God's Homecoming: The Forgotten Promise of Future Renewal

by N T Wright

Many devout believers have been lured into the classic misunderstanding that Christianity teaches how we must leave earth and go somewhere else to be with God. But this outlook dangerously suggests that God created a world he loves only to abandon it. Nothing could be further from the scriptural truth, N. T. Wright contends. In God’s Homecoming, Wright excavates the forgotten story of God’s original purpose to dwell with us and make his home—and ours—in this new creation.

In his groundbreaking Surprised by Hope, Wright dismantled the “going to heaven” narrative. In God’s Homecoming, he returns with a panoramic pilgrimage tracing God’s homecoming promise from Genesis through Revelation. When we read the Bible as a whole, Wright argues, we do not find a narrative of souls ascending a spiritual ladder to heaven, but of God coming down to dwell with us.

Revolutionary and grounded in biblical research, Wright leads readers through the movements of the promise: God created heaven and earth to be his own home, he filled the temple with his presence, then the church with the Holy Spirit, and promises that the all creation will again be filled with his glory. He traces how the popular Christian reading got it wrong—as well as the radical transformation that awaits us and the church today if we return to God’s original vision.

Until we recover this forgotten story, Wright warns, we will keep distorting the Bible’s message. Yet, he argues, its recovery could be the key to revitalizing every aspect of Christian life as we know it: prayer, mission, evangelism, pastoral practice, and personal devotion.

Genres: Christian

368 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2026

Reviews

[Jake Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to "Surprised by Hope," Wright makes the case that the Western church has gotten the gospel wrong. Instead of teaching the biblical story of God coming to be at home with his creation and his people, churches have embraced Platonism, prioritizing the ascent of the soul to heaven after death. Instead of God coming to be at home with his people, it has been about people going to be at home with God. He brilliantly traces the development of this aberration throughout church history. I agree that this is the most pressing issue in the church today as its impact is comprehensive.

Wright's final chapter on what actually happens to the faithful between physical death and final resurrection was compelling. He advocates a sort of conscious bliss where the believer's spirit, fused with the divine Spirit, is hidden in the Messiah with the Father, thus participating in the triune life as he or she waits for the resurrection and consummation of the new heavens and new earth.

The book is relatively dense and academic, but the final chapters make it worth wading through the middle portion.

[Erich Robinson]

Few scholars have helped the church recover the big story of Scripture like N. T. Wright, and his newest book, God’s Homecoming, may be one of his most pastorally rich and theologically clarifying works yet.

At its core, God’s Homecoming presses against a quiet but deeply influential assumption many Christians carry: that the gospel is mainly about us going somewhere else someday. Wright turns that assumption inside out. The biblical story, he insists, is not about humanity escaping earth to go to heaven, but about God returning to dwell with his creation—renewing, restoring, and making all things new. Heaven and earth are not destined for permanent separation; they are meant to overlap fully in God’s final act of redemption.

What makes this book especially compelling is Wright’s ability to hold together robust biblical scholarship with clear pastoral vision. Drawing from the storyline of Israel, the life and teachings of Jesus, and the hope of resurrection, Wright shows how the promise of God’s dwelling presence runs from Genesis to Revelation. This is not speculative theology—it is deeply grounded in Scripture and aimed at reshaping how we live now. If God’s future is a renewed creation, then faithfulness, justice, holiness, and love in the present suddenly matter even more.

For readers shaped by Surprised by Hope, How God Became King, or After You Believe, this book feels like a natural next step—tightening the focus and sharpening the implications. And for those newer to Wright, God’s Homecoming offers an accessible entry point into a vision of the gospel that is bigger, sturdier, and far more hopeful than a thin “going to heaven when you die” version of Christianity.

You can find more details about the book—and purchase a copy—directly from the publisher here:
👉 https://www.harpercollins.com/product...

If your faith could use a recalibration toward the biblical hope of resurrection, new creation, and God’s presence filling everything, this book is well worth your time.

https://resourcesforus.wordpress.com/...

[Tim Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is by no means an easy to read book and I read it certainly to quickly. To really get into this book you need to bring your bible, a notebook, a highlighter and patience. And I did not give this book that level of attention and if I did I think I would have enjoyed it more.

The first seven chapters of this book, Wright goes into the whole story of the Bible for his main point that God desires to live and bring His Kingdom on the earth not just take people to some place called heaven. Because I read this quickly, this felt very repetitive but if you follow along in your own Bible taking just a passage section of a chapter a day theres a lot more there.

Chapters 8-10 go into a history of theology. This was not more difficult to read then the first seven, but most Christian’s including myself will have less familiarity with this section making it harder.

The final five chapters, is where he gets into application. Application to this all, and I especially like chapter 11. It’s there where Christians have the most about what does in means to worship, evangelize and prayer in light of a God who wants to be near to them.

Overall this is a lot more dense than what I would like to have for a library pick up summer read but it is something I could see myself wanting to go back and really sitting with for a season. It’s honestly something I would love to read in a college classroom setting.

[Amy Button · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always appreciate N.T. Wright's perspective and wisdom, and this book did not disappoint. Even though he is a scholar and theologian, this was incredibly accessible while still maintaining depth. How he explains God's plan as always having been God coming to be with his people, rather than people going to be with him, is logical, solidly biblical, and full of hope. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy for review.

[Cindy Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very thought provoking. It took me a long time to digest as most all of N.T Wright’s books do. He is a brilliant scholar and theologian. Every Christian should read this book.