| ETERNITY - THE FUTURE OF THE BRIDAL GENERATION Haavard Sand I AM REVEALED B. Childress Apr 29 2011 ...He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...(Ecclesiastes 3:11). "And they lived happily ever after." This is how fairy tales usually end. This is also how the Bible ends. If there is one place where the expression "happily ever after" is true, it is in the Bible. Where all other books end, that is where we will begin in this chapter. We will try to peek a little into how the happily ever after will be, although many believe that we cannot really know how it will be in Heaven. Nevertheless, I believe we can know a bit about it. And in this chapter, we will go beyond Heaven; we will explore the new earth. Earlier we looked at how the Bible encourages us to set our hearts and minds on things above (see Colossians 3:1-2). We can use the same principle when it comes to the new earth. In Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven (which is really just as much, if not more, about the new earth), he speaks about the importance of using our imagination:
Heaven in the Bible - to fire up our imagination and kindle a desire for Heaven in our hearts... I believe that God expects us to use our imagination, even as we recognize its limitations and flaws. If God didn't want us to imagine what Heaven will be like, He wouldn't have told us as much about it as He has. Rather than ignore our imagination, I believe we should fuel it with Scripture, allowing it to step through the doors that Scripture opens. biblically based, we need to dare to look through the doors that Scripture opens up into eternity. "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..." (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The longing for eternity and to live forever is deep inside all of us. The Buddhist understanding of Nirvana, of entering a place of nothingness, really goes against how we are created originally. The good news is that we are not destined for nothingness or Nirvana but for eternal life, and not just as disembodied spiritual beings floating somewhere in the heavenlies. We are destined to spend eternal life in physical, resurrected, new bodies, on a resurrected new earth. But why do we struggle sometimes with the thought of Heaven and our eternal existence? It is because we have imagined it as a disembodied spiritual existence. We think of ourselves floating on the clouds with palm branches in our hands. This, however, is not what the Bible teaches us about eternity. I believe many of us have struggled at some point with the thought of Heaven being boring. But that thinking exists only because of our misconceptions about what eternal life will be. Dealing with the question of whether Heaven will be boring, Pastor Mark Buchanan says:
are perfectly joined and totally satisfied. It's the one place where we're constantly discovering - where everything is always fresh and the possessing of a thing is as good as the pursuing of it - and yet where we are fully at home - where everything is as it ought to be and where we find, undiminished, that mysterious something we never found down here...
Our craving to go beyond is always and will be fully realized. Our yearning for home is once and for all fulfilled. The ahh! of deep satisfaction and the aha! of delighted surprise meet, and they kiss. Buchanan describes how we will live life to its fullest in our resurrected bodies on a new earth, pursuing new things and new adventures. Being able to enjoy fellowship with God and each other makes it impossible for eternity to be boring. Randy Alcorn writes:
everything turns out better than we planned, when we get everything done on time, and when everyone on the team pulls together and enjoys each other - are just a small foretaste of the joy our work will bring us on the New Earth. they will all be met in various ways on the new earth. It could be our desire for music, friendship, exploring, reading, writing, innovations and many other interests. RULING AND REIGNING WITH CHRIST Scripture starts with the creation of the first Heaven and the first earth and the creation of the first Adam and the first Eve. Standing together on this new earth, they were commanded to fill and rule the earth (see Genesis 1:18). The same command was repeated to Noah and his family as they faced a "new earth" after the flood: "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). As we look at the end of the Bible, we find the creation of the "second heaven" and the "second earth," with the second Adam who is Jesus standing together with His Bride, who we may consider as the second Eve. What do you think God's command to them will be other than "Be fruitful, fill the earth, and rule over it"? How do we fill the new earth then? Does that mean that we will have babies together with Jesus? Certainly not! What it means is that we will enter into that deep union of hearts with Jesus, which is already a reality among the Trinity. Speaking of this deep unity and union, Jesus said, "just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us" (see John 17:21). It was from this deep unity and union that God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule..." (Genesis 1:26). I believe this is a prophetic image, pointing toward one time on the new earth, when the Bride of Christ will have reached this unity. The Bible doesn't say this explicitly. But I believe there is enough evidence to strongly imply a view like this. First, we have seen how the bridal message is present throughout Scripture, and the Bible ends with a wedding. We have seen how the intention of marriage is for it to be a picture of the ultimate marriage between Christ and his Church. As we look to the natural counterpart, we get insights into the spiritual reality. And the highest reason for marriage in the natural is the union that brings forth new life. This is the very reason I believe God instituted marriage: to communicate the deep unity that exists in the Godhead, and which brought forth the first creation. According to John 17:21, Jesus was praying for us to enter this unity. As the new creation is brought forth, we will be there together with Him in bridal partnership and see it happen (see Revelation 21:3). Then as we are partnering with Him to fill the earth, we will enter the next stage, which is to rule over it.
Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever (Revelation 22:5; 11:15.) the new Jerusalem. It will be the center of God's Kingdom, which will be the place where Heaven and earth meet (see Revelation 21:2). What then is in that Kingdom that we will rule over? What makes up a kingdom? It certainly includes lands. But another basic assumption is that there will be other inhabitants in the land for us to rule over. In the parable of the minas, we see that Jesus puts those who have been trustworthy in small matters here on earth in charge over cities in His coming Kingdom (see Luke 19:12-27). In Revelation it says, "I am making everything new" (Revelation 21:5). It is like God is saying, "I am starting again afresh, with a new creation. I am doing it all over again." Then we read about the new earth: "The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it" (Revelation 21:24). This verse is in the context of the new earth, meaning nations and kingdoms will continue. They will come to Jerusalem to present to Jesus and us, His Bride, the products and cultural splendor of each nation. We shall live in the new Jerusalem! We shall be the ruling class there. We, the Bride, who belongs to our Bridegroom will live where He lives. We will live in the house He has prepared for us and that house is also the Father's house. It shall not just be in the heavenly realms anymore, but here on earth as the new Jerusalem will come down (see Revelation 21:3). You might be thinking, "But we can't all fit in the new Jerusalem." Do you know how big the new Jerusalem will be? Revelation Chapter 21 describes the size of the new Jerusalem. It will be 12,000 stadia in both length and width (see Revelation 21:16). That is about 2,200 kilometers squared, or in other words it means that the land area will be more than 4,800,000 square kilometers. That is 40 times bigger than England. And then it says that the city also will be 2,200 kilometers high, which probably indicates that it will be on several levels. The new Jerusalem will be the largest city that ever existed. It will be huge; it will be where the throne room is but also where we have our house, and it will be a city with streets and infrastructure. I believe it will be filled with parks, lakes, and other natural wonders. The lake is where the river of life - which runs down the main street of the city - will flow to (see Revelation 22:1-2). It will be a combination of a city and a garden far larger than India.
the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month...(Revelation 22:1-2). And if the tree of life that now is in paradise - the original Garden of Eden - will be in the new Jerusalem, probably the rest of paradise will be there also. So the new Jerusalem becomes a combination of a city and paradise, the Garden of Eden. We need to get a vision of that city. That is what the saints of old had. It is said of Abraham that:
and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:9-10). city, but he saw himself in the city. Unless we see ourselves in that city as Abraham did, our direction in life will be foggy. In other words, if your vision doesn't reach to the new Jerusalem and being in that great city, your vision is too small. Your life's vision must have an eternal dimension because our life is eternal. The entire chapter 11 of Hebrews speaks about the heroes of faith. It says:
them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16). Other Scriptures speak of the new Jerusalem and how we are to have an eternal vision. In Hebrews, we read, "For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for that city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:14). And in Revelation we find, "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2). It is this city that Jesus is preparing for us. He said, "I am going there to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). And this city is where we belong and have our citizenship for "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3: 20). Looking again at the understanding that we will rule with Him, the question is: who will we rule over? About this, Randy Alcorn shares, "Whom will we rule? Other people, Angels. If God wishes, He may create new beings for us to rule." This Kingdom will be an ever growing, ever increasing and eternal one. We see this in the Book of Isaiah and Daniel:
kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:7). He has been given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7:14). So what will it mean that this everlasting Kingdom is also ever increasing? Two very important verses help us understand the dimensions and dynamics of God's Kingdom with eternity as its scope. First, in Ephesians it says, "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7 NKJV). Second, in the Book of Daniel it says, "but the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come" (Daniel 7:18 NASB). These two verses speak clearly, not just about the coming age, but regarding the coming ages as well. Eternity consists not only of one age but of many. Right now we are at the threshold of leaving one age to enter into another. The age we are about to enter will then be the beginning of many succeeding ages to come. At present, we get a few glimpses of the coming age. But this is just the first age of many ages that Scripture tells us about. What will the following ages of eternity bring? The transition from one age to another is characterized by dramatic changes. Just like what happens when this age comes to an end and the next one begins. It is like everything will be totally new. Could it be that certain changes will also take place in the ages to come? If so, every time we move from one age to