God's Homecoming: The Forgotten Promise of Future Renewal

· SPCK
Ebook
368
Pages
Eligible
This book will become available on February 17, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.

About this ebook

In Surprised by Hope Tom Wright argued that the authentic Christian hope is not 'going to heaven' to enjoy a blissful disembodied immortality, but 'life after life after death' in the bodily resurrection which, scripture promises, will be set within the whole new creation.

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.

About the author

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).

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.