Full Preterism: A Better Hope

Full Preterism offers a hopeful way of understanding God's promises because it sees them as fulfilled realities rather than promises we must continue waiting for. Scripture promised that God would establish a covenant in which He would dwell with His people: "They shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jeremiah 31:33), and, "My tabernacle also shall be with them" (Ezekiel 37:27). Revelation uses this same language when it says, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them" (Revelation 21:3). The prophets also portrayed God's covenant relationship as a marriage. Hosea says, "I will betroth thee unto me for ever" (Hosea 2:19). Revelation then declares, "the marriage of the Lamb is come" (Revelation 19:7). John is shown "the bride, the Lamb's wife," and identifies her as the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-10). This gives us an important question: Are these promises still waiting to happen, or does Scripture present them as fulfilled? Revelation repeatedly says the events were near: "The things which must shortly come to pass" (Revelation 1:1), "the time is at hand" (1:3), and Christ says, "I come quickly" (22:12). Jesus likewise said, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Matthew 24:34). Hebrews describes Christ as mediator of a "better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Hebrews 8:6), and tells believers, "Ye are come unto mount Sion… the heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22). From this perspective, Full Preterism offers a beautiful hope: we are not merely waiting for God to someday dwell with His people, for the marriage to someday occur, or for the heavenly Jerusalem to someday arrive. In Christ, these covenant promises have been fulfilled. The hope is not an endless engagement with God, but a completed relationship in which God has made His dwelling with His people.