Mondays with Matt: Happily Ever After

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelations 21:1-5)

Summing up NT Wright’s thoughts about this passage in his book, Surprised by Hope: 

"The image is that of marriage. The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. It is not we who go to heaven, it is heaven that comes to earth; indeed, it is the church itself, the heavenly Jerusalem, that comes down to earth. 

It is the final answer to the Lord’s Prayer, that God’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as in heaven. 

Paul talks about, in Ephesians 1:10,  that God’s design and promise was to sum up all things in Christ, things both in heaven and on earth. 

It is the final fulfillment, in richly symbolic imagery, of the promise of Genesis 1, that the creation of male and female would together reflect God’s image in the world. 

It is the final accomplishment of God’s great design, to defeat and abolish death forever – which can only mean the rescue of creation from its present plight of decay."

From Genesis to Revelation, there is a God who is seeking to be with us.

Despite our shortcomings, He wants to be with us.

He lived with us, so he understands us.

He wants to connect with us; he is sincerely interested in our thoughts, feelings….

Are we looking forward to being with Him forever?

As it is, life in this world is hard, but if it is called light and momentary (2 Corinthians 4:17), can we even begin to fathom what is waiting for us? 

Here is a song about the new heaven and new earth sung in Russian by Simon Khorolsky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRBhg7Z9YR0