From the Editor
Grace and Glory
STACEY MCKENZIE
Holding Space for the Ultimate Goal
In tracking the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, we can see our Creator’s intentionality behind His design for us and our lives. No matter who we are or the circumstances we face, we can continually refocus on His promises for us and have peace as we consider His thoughts about our future—there is always hope when He is in it.
In the beginning, He said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground” (Genesis 1:26, NLT). Knowing that we are made in God’s image—every person of every nation, tribe and tongue—highlights our immense value. Not only are we treasured simply for whose we are, but our presence and work of all kinds are all meaningful compared to the rest of creation, over which we were created to rule.
Sin entered the world, but we will be equipped to overcome it with God’s help (Genesis 4:7; 1 John 4:4). He calls every one of us out of darkness and into His light (Ephesians 5:14). As we wrestle with spiritual forces while trusting in Jesus, we will be given all we need to not be defeated (Ephesians 6:12-13). Along the way, our characters will be shaped and refined to be more and more like Christ’s. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment” (Romans 5:3-5a, NLT).
What can we look forward to as a reward for our perseverance?
Above all else, we will finally meet the greatest Person of all time, Jesus. Everything we have ever wondered about Him or longed for in Him will come to ultimate fulfilment: “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” (Malachi 4:2, NLT).
Whether we have already passed on before His earthly return or are still here when He comes, we will be together with Him. “We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, NLT).
As much as we are in awe of God’s creation now, we will then be in awe of the new heavens and the new earth: “And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’ And then he said to me, ‘Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.’ And he also said, ‘It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children’” (Revelation 21:5-7, NLT).
And each of us can personally look forward to receiving a name from Him that only He knows (Revelation 2:17). I regularly look forward to hearing what mine is! How precious it will be to learn how God sees everything about us, captured in one name.
Where we are now and where we hope to be may seem like an impossible stretch. But we are promised in Psalm 84:11 (NLT):
“For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right.”
This article appeared in the July/August/September 2025 issue of testimony/Enrich, a quarterly publication of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. © 2025 The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Photo © istockphoto.com.