What to Read When…The Future Seems Hopeless

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 –But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in the Messiah will all be made alive. 

However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first the Messiah, then those who belong to the Messiah when he comes. Then the end will come, when after he has done away with every ruler and every authority and power, the Messiah hands over the kingdom to God the Father. For he must rule until God puts all the Messiah’s enemies under his feet. 

The last enemy to be done away with is death, for “God has put everything under his feet.” Now when he says, “Everything has been put under him,” this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him. But when everything has been put under him, then the Son himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 

1 Peter 1:1-9 –From: Peter, an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. To: The exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in abundance! 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can’t be destroyed, corrupted, or changed. 

Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era. You greatly rejoice in this, even though you have to suffer various kinds of trial for a little while, so that your genuine faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed. 

Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 

1 Peter 5:10-11 –After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you. Power belongs to him forever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 11:15-19 –When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The world’s kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever.” Then the twenty-four elders who were sitting on their thrones in God’s presence fell on their faces and worshiped God. They said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to rule. 

The nations were angry, but the time for your wrath has come. It is time for the dead to be judged—to reward your servants, the prophets, the saints, and all who fear your name, both unimportant and important, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 

Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen inside his Temple. There were flashes of lightning, noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.