When the Old Testament Patriarch
Joseph was about to die, he gave some unusual instructions.
He made his brothers swear that they would take his bones when God brought them to the land He had promised them (Gen.50:24-25).
Note well...
Just because God's promise of a new land wasn't fulfilled in Joseph's lifetime didn't mean it would never come
about.
Joseph knew that, and it shaped his view of the world... right up until his death.
In a similar way...
Jesus told us He is making all things new... and is bringing about a new heaven and a new earth (Rev.21).
This work might take
some time.
And it likely won't be completed until we've all died.
But that doesn't mean His promise of a totally renewed world shouldn't shape what we do today.