Living Beyond the Bucket List

The idea of a bucket list is deeply ingrained in modern thinking; a collection of experiences one hopes to accomplish before life ends. For those who believe this world is all there is, that impulse makes sense. If death marks the end of consciousness, or if eternity is imagined as something vague and immaterial, then the pressure to experience everything now feels urgent and reasonable.

But Christianity offers a radically different vision of the future, and therefore a radically different way to live in the present.

Christians believe in the resurrection of the body, the return of Christ, and the coming of a New Heaven and a New Earth. Death, in this vision, is not the end of adventure but the beginning of a life in which joy, discovery, and fulfillment endlessly expand. Eternity is not a static existence, but a dynamic, embodied life in a renewed creation where God dwells with His people.

That conviction reshapes everything. It suggests that Christians should be the last people driven by a frantic need to experience everything now. Instead of a bucket list, Scripture invites believers to consider what might be called a post-bucket list, the life that awaits beyond death. A life marked by exploration without limits, joy without decay, and communion with God without interruption.

This eternal hope is not meant to detach believers from the present world, but to rightly order their loves within it.

Denying Today for the Sake of Tomorrow

Scripture consistently reminds God’s people that this world is passing away. When that truth is forgotten, comfort and self-indulgence quietly become ultimate goals. But when eternity fills the horizon, believers are freed to live differently, to deny themselves, to delay gratification, and to sacrifice joyfully for the sake of Christ and others.

The Christian life only makes sense when lived in anticipation of the day when Jesus fulfills His promise: “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Revelation 21–22 draws the curtain back on that future. These final chapters of Scripture do not merely conclude the biblical story; they introduce the eternal state. Sin is gone. The curse is lifted. Death is destroyed. And God dwells with His redeemed people forever.

God Himself, the Eternal Temple

One of the most striking features of the New Jerusalem is what is missing: there is no temple.

The reason is profound. God Himself: Father, Son, and Spirit, is the temple (Rev 21:22). His presence is no longer confined to a structure or a single location. Heaven and earth are fully united, and the glory of God fills all things.

This means worship never ceases, not because heaven is an endless church service, but because everything is done in the immediate presence of God. Work, creativity, rest, discovery, fellowship; all of it flows from hearts perfectly satisfied in Him. Worship, in its fullest biblical sense, becomes the natural atmosphere of eternal life.

The River, the Tree, and the Joy of Life Restored

Flowing from the throne of God is the river of life, clear as crystal. Along its banks grows the tree of life, no longer forbidden, no longer guarded. Its fruit is abundant, and its leaves bring healing, not from sickness, but toward ever-increasing vitality and joy (Rev 22:1-2).

This is Eden restored and surpassed. Creation, once subjected to futility by the curse, is finally liberated. Eating and drinking are no longer necessities for survival, but gifts for enjoyment. Every good thing God made functions as it was always meant to: drawing hearts upward in gratitude and praise.

Seeing the Face of God

Perhaps the most staggering promise is this: “They will see His face” (Rev 22:4).

Throughout Scripture, such a statement would have been unthinkable. God dwells in unapproachable light. Sinful humanity cannot survive His unveiled glory. And yet, through the finished work of Christ, believers are fully forgiven and fully glorified. Nothing remains to separate them from God.

To see His face is the ultimate hope of the Christian life, the fulfillment of every longing, the perfection of joy, the moment when faith gives way to sight. It is likely that in that moment, believers will realize they had never truly lived before seeing Him as He is.

A Sobering Warning and a Gracious Call

Revelation’s vision of glory is paired with solemn warnings. Access to the city of God is not universal (21:8,27; 22:14-15). Sin excludes. Unrepentance destroys. No one enters by merit, persuasion, or deceit.

And yet, the invitation remains open.

“Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev 22:17).

That invitation stands because of the cross. Jesus Christ is the only way, no alternatives, no exceptions, but He is a willing Savior. All who repent and trust in Him are washed, welcomed, and given an inheritance that will never fade.

Living Faithfully in Light of Eternity

This vision of the future reshapes the present. It frees believers from the tyranny of immediate gratification and the fear of missing out. They can afford to lose here because they will gain there. They can die to self today, because they will live forever.

Nothing surrendered for Christ is ever wasted. Every sacrifice made in faith will be repaid in the age to come.

The Christian life, then, is not about checking experiences off a list before time runs out. It is about living by faith, loving sacrificially, and holding loosely to this world, because the best days are not behind us. They are ahead. And they will never end.