(Say the Jesus Creed morning and evening during Lent.)
What is the future hope for the individual? What does Tom Wright, in Surprised by Hope
In essence, he believes in a two-stage postmortem journey — into heaven (presence of God) and then resurrection for the new heavens and new earth.o
Resurrection, in one of Tom’s most innovative exprssions, is “life after life after death.” He could add “embodied life after life after death.” Here it is, from Phil 3:20-21: “he Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” That’s the hope many are surprised by.
The “many mansions” of John 14 refer to Paradise, the intermediate state. “A temporary halt on the journey” (150).
Heaven is where “God’s purposes for the future are stored up” (151). So, in commenting on 1 Peter 1 about things being stored in heaven for us, Wright says they are not stored so we can go there and get them, but they are being kept there and God will bring them to reality on earth: If, he says to a friend, “I’ve kept some beer in the fridge for you,” he does not mean that the friend has to climb into the fridge to get the beer … he’ll fetch them and give them to the friend. (Tom, I’ll have a Yorkshire bitter while you’re at it.)
1 Cor 15 is about a present kind of body vs. a future kind of body, a corruptible physicality vs. an incorruptible physicality.
Who? All people.
Where? On the new earth.
What? A more solid, more real body.
Why? To reign.
When? After the intermediate state, when Christ “appears.”
How? A new creation, by the Spirit.
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