Bottom line: How we experience life in the NOW is determined by our hope for the THEN when our faith is in the death and resurrection of Jesus back when.

The New Heaven and the New Earth is our great hope. And we need hope, because we are hope-shaped creatures. What we hope for in the future makes all the difference in the NOW!
Our NOW experience is controlled by our hope about the future.
In the darkness of pain and suffering, it is the light of hope that shines the way forward.