The opportunity to participate in His work is a gift of His grace, and it carries responsibilities we should fulfil faithfully.
Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He then expressed his hope of departing to be with Christ while explaining the benefit to believers of his remaining alive (Philippians 1:23–24). He valued his service in this life and placed his hope in Christ.
A believer’s departure to be with Christ does not mean that the future bodily resurrection and the promise of a new heaven and new earth have already been fully realised. These hopes are connected but need to be distinguished. Believers who die are with Christ and still await bodily resurrection and the complete fulfilment of salvation. Whether we continue bearing responsibility today or face death, Christ remains the centre and hope of life.
When a ministry ends, a role changes, or physical ability diminishes, we can therefore still trust the Lord. Belonging to God is His gift to us and does not depend on retaining a particular ability to work.
3. Sharing in Glory Means Being Brought to Fulfilment by God in Christ
In Scripture, glory ultimately belongs to God. Those who belong to Him share in glory by the grace God gives in Christ. Today He works through the Holy Spirit to make believers increasingly like Christ. In the future, He will also glorify them with Christ, raise them bodily from the dead, and free them from the rule of decay and death (Romans 8:17, 29–30; 1 Corinthians 15:42–49). Romans also connects sharing in Christ’s glory with suffering with Him. Hardship in this life does not invalidate God’s promise, and the hope of glory does not mean that those who follow the Lord can avoid suffering.
Sharing in glory here points to the fulfilment of God’s redemptive work: those He saves will be completely freed from sin and death and be with Him forever. This hope therefore cannot be measured by success or achievement in this life.
Revelation portrays God dwelling with His people, being personally present with them as their God (Revelation 21:3). He wipes away their tears, and there is no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4). His servants serve Him and see His face. The Lord God gives them light, and they reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:3–5).
This shows that eternal life still involves worship, service, and real participation, but is no longer subject to sin, the curse, or death. We need not speculate about every detail. We can trust God’s revealed promise that His people will be fully and forever with Him.
The beginning and end of Scripture thus echo one another profoundly. People receive life from God and hide from Him after sinning. God acts in history to redeem, and Christ accomplishes salvation through His death and resurrection. Ultimately, God’s people see His face and dwell with Him in the new creation. This final hope is more than a return to Eden. In the new creation God has promised, sin, the curse, and death are removed, and His people are with Him forever.
Calling includes real responsibility and mission, and also directs life toward this ultimate destination: sharing in God’s glory in Christ, worshipping and serving Him forever, and being with Him.
4. Eternal Hope Changes How We Measure Life Today
When our ultimate hope rests in God, success is no longer life’s highest measure, and failure no longer determines its entire meaning. Human worth does not depend on being noticed. Age, retirement, illness, and changes in ability do not remove the dignity of being created by God.
A person can lose a position and still belong to God in Christ. They can finish a task and continue following Him. They may be unable to bear former responsibilities, yet still trust, pray, love others, or humbly receive care in new circumstances. Even when someone’s ability to express themselves or act is extremely limited, their dignity is not diminished.
Dignity as a created being belongs to every person. Eternal hope in Christ is grace received by those who trust Him. The two need to be distinguished, while together reminding us that the worth of a life cannot be judged only by its usefulness.
Eternal hope also leads us to take today’s responsibilities more seriously. Precisely because life is God’s gift and our labour in the Lord is not in vain, we should use our time and gifts well, work conscientiously, care for our families, love others, and bear witness. At the same time, we can acknowledge our limitations, accept the ending of a season, and entrust ourselves and unfinished matters to God. Sometimes faithfulness includes handing work to others so that other members of the body can continue it, and being willing to receive care.
Responsibilities in this life have their seasons, but God’s redemption will reach fulfilment. Those who belong to Him look forward to bodily resurrection and being with Him forever in the new creation He has promised.