Surprised by Hope
The point of the present kingdom is that it is the first-fruits of the future kingdom; and the future kingdom involves the abolition, not of space, time, or the cosmos itself, but rather of that which threatens space, time, and creation, namely, sin and death. The vision of 1 Corinthians 15 thus coheres neatly with that of Romans 8:18–27, and, for
... See moreN. T. Wright • Jesus Victory of God V2: Christian Origins And The Question Of God
In particular, we must stress that those among Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries who were looking for a great event to happen in the immediate future were not expecting the end of the space-time universe.
N. T. Wright • Jesus Victory of God V2: Christian Origins And The Question Of God
The early Christian writers were, of course, setting forth an eschatology that had been inaugurated, but not fully consummated; they were celebrating (Paul is quite explicit on this point in 1 Cor. 15:20–28) something that has already happened, but at the same time something that still has to happen in the future. They believed themselves to be liv
... See moreN. T. Wright • How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels
But there is no sense that this “age to come” is “eternal” in the sense of being outside space, time, and matter. Far from it.