One day, you and I will both stand before God. And we both want to hear the same words from Jesus: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
That phrase comes from a parable in Matthew 25. A master goes on a long journey, entrusting wealth to three servants. The two who use what they’ve been given wisely hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant! … Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21). But to the one who wastes the opportunity, the master says, “You wicked, lazy servant! … throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:26, 30).
Most of us understand that how we live now matters for our eternity. But it works the other way too. How we think about eternity matters for how we live now.
Imagine you wanted to get out of debt. Wise daily decisions are what get you there; there's no shortcut. But now imagine you could see your life forty or fifty years from now. Not only are you debt-free, you’re living generously, breaking generational patterns. What would seeing that future do for your present? You’d get your hopes up.
The same is true with eternity. God in His grace has pulled back the curtain on how things end, and He’s shown us that the end is exceedingly good for those who know Him through Jesus. We should get our hopes up.
When it comes to end-times conversations, I usually meet three kinds of Christians: the apathetic (“I don’t really think about it”), the fearful (“I don’t want to think about it”), and the tinfoil-hat (“I think about nothing else”). The apathy and fear aren’t warranted, and the tinfoil hats aren’t necessary. The Bible is clear about a few critical things, and what’s clear is exceedingly good.
We’re going to look at how all this ends through two dreams: one belonging to Nebuchadnezzar, the other to Daniel.
The year is 605 BC. God has raised up Babylon as the rod of His judgment against unfaithful Israel, and Daniel is among the first wave of Israelites carried into captivity. Daniel is a young man in the king’s service, and God has gifted him with wisdom and the ability to interpret dreams.
Dreams are weird. (My youngest once told me she dreamt she was a hot dog and her friends were trying to eat her at recess.) But sometimes dreams are how God speaks. Sometimes you’re just a hot dog. Other times, God is showing you something.
In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar can’t sleep. He’s had a disturbing dream and demands that his magicians and astrologers tell him not just the meaning, but the actual content of the dream, and threatens to execute every wise man in Babylon if they fail. He’s not entirely unreasonable to suspect his astrologers were going to invent something. (I don’t trust astrologers either. My sign is a Taurus. You know what that means? Nothing.) If you’ve been turning to horoscopes for guidance, I get it. Life is hard, and looking outside yourself for help is wise. But the stars weren’t made to guide you. They were made to give God glory. Asking the stars for direction is like asking a squirrel. Creation can point to its Creator, but it can never play His role.
The wise men, of course, can’t tell the king his dream. So an execution is ordered. Daniel doesn't panic; he prays. And God reveals both the dream and its meaning.
“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue, an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. … But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:31–35)
Daniel explains: the head of gold is Nebuchadnezzar himself, glorious and powerful. The chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, and the legs of iron all represent kingdoms that would rise after him, historically interpreted as Persia, Greece, and Rome. Each one strong, each one eventually shattered.
Then there’s the rock, “cut out, but not by human hands.” Daniel explains that one too: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44).
Imagine being Nebuchadnezzar in that moment. The most powerful king the world had ever seen, hearing, “Yes, you have a head of gold, but you have feet of clay. What you have built is glorious, but temporary.”
The rock that smashes every human kingdom and grows to fill the earth is the Kingdom of God.
Fast forward to Daniel 7, where Daniel has his own dream, similar to Nebuchadnezzar's, but with one critical detail: who will rule the eternal Kingdom.
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13–14)
The “Ancient of Days” is a poetic way of describing God the Father’s eternal existence. The “Son of Man” is the same figure as the rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. And it’s impossible to identify the Son of Man as anyone other than Jesus Christ.
The rock made “without human hands” points forward to Jesus’ birth, conceived not by human effort but by the Holy Spirit. That's His first coming: the incarnation. Jesus came as a child, seemingly insignificant. Just a small rock. And just like in Daniel’s vision, that rock has been growing ever since. Today, more than two billion people call Jesus Lord.And one day, every tongue will declare it. The mountain will fill the whole earth.
Jesus called Himself “the Son of Man” roughly eighty times in the New Testament. It was His favourite self-title.
So when it comes to the end of the end, here’s what we know. The what: the Kingdom of God will be established forever. The who: Jesus Christ will be King. The how (when, exactly, and in what order) is where the Bible reveals some things and conceals others. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” But this much is clear: Jesus is coming again.
The eternal Kingdom of God will be established through the return of Jesus Christ. Twenty-five out of the twenty-seven New Testament books refer to His second coming. This is central to the Christian faith.
At His first coming, Jesus came to save the world. At His second coming, He will come to judge it. At His first coming, the world barely noticed. At His second coming, every eye will see Him. The first time, He came as a baby. Next time, as the eternal King. The first time, to rescue His people. Next time, to rule them.
I said earlier that God peels back the future for two reasons: so we can have hope and so we can be prepared. Let me show you the hope. Here’s the end of the Bible’s last book describing the Kingdom of God when Jesus returns to reign:
“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:1, 3–5)
Every kingdom that has ever existed has been marked by tears, pain, sin, and death. Maybe you’ve had your share. But when Jesus reigns, every wrong will be made right. There will never be another funeral. Never another cancer patient. Sickness will be wiped away.
The future is exceedingly good for those in Christ Jesus. Get your hopes up.
But when? The second-to-last verse in the entire Bible has Jesus saying simply, “I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20).
Our kids are old enough now that we can leave them home alone for a bit, and they always ask, “When are you coming back?” If I tell them, “7:30,” nothing happens for hours, and then ten minutes before I get home, they panic-clean the kitchen, hide snack wrappers, and pretend they did all the things they were supposed to do. But if I just say, “I’ll be home soon,” they stay ready the whole time.
Jesus says, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40). The Master will return. He will settle accounts. Will He find you ready?
Three Ways to Prepare for Jesus’ Return:
Get right with Jesus. When He returns, you will either be ruled by Him or overruled by Him. Every knee will bow, either in worship now or in judgment later. You can enter God’s Kingdom today by faith and see it one day by sight. Repent of your sin. Confess that Jesus is Lord. Put your faith in Him.
Make it right with others. “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14–15). Don’t let unforgiveness sit on your ledger when Jesus returns.
Build something that lasts. Whatever we build apart from Christ will crumble like Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Whatever’s built for Christ endures. Build your faith. The Bible pictures the church as a bride waiting for her bridegroom. In first-century Judaism, the groom would pay a bride price (sometimes everything he had), then go away to prepare a home, while the bride waited with longing for the moment he’d return for her. Jesus paid the price, and it cost Him everything. He’s preparing a place. He’s coming back. One quick gauge of where your faith is: how much you long for His return.
Build your family’s faith. Most of us provide diligently for our family’s physical needs. But your family also has spiritual needs. Lead them toward the soon-coming King.
And build others’ faith. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus is waiting because there's still room: for your friends who are lost, the prodigals, the coworkers staring at the stars when what they really need is a Saviour.
If you build that way, when the Master returns, you’ll hear the words you long to hear: Well done, good and faithful servant.