Disciple ! Online Study

Intro   Lesson 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   [Download PDF of entire study]

Lesson 7  

Disciples live in hope.

Jesus final words in Matthew are, "I am with you always, to the end of the age." Those words, "the end of the age," are both mysterious and important. Disciples live with a special sense of history. They believe they are part of an unfolding story, a drama, a meaningful flow of events that has come from somewhere, and is going somewhere.

The Story Began With Creation

It continued with the crisis of our disconnection from God. God responded to the crisis by calling the Jewish people to bear witness to the one true and living God. But his goal was never to keep that knowledge to an elite group alone. His goal was to bless the world through one blessed people. Jesus came to open up the door wide to the whole world, and he sent us to be his Spirit-empowered agents, being and making disciples around the world, as we have seen, "of all nations."

How Will the Story End?

Jesus himself painted many word pictures of the ending of the story, as did many of the prophets in Scripture. In summary, at the end, all God’s purposes will be fulfilled. Good will win, and evil will be banished. God’s dream for all creation will come true. That’s wonderful news for those who seek God and God’s justice, but it carries an ominous warning for those who are complacent, careless, or rebellious towards God.

Count On This

At the end there will be a reckoning for how we lived our lives – including both answering to God for our wrongdoings, and receiving God’s approval for even the smallest of kindnesses. Those who were poor, oppressed, and disadvantaged in this life will be compensated in the end, and from those to whom much was given in this life, much will be expected at the end. Jesus assures his disciples that any sacrifice they make in his cause in this life will be more than compensated "at the end of the age."

Perspective

Disciples need this perspective, because Jesus promised that in this world, we will have plenty of troubles. He tells us that being his disciples won’t be easy. Sometimes we will be misunderstood and sometimes even persecuted. Sometimes we’ll be tempted to give up, because living for greed and self can seem so much more rewarding (in the short term) than living for love and goodness. Disciples, who have full confidence in Jesus, are determined to keep living for higher purposes than "normal" pursuits of money, possessions, pleasures, revenge, leisure, security, etc.

Worthwhile

In the end, disciples believe, it will all be worthwhile.

It’s impossible to be a wholehearted disciple without this eternal perspective. To be a disciple means to live with this larger sense of reality – one that spans beyond this age, this time, this life on earth.

Never Alone

Jesus said he would be with us until the end of the age, and we live with the confidence that he will be waiting for us beyond this life on earth. Whether we pass beyond this life through the "normal" portal of death, or through some sort of apocalyptic end to history as we know it, as disciples we live with a certain hope which gives us the freedom to take risks, to make sacrifices, and to live life with wildness and freedom for God.

If an impartial observer looked at you…

If someone were to evaluate your life as an impartial observer, would he say your life makes sense in terms of this present age, or would he say your life is being lived with a larger span of reference which includes a life beyond this one?

Do you have confidence that there is a life beyond this life?

Is your confidence sufficient to free you to take risks, make sacrifices, and live life with a wildness and freedom for God?

Do you live in hope – believing that in the end, God’s dream for all of creation will come true?

Lesson 7 Review

Disciples live in hope.

Used with permission of Brian McLaren and Cedar Ridge Community Church and adapted by Eric Flood