Good Morning All,
We all like it when the story ends the way
it should. The nice guy marries the nice
girl. The bad guys are punished. The guy who has to overcome insurmountable
odds wins in the end. The cowboy kisses
his horse and rides off into the sunset.
There is something about these stories which have a sense of completion
for us. Even if you watch a movie or
read a novel and early on you can see on the story is going to end, we keep
watching or reading because we want to see the story end the way it
should. We want the story to end the way
it should. We don’t like loose ends; we
don’t want any unfinished business. It
should end with no loose ends but with a neat and tidy finish. We get that also with the Bible.
The last two or three chapters of
Revelation fix what gets broken in the first two or three chapters in
Genesis. We can really see this if we
think of heaven, not as a place, but as an existence. Heaven is living in the visual, physical
presence of God. Adam and Eve lived in
heaven when they lived in the Garden of Eden.
They would walk with God in the cool of the morning and be in complete
and total communion with him. However,
sin ripped that in two and heaven and earth were separated. Creation, which was perfect, now became
chaotic and frustrated by man’s sin.
Yet with Jesus’ death and resurrection,
the change begins. The sinful realm and
reign are still here but so is God’s reign of grace. We are saved from our sins but not yet
perfected. We are getting closer with
each passing moment but until this happens; God is giving those who do not
believe time to repent and he is giving us time to reach out to them so that
the Spirit will be seen by them through us.
So, we wait for Jesus to return.
We wait and watch eagerly for that time.
Because when that time comes, all will be
perfected. When Jesus returns, heaven
will again be on earth. All of creation
will be restored. The chaos and the
frustration will be gone. We will once
again be able to walk with God in the cool of the morning. We too, will be perfected. Just as the world went out of control when
man sinned, so it will returned to control when Jesus returns. Just as man destroyed our existence with God
with our sin, God restores our existence with God and makes us whole with Him
once again.
This is the ending we look forward to; the
restoration of creation, the return to the life in an Eden-like existence. We will live perfectly in the presence of God
in complete joy and peace; with all the other believers. Heaven and earth are united again in perfect
union.
Gracious Father, we wait with eager
anticipation for the completion of this age.
Give to us the courage and faith to sustain us until Jesus does
return. Keep us in your hands and guard
and protect us with your mighty arm.
Bring peace and comfort to those who do not know it. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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