For many years I have attended the annual Church camp conducted by the NNSW Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists. Many times I have sat through presentations made by keynote speakers in the Big Tent. Too many times I have become frustrated at the narrowness of the presentations. To me they are simply a form of escapism. We are getting ready for Jesus to come and our task is to warn the world of the nearness of this event and invite them to join us. That, of course, means understanding those important Bible doctrines that form the basis of our faith and coming apart from the world.
This year has been no different. This morning we were told time and again that when Jesus comes again He will take the faithful home to live with Him in heaven. Great. He is going to take us out of this corrupted, evil, mixed up world. Except, that is not exactly what the Bible says.
The next to last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 21:1-3, has this glorious vision.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
This paints a different picture to the one presented by this morning's speaker, and I believe the difference is significant. In the words of Revelation humanity does not relocate to live with God as Cosmic refugees. God relocates to the earth made new to live with us. This is clear from the rest of chapter 21. In Genesis 1 and 2 this earth is made as our home. In Revelation God returns to His plan that we should enjoy this, our home, for eternity.
The New Testament in particular makes it clear Christ’s redemptive act is not simply about us. It goes way further. In fact it is universal in scope. In John 3:16 we read, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.’
‘World’ is translated from the Greek ‘cosmos’, which can refer to the universe, the world in totality, or in some places the people of the world. I see no reason in this place to limit it to humanity, especially when I look at some other New Testament verses.
Romans 8:19-23 looks forward to the day when creation itself will be released from the curse of sin and join with God’s children in release from pain and suffering.
For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
Then we have Colossians 1:15-20:
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see -- kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together. Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.
Not only was the Cosmos created by Christ, it was created for Him. Sin has caused the creation to fragment. We see this in the world around us, not only in wars, crime and conflict, but in the degradation of the natural world. Spreading deserts, increasing rates of species extinction, and environmental pollution are some examples.
The Lord’s Prayer includes these words: ‘May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10). This prayer should cause us to ponder what that will is, for if we pray it sincerely we are committing ourselves to live out His will for us in this life. The way we live today must anticipate the Kingdom to come.
God’s will in Christ as we have seen is to reconcile all Creation to Him. This means in this world we cannot ignore the world around us. Sin destroys. God restores. God's will is that we demonstrate by the way we live our concern for all Creation. Jesus gives us hope for a better future, but that is not a call for separation from the world. Rather He calls us to be engaged with it.
One day He promises us a ‘new heaven and a new earth’. As part of this promise He will move the control room of the Universe to this planet, for Earth is our home, and it is here that He will live.
Bible quoted: New Living Translation.
Written 19 April 2017.
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