Eternal Dependence ...

Seeing through a glass darkly does not reveal the whole of the scene.  While we remain in this world, the process of His perfection wrought in us, transforming who we are, into who we were intended to become will open our eyes.  But it opens them slowly.  We seldom instantly see, all that is possible to see.  We carry baggage.  We rely on our accumulated wisdom.  To learn to depend upon God to the point where we are willing to let go of everything we think we know; in order that He may lead us into what His brand of wisdom truly is … takes time.  So confident are we as we utter the words … “thus saith the Lord.”  But very few of us would consider ourselves to be prophets of the Most High.  More often than not, we base our confidence in our interpretations of scripture, which after much study and tradition has evolved a certainty within us that there could be no other way to see the texts we espouse.  And like our Pharisee forefathers, we take pride in our certainty.  We use it to evaluate the spiritual discernment of others, yet hesitate to put even our own “knowledge” upon the alter of humility in letting Christ teach us, that which may prove different from what we expected.

We know not, that we are blind, and poor, and naked.  It is hard to see our poverty when we choose not to see it.  It is hard to see our destitution and naked spiritual condition when we constantly tell ourselves that we “know the truth” … not the Truth of Jesus Christ, but the truth of our doctrinal integrity.  To see then, becomes critical to know our condition.  To see then, becomes the first step towards knowing what Truth really is.  We need the abolition of darkness, and a strong embrace of His light.  We need it in this world.  And as John was blessed to witness, we will have it literally in our next one.  Towards the end of the chapter 21 and beginning of chapter 22, to John was revealed a picture of heaven, our eternal home.  In this revelation was contained what humanity would need, not just now, but forever.  The revelation was shared perhaps to show us, that even in the context of forever; our dependence upon God never really goes away.

So in chapter 21 and verse 23 of his book of Revelations of Jesus Christ, John begins … “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”  How salient a point for us today.  Scripture is the word of God to us.  Scripture is not God.  What lights up the 1500 mile-across-city of our eternal home is the Lamb of God.  It is the glory of God.  There is not some book of life, or copy of the Bible, or other written sacred scroll mounted on the top of a hill in order that all light should come from its pages.  Instead, the living God, that the scripture paints a very detailed picture of, is the source of the light.  The word of God is a reflection of who He is, it is not a replacement for Him.  We are to learn from His word, not to worship our own wisdom derived from its study.  Our God is our light.  Not just for a day, or “while He is around us”, or when He is not visiting some distant planet.  Our God is our light continually.  The city of heaven is well lit, by the very presence and glory of our God.

We are able to navigate the streets of the city.  We are able to see where we are going and not blindly bump into walls and obstacles, because of the light provided to us from Christ Himself.  What a model for the study of scripture today.  As we fully submit our will, our decisions, our desires, over to God, we enable Him to re-teach us what each scripture was meant to say.  What we thought of before as “simple”, can be re-examined and find the depths of profound thought and study.  Imagine what it means to truly know what the simple text “Jesus wept” really means.  Yes, He literally cried.  But there is so much more meaning bound up in that little verse than a mere historical recollection of tears shed on a donkey, or in front of the tomb of His friend.  “Thou shalt not kill” … seems very straightforward.  But past submitting our “wisdom” to Christ, that one edict contains so much more meaning.  It encompasses more than murder, but hate, war, and even death itself.  Our God desires life to be eternal, killing and even death were never supposed to be a part of our existence.  Sin brought these things, God didn’t.

No matter what text we think we know, in the perfect light of Christ, there is more for us to learn.  Sometimes the process of that learning changes what we used to think.  Belief in our God, and submission of our will to His, enables learning – it does not end it.  We will forever study.  We will forever see truth in the light of His presence.  So why wait?  Why limit what God can teach us in the here and now, because we prefer our blindness and stubborn interpretation of truth, over His intention to lead us to the Truth that can ONLY be found in Jesus Christ.  The only distinction between ourselves, the modern churches that call themselves Christian and believe they are right to the exclusion of all other faiths, and our Pharisee forefathers (who had an equally valid claim) – will be determined in whether or not we actually allow Christ to lead our wisdom, or remain silent in the face of our so-great certainty.  Our fundamental trust must be based solely in Christ, not in our doctrines.  It is His doctrines we seek to learn.  This must be done ONLY in His light, following not leading, and in a humility few of us have yet to adopt and appreciate.

