Study 77
The restoration of all things
God's grace will not only lead us safely home, it will bring us into full glory. It's a salvation which will not only complete our individual stories and pilgrimages but which will also put all things in subjection to Christ. When he appears, we won't disappear but will appear with him in glory! He will come ‘to be glorified in his holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed' (2 Thess. 1:10).
Creation Restored
Peter was thrilled to speak of ‘Christ ... who must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything' (Acts 3:21). God's great triumph is the restoration of everything, including creation itself. Psalm 96:11 says, ‘Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for he comes... to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness.' When God comes to judge, creation will start applauding - the sea, the fields and the trees will celebrate.
The Bible testifies to the full recovery of the whole creation. It will be glorious again. Paradise lost will ultimately be paradise regained! ‘The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them' (Isa. 11:6). As Alec Motyer says, ‘Even a child can exercise dominion originally given to man' (The Prophecy of Isaiah, IVP 1993).
Believers Satisfied
It's hard to imagine what it will be like when God establishes a new heaven and earth. ‘No eye has seen, no ear had heard. No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him' (1 Cor. 2:9). But what we do know is this: he'll live with us; we'll belong to him; there'll be no sun or moon because he'll be our light and we'll see his face.
The longings of God's people through the centuries will be thoroughly satisfied: Moses' prayer to behold his glory, the psalmist's desire to see his face, Paul's yearning to know him, for whom he was willing to count all things loss. ‘Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known' (1 Cor. 13:12). The perfect will come. We'll see him as he is and will be changed to be like him.
We need to rethink our concepts of floating up to a spiritual realm somewhere in the blue yonder. As Bruce Milne says, ‘Heaven is not so much a new world "up there" as a new world "down here"' (The Message of Heaven and Hell, IVP, 2002). The apostle John saw the holy city coming down from heaven, free from all that corrupts, with God dwelling in its centre. The community of heaven will touch down on the earth and God's great longing to dwell with his people will be thoroughly fulfilled. He will wipe away all tears, his city will be flooded with joy and peace and ‘sorrow and sighing will flee away' (Isa. 35:10). Death, our last enemy, will be thoroughly defeated and we will be with the Lord forever.
At last God's redeemed people will enter into their full inheritance. Former glimpses of the glory of God, which invaded the tabernacle and the temple, will be surpassed and eclipsed. At one time people couldn't stand in his glorious presence. But we, in our new bodies, will be amazingly ‘at home' with his glory. We'll see his majestic throne and his radiance and we'll live beside the tree of life and eat its fruit. Jesus' prayer that we might be with him ‘to see (his) glory' (John 17:24) will be totally fulfilled.
We'll be known as the bride of Christ, our invitation not to a ‘graduation service' or a ‘reward ceremony' but to a marriage supper! We'll attend not as witnesses or friends of the bride or groom but as participants, specially selected and delighted in, ‘a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish' (Eph. 5:27). The joy of his heart; the reward of his suffering.
What future grace to anticipate! God has given us the Holy Spirit as a foretaste, a guarantee, a down payment. Even now, in advance, we can touch something of the future glory, but on that final day the partial will be superseded by the fulfilment.
To Meditate On
Look forward to what's coming.
‘But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness' (2 Pet. 3:13).
‘Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name' (Rev. 3:12).
‘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, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them"' (Rev. 21:1-3).
Food For Thought
What can we look forward to in heaven?
Perpetual and perfect fellowship with the Lord (John 14:3; 1 Thess. 4:17; Rev. 22:4)
Joy in his presence (Ps. 16:11; Isa. 51:11; Matt. 25:21; Heb. 2:22; Jude 24)
Restfulness (2 Thess. 1:7; Heb. 4:3,9; Rev. 14:13)
Light (Dan. 12:3; Matt. 13:43; Rev. 21:23)
Participation in Christ's glory (Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 2:12; 1 Pet. 4:10)
Banishment of the memory of earthly troubles (Rom. 8:18)
No more death or suffering (Isa. 25:8; Rev. 7:17; 21:4
To Do
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
This week spend some time encouraging another Christian ‘with these words'.
To Pray
Pray particularly for close friends or relatives who don't know Jesus as their Saviour.
Ask God to give you natural opportunities to speak to them about him.
To Be Inspired
‘The redeemed will dwell in our glorified bodies, on a glorified earth, under glorified heavens.'
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Final Perseverance of the Saints, Romans 8:17-39, Banner of Truth Trust, 1975 |
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