In God's Homecoming Wright takes this a big step further, exploring passages in Paul's letters and in the Hebrew prophets where 'hope' refers to the reconciliation and renewal of all creation, and where hope is focused on the belief that Israel’s God, the creator, has promised to fill the whole creation with his glorious and healing presence.
Putting things this way round reminds us that the gospel is essentially about grace. As long as we are asking 'how can I get to heaven' or 'how can I become fit to be in God's presence' there is always the danger that, however much we stress that God must take the initiative, we end up seeing it as precisely 'How can I... ' But if the main movement of the story is God's desire and intention to come to dwell with us and in us and through us then grace suffuses all that follows.
Tom Wright is Research Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews and Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is the author of more than 80 influential books, including The New Testament for Everyone, Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, The Day the Revolution Began, Paul: A biography, The New Testament in its World, On Earth as in Heaven and Into the Heart of Romans (all published by SPCK).