John continues in verse 24 saying … “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.”  Notice that nations of the saved, are saved, because they walk in the light of it, in the light of Christ.  Our journey to our ultimate heavenly home begins here as we make a choice to follow Christ.  In so doing, we allow Him to transform us, surrendering more and more of who we are, until His glory shines through us.  We begin to reflect His light and love to others.  We begin to feel within ourselves a passion for loving others that did not used to exist.  Where once our calloused hearts knew little expression, now we find a yearning and caring to get deep into the lives and interests of those around us.  If there is a need un-met, we want to find it, and meet it.  In so doing, we begin to emulate the life of Christ without even realizing we are doing it.  We honor God by loving others, and even in our eternal home, we bring this with us into His paradise.

John continues in verse 25 … “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. [verse 26] And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.”  In the time of John, city gates were closed at night, for the fear of what might sneak in while residents slept.  In our eternal home, there is no night.  There is no time when the residents are unaware of their surroundings.  And further what there is in constant supply is a deep abiding love of others.  It is this “glory” and this “honor” that is brought into the city by ALL the nations who reside there.  There is no more spiritual slumber, and no need for the physical downtime when immersed in the light of Christ.  It is a model for us today.  We need not consider the limits of our humanity when considering how to love others.  For we need not rely upon human strength, will, or motive to see loving others accomplished.  We can instead, lean on Jesus Christ, and take on His strength, His will, His motives and let them replace our own.  Living in His light, does not need to wait.  It is available to us today.  We need but ask.

John writes in verse 27 … “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”  John reminds us that the time of sin, disobedience, and death itself will be a thing of the past in the scenes revealed to him.  Nothing that defiles will ever see the inside of that city.  If something within us would cause defilement of any kind, it must be removed, before we enter those gates, before we become residents.  This removal of what would defile us, is the very process of our salvation.  We are being saved from ourselves, and from the slavery that binds us to self-love.  We are being made free to love others, and only others, never self.  For the love of self, is at the root of everything that defiles.

John continues the scene in the beginning of chapter 22 and verse 1 saying … “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”  Humanity does not long survive without water.  We are largely made up of it.  To remain healthy, we need a fairly sizeable quantity of it every day in our diets.  Despite being in perfection, the very water we need, the water of life is not a random gift for us to enjoy.  It has an origin.  It flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  The source of our greatest needs comes from our God.  He gives us light to see.  Now He adds water for us to drink.  Our needs do not terminate at the end of this sinful world.  We are still going to be human, perfectly re-created humans, but humans still.  We will still need water and light.  And so here is John stating that for all eternity, our greatest needs will ALWAYS be met by Jesus Christ.  We do not “create” the water we need.  Instead we will drink the water He “gives us”.

John continues in verse 2 … “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”  Our next greatest need is food.  Here John reveals that the tree of life has 2 trunks (perhaps symbolism for God the Father and Son) that are located on either side of the river.  The tree of life yields 12 different fruits, one each month.  It is through the eating of this food that our lives are sustained.  It is the reason why Adam and Eve were denied access to the tree of life after sin, because God did not want them to have to live forever in the condition of sin.  And you will recall that Adam and Eve lived nearly nine hundred years after being denied access.  You and I will be eating every month.  But I believe the symbolism is deeper than this.  Our lives, our existence, is not found apart from God.  We are not immortal of our own.  We eat this fruit and live forever, we are not immortal creatures without need of God, or food, or water, or light.  We are dependent creatures, whose needs are met because of the love of our Creator.  When God breathed breath into Adam he became a living soul, not an immortal one.  Adam had to eat from the tree of life to sustain his existence forever.  Now, even past the end of things we know, we still have that need.  We need to eat, and this food in particular to sustain our lives forever.

