‘Grim Property Outlook’. So warned the infotainment TV show yesterday morning. The property outlook was dark and foreboding. Poverty and austerity were the likely future. It was GRIM.

And why was it so Grim? Clearance rates at auctions were only 50% & 54% in either Sydney or Melbourne over the weekend. Gasp, some houses weren’t sold. On this weakend, the buyers weren’t frenzied like sharks at a chum-eating contest.

And so, the future is grim because just maybe the mad ascent will flatten slightly. Housing prices have only risen around 80 something percent in the last decade and more than 350 percent in the previous 30 years.

But, I understand why the future is now GRIM. It seems our Australian god, Rising Property Prices is weaker than we thought. She seems to have tripped and faltered on the weakend. Maybe, her little stumble might bring her to her knees. Perhaps, the other god, the feared god in our Australian pantheon, High Interest Rates, is now prevailing in the mighty titanic struggle for our souls.

These are the kind of thoughts that have been bubbling in my head since reading that headline. But then, other thoughts on property started to surface. And the outlook is the opposite of grim. It is wonderful. It is luxurious. It is … well, let me show you with a little property tour.  

You’ll live in a mansion with Jesus

1      “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. (John 14)

This is a familiar passage. But let me make it unfamiliar. The majority of homes in the ancient world had one room. Only the mansions of the rich, powerful and illustrious had many rooms.  Jesus’ vivid picture of the future for his disciples is this: they will live in God’s mansion with him.

And, this future is absolutely certain. For Jesus himself will escort his disciples into the Father’s mansion. ‘I will come again and take you to myself, so you where I am you may be also’

Location, location, location

The location will be absolutely stunning. It will be the new earth in the new creation.

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21)

Consider all the marvels of this earth: The physical beauty, the intricate complex teeming life forms, the variety from wild mountain plateaus to tropical islands studded like jewels on the ocean. This is the future location of your home. All the wonder of this creation will be there without all the devastation of the fall and our destructive wickedness.

Your closest neighbour will be the Creator

We all know you can live in a stunning home in a stunning location, but it can be awful. Because your neighbours are obnoxious, inconsiderate, unthoughtful or uncaring. So critical is the ‘who is my neighbour question’ that many people flee various neighbourhoods creating ghettos of poverty and need because they are unhappy with their neighbours. I get that.

But, none of this will be a problem in the future. For God will dwell with you. And he is the perfect neighbour for he is the perfect holy God.  

3        Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. (Revelation 21)

Nothing will disrupt the safety and security, ever

But perhaps for me, the most beautiful picture is that nothing will disrupt the safety and security. For the passage above continues,.

‘He will ill wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.’

He is, of course, God. God himself is pictured as wiping away our tears. Everything sad will become untrue.

Our home was a safe home, but then cancer invaded my son’s body. And it killed him. In our current world, no matter the location you live in, no matter whether your home is a hovel or a hotel penthouse and no matter if your neighbours are the rich and famous or ratbags (made in the image of God, for whom Jesus’ died), death can steal in and steal what is truly precious.

 In this world, in this age, nothing is safe from death. But because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, death and sin have been defeated. And so in the world to come, the reality of that defeat will be revealed – those who have put their hope for their future in Jesus will rise again. And death will never claim them ever again, ever. Everything sad will become untrue.

The property outlook isn’t grim. Not if you know Jesus. Not if he knows you.