As pastors, the reality of heaven shapes our ministry. Of course, we know we are laboring for eternal ends. Yet I fear that for many pastors (myself included), “heaven” has yet to step out of the ethereal and theoretical of the next world and into the physical and practical matters of this world.
But in Scripture, future glory is intended to have a profound impact on our current ministries. The pastoral epistles are filled with such reminders. Paul repeatedly connects the implications of eternal life to his pastoral labor. In this article, I will highlight seven of those implications.
1. Thinking about heaven infuses our ministry with hope.
At the opening of 1 Timothy, Paul focuses on the reality of heaven. He reminds Timothy of the nature of his apostleship, but he doesn’t end there. He also reminds Timothy of “Christ Jesus our hope” (1 Tim. 1:1) Why would he say this? Because our calling into the service of Christ is infinitely less significant than our calling into the hope of Christ.
And this hope fuels our present ministry. “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the
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