John continues the thought in verse 3 writing … “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”  The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  The curse that occurred in Babel, which differentiated our languages, and altered our appearances, will be once and for all be undone.  In our present condition, each of us naturally assumes that our ethnicity will be the dominant one, resetting the rest of humanity to resemble those of our race.  But in the light of heaven who is to say what man was intended to resemble.  Case in point, the light of God is referenced by John several times to be green in color, resembling that of a Jasper stone.  Hard to imagine humanity tilting green, but why put a limit on it?  And why assume we are even capable today of discerning the spectrum of colors we will recognize when perfection removes the curse of our blindness from us.  Does it really matter if we are darkest black, or lily white?  Would it really even matter if we were all emerald forest green?  Whatever our appearance then, it will be the perfection God intended.  Our beauty will emanate from within as our love for others will be what makes us precious, unique, and valued without measure.

John wraps up his vision of heaven by focusing on what matters most as he writes in verse 4 … “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. [verse 5] And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”  The most important characteristic of heaven is that we will see the face of God without any veil, or any filter between us and Him.  We will have His image and name ingrained in our foreheads, in our thinking, in the essence of who we are.  We will see without the need of artificial light, because the real source of light will illuminate our world and our lives.  And we will reign, not as kings who seek the services of others, but as kings who delight in serving others.  We will serve this way forever.  Forever in service to our God,  Forever in service to each other.  Forever finding delight in the perfection of loving another.

This is what makes heaven, heaven.  The beauty of the architecture pales in comparison to the beauty of love.  The idea of gold, and precious gems, are dwarfed by the beauty of a human heart intent on serving others.  The ability to see God, to live with God, to enjoy the presence of God every day; this is what makes eternal life, a life worth living.  Even in our world, we understand there are many kinds of love.  We have all experienced to some extent the love of a parent, of a child, of a friend, of a lover, or a sibling.  How many more varieties of love might we yet discover?  Over the course of many years of marriage it is possible to find that you love your spouse more today, than you did in the past.  And every single day that statement is both surprising and still true.  You cannot conceive that it will happen tomorrow yet again, but it does.  Heaven will be like that.  No limit to love, no limit to joy, no limit to discovery, to creation, to the boundaries of exploration – in short, no limits at all.  In the perfect freedom of loving others, there is no need for laws that limit behavior.

Our concepts of heaven are often warped by the self-centered desires we cling to today.  We admire the gold and ideas of no more pain with eternal life.  But heaven is not intended to be a place where we spend eternity trying to fill a hole of greed that will never be filled.  Heaven is not a place where we can live forever, constantly plotting how we gain our next thing.  It is not a place where perfect creations provide us an endless slew of candidates to lust over.  Our selfish tendencies are the things we are being made free from.  Our salvation comes as we depend on God to save us from us.  It is our dependence upon Christ to save us from who we are, that allows Him to do just that.  When we look in the mirror for salvation, we find only destruction.  To depend upon self, is to lose.  To depend upon Christ is to live.  The lesson of heaven itself reinforces this idea of dependence for all of eternity. 

It is Christ who gives us eternal light.  It is Christ who gives us the water of life, and the tree of life.  It is Christ who will sustain our lives forever and ever through His gifts.  And in this world, our dependence is no less great, it is more.  It is Christ who will save us from who we are.  It is Christ alone who can teach us His Truth in His word.  We must abandon human wisdom, and human strength, and certainty in what we think we know.  Instead we embrace the humility of trusting in Him to teach us what we need to know, and when we need to know it.  Intellect will not save us.  Doctrine will not save us.  Our force of “will” cannot save us.  Only Jesus Christ can remake who we are from the inside out.  If He does not, it will simply not get done.  Our faith must be that He will do as He promised to do.  Our part is to let Him do it.  Our role is to depend upon Christ.  That dependence begins in the here and now, but as John has revealed, it will never be over.  We will live eternally depending upon the love of Christ to sustain us.

His revelations of heaven were over … but his messages and counsel to us was not …

 

A New Earth ...

