In case we wonder if the Lord’s cause succeeds, He pulls the curtains aside. We glimpse the glorious reunion of all who returned to the Lord.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)
The gates of death cannot prevail against the people of God. Yes, they suffer. Yes, they are hidden, neither appreciated nor recognized by the world (Colossians 3:3- 4; 1 John 3:1). But “the Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). They endure, knowing that the Lord Himself is the source of their strength, and “eternal glory” awaits them.
After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10)
The end of history is the return of Jesus Christ. That will also end time as we know it, for the heavenly markers of time will cease to be (Matthew 5:18; Hebrews 1:10- 12; 12:27; 2 Peter 3:7-12; Revelation 20:11; 21:1, 23). Then will come the final restoration, where God fulfills all that He originally planned for His people.
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago. (Acts 3:19-21)