At last … death itself is finally an obsolete concept, as is pain, heart ache, remorse, and guilt. It is only AFTER hell is ceased that all who love like He loves can finally be free. It is only AFTER death itself is done away with, no more to remind us of our former frailty, no more to bring to mind those things that cause us such pain; that we who have been redeemed are set free to love without boundary or regret. Scripture in Revelations chapter 21 begin by quoting the prophet … “and I John saw a new heaven, and a new earth, … for the former things are passed away.” John begins describing the beauty of heaven, but not before he stops to note the absence of death, pain, and sorrow. This sequence of events is required before our ultimate freedom can finally be realized. The last great controversy between good and evil must end.

Human minds are a frail thing. Our imaginations are colored by our perceptions of what is important, what we wish we could do, and limited by what reality has imposed on us. In John’s day, nations were made up of tribal peoples (extended families) generally settled in a similar region, joined together if prosperous by city states, possibly under a king. The height of civilization as John knew it would have been a giant city state. And so with intricate care John proceeds to give us the details of the Holy City of heaven that God has prepared for us to live in eternally. He enumerates the foundation and shows it depth of various valuable stones. He tries to give us an idea of the size, by modern dimensions about 300 miles square, but also as tall as it is wide, at its highest zenith, the throne of God Himself. The city is gated with solid pearl gates, a phenomenon that would have confounded the wisdom of his day both financially and militarily. Never has so large a single pearl ever been imagined, and if it existed, no known battering ram would likely have success in forcing it open. Just in its description of the gates, heaven is set out as an unconquerable city. It is impregnable.

Farming cultures dream of farming mansions, but in every modern city, grass tends to give way to streets, and development. Only parks maintain a connection with nature as it were, and houses or places of residence tend to be stacked on top of each other forming tall towers in order to fit higher numbers of people into small spaces. John might have marveled at New York City, or Los Angeles, but it might have only inspired him to better understand the need for height in the vision of our heavenly city. I imagine a great number of us may be living in penthouse type structures within large towering buildings, but then my imagination is colored by my current realities of large American cities.

Were I more of a quantum physicist I might imagine the same physical space occupied by heaven used in an infinite number of dimensions each with a different cultural or physical expression. Groups of families or perhaps simply random beings might move from one dimension and configuration to another in the blink of the mind’s eye; all occupying the same space and time, but segregated by which dimensional configuration they choose to exist within at one time; or if you really want to bend your mind a bit more; perhaps existing in several dimensions at once.

Of course you may read my ideas and decide this kind of multi-dimensional existence is impossible, or against the laws of physics as we know them today. But this is sort of my point; we do not know if a parallel universe exists or not but God would. We study the laws of physics, God writes them. We make mistakes in what we dream is possible, while God is not bound by our limitations or mistakes. We only use a fraction of our polluted brains today, while consuming poisonous foods, in a contaminated atmosphere, where moderation and temperance are by gone concepts. It is no wonder our minds are too finite now to truly understand what heaven will be like. But once there, our diets will be sheer exuberance, feasting on foods that baffle the taste buds in pleasure, while being converted completely without waste into pure energy. The water will bear no resemblance to the tainted earth we poisoned in our greed and arrogance, it will be clear, pure, refreshing and more satisfying that anything we could even imagine now. With water this pure, think of the ripple effects in the fruit drinks we make, the smoothies we enjoy, the shakes and frozen ambrosia’s we could construct. Imagine not being bound to the idea of seasonal harvests, but having them year round. What a restaurant we could open in the New Jerusalem.

But the construction of heaven is hardly the important thing that makes it special. And while our diets will no longer make us fat, and we can partake of every good thing the Lord makes for us, eating is only a minor distraction in the world to come. At first brush, I used to cringe at John Lennon’s famous song “Imagine” thinking it was an agnostic view of utopian life. But in later years, I have begun to see his line of … “imagining there was no religion” … as being a statement against the organized fanaticism that grips our world. “Nothing to live or die for” removes all the political motivations, as well as the basic need for survival motivation that today cause us so much harm. Perhaps my earlier hesitations about his song were incorrect; perhaps John Lennon is describing life in heaven. But even the peace and harmony he describes is not the singular thing that makes our heaven special.

I can imagine no limits on learning or travel. I can imagine touring stars, galaxies, and even to the edges of the Universe and back. I can imagine putting the knowledge I gain to use in constructing an entire solar system, planet by planet with housing, entertainment, food, places to visit – live – or enjoy for any who are interested. I can imagine creating more enhanced musical instruments, carving ornate furniture from rare woods, building elaborate swimming pools with fountains, slides, frozen fruit bars, waterfalls, and perhaps even a few log flumes as well. My earthly imagination can stretch beyond what is practical in this world. I believe we will travel at the speed of thought. But while I can imagine a great deal, still my imagination is stunted by my current environment, in short, I see through a glass darkly. But again it is not even the limits or lack of them, in my imagination that makes heaven special.

I will finally be free to live to serve others. This will be a decided change for me, as now I seem to live mostly to serve me (a trait I recognize requires Christ to change in me). But there my service to others will be my top priority, and will not be hampered by lack of resources, time, or imagination. I can find new ways to please my wife, my children, my parents, my friends, my heroes, and the strangers I encounter in any way I am able. The freedom to serve will be the most liberating feeling I will ever experience, and with it a joy there are no words to describe it with. The deepest contentment will dwell within me as I strive harder and harder to raise the standard for my service to others. This liberation, the antidote for sin and self-centered-ness, this is close to the best thing about heaven. But then my freedom is not the number one thing making heaven special.

Love, exploring the depths of love, and in so doing beginning to understand God better is close to it. We have only sampled what love is on this earth. It will take new creations to begin to contemplate it properly. The love of God for us will be something we will study for eternity, and will always learn something new and more about it in that time. To explore Love is to explore God. But even the largest attribute about God being love, is not what makes Heaven special. There is something even more than that.

It is God. It is His Son Jesus Christ. It is His Holy Spirit. It is God. Before we existed there was God. He made us with the thought of spending time with us. We are His children, created individually for His purposes for all space and time. To be with God, reconciled of our evil, rejoined with Him finally. This will be what makes heaven – Heaven. It is not the dazzling brilliance of the city. It is not the intricate architecture, swimming in the river of life, petting the tigers, talking to Moses, or even pleasing the wife that makes heaven ultimately so special. It is being with God. It is being close to the source of infinite love. It is feeling Him, hearing Him, learning from Him, sharing with Him, receiving from Him, giving to Him, honoring Him, and worshipping Him from a heart that cannot sit still. It is being with the God we have been forced by our evil to remain distant from. This is salvation. This is freedom. To be rejoined with our God; NEVER to be parted again. Multi-dimensional universes of infinite distance across cannot separate us anymore from our God. For where we are, He will be.

He will be able to talk with us one to one. He can answer our questions, give us a hug, ski with us down a snowy mountain (or perhaps teach me how), laugh with us, eat with us, and watch us while we sleep. And all of God can do this, not just Jesus, but Father and His Spirit – each distinct – each yearning to know us better without the wall of sin between. God’s ability to be everywhere allows Him to spend individual time with every single saved soul. The reunion with God will be unlike anything we can imagine. We are told today, that we are not alone. But our vision is blighted by our sin, and we do not see how our Father longs to show us He is at our side. In heaven, this will be visible to us. In heaven, spending time with God will be our ultimate reward. Like oxygen we cannot get enough of, we will be reconciled to our Father’s side forever. Nothing is more important than this, nothing else can even come close.

I take great assurance in knowing that everything ends with the death of evil, in me, and outside of me. I take comfort in the promise of my Savior to redeem even me. And I find joy unbridled that one day we will be united together never to be parted again. That is the home I seek. That is the mercy of the greatest gift of all time, that I will never be worthy of, and cannot be done praising Him for. That my friends, is the heaven I aspire to. I hope to see each of you there. I pray that Christ will begin by changing the core of me in preparation for that great day.