another, we will all be moved with awe - filled with excitement and wonder - because of the incredibly new things God has in store for us in yet another age. As the coming age dawns on us, life as we have known it will once again be transformed to a whole new level. We will enter into something new once again, something beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations. Again our only response will be to worship our infinite God, who will show us His grace and kindness not only in the age to come, but in all the succeeding ages of eternity as well. Could it be that in the succeeding ages, life and creation will be brought to new planets? If so, forms of creation could also be brought further into new sun systems and galaxies in the ever growing universe. This could occur in the increase of His government in the ages to come. Why do you think the universe is so large and endless? Certainly it is because there is no end to His rule and government. It will just increase and keep growing. Someday in the ages to come, perhaps not only planet Earth will be inhabited. The whole universe - from one galaxy to another - will worship God and serve Him in every place. There will be new discoveries in all spheres of life. Then planet Earth will become the capital planet of the universe while Jerusalem will be the capital city of the capital planet. Life on the new earth will reach heights in development and progress, which the old earth foreshadowed. In this world, even the most brilliant among us hardly maximizes the full capacity of the human mind. But I believe we shall use the full potential of our human mind for the first time on the new earth. Why do you think man has been so eager to explore the universe? We have sent people out there, and now some are talking about space tourism. Could it be that these are just glimpses of the vastness of the future world that awaits us? Imagine yourself being in the future. Many ages from now, planet Earth will no longer be the only space to occupy. Suppose you are sent on a mission to a distant planet in a galaxy far away, to inspect and report back to the throne room. As you arrive you are welcomed not just to a city or nation but to a whole planet. It is as if the whole planet has been preparing your visit. The inhabitants of this planet may ask many questions because never before have they met someone like you who lived on the old earth. Do you know what I believe will be one of their most frequently asked questions? It is this: "How was it to live on the old earth?" Think of it; we will be the only ones who lived on both the old and new earth. They will love to hear stories of how it was to live on the old earth and how we - in the face of pain and suffering - did not give up on our faith in God but pressed on. Then they will want to hear how it was to witness the creation of the new earth. Friends, we shall probably be there at the creation of the new earth, and as we start to live there, in hindsight, we will remember the incredible things we were allowed to witness and be a part of as it was formed and came into being. Finally, they will ask about the cross, which will still be the marvel of all ages. They will wonder how the God of glory could leave His place of majesty, to go down and live in a fallen world, to suffer pain and hardship leading Him to face the ultimate agony of death on the cross. As the inhabitants of other planets live in a world without pain, suffering, or death, they will have no way to understand the extent of God's love towards us. They will not be able to fathom the depth of His love. But we will. As we share with them our personal experience of aches and difficulties, we will give them a grasp of what the Lord went through because of His love. Therefore, by our testimony, their understanding of the love of God will deepen and grow. This should give us a new perspective concerning our present hardships and difficulties, as we are willing to embrace them now. Let's see how Randy Alcorn expounds on this verse from Isaiah: "Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:7).
(and, perhaps, new creatures to inhabit those new worlds.)...If Christ expands His rule by creating new worlds, whom will He send to govern them on His behalf? His redeemed people. Some may rule over towns, some cities, some planets, some solar systems or galaxies. Sounds far-fetched? Not if we understand both Scripture and science. Consider how our current universe is constantly expanding. Each moment, the celestial geography dramatically increases. As old stars burn out, new stars are being born. Is God their creator? Yes. Suppose the new heavens also expand, creating new geography in space and ever increasing the size of God's Kingdom. Will He fill that empty space with new creation? Will He dispatch exploratory and governing expeditions to these worlds, where His glory will be seen in new and magnificent creations?
ruler. He is glorified by what He creates and rules. He delights to delegate authority and dominion to His children to rule His creation on His behalf as we read, "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end." Is there anything in Scripture - anything we know about God - that would preclude Him from expanding His creation and delegating authority to His children to rule over it? I can't think of anything. Can you? OUR POSITION IN THE KINGDOM Scripture teaches us that there will be ranks and levels of position and authority in the eternal Kingdom. The parable of the ten minas, which I mentioned earlier, illustrates this (see Luke 19:12-27). From this parable, we can see that we will be given a position of authority according to how we steward what is given to us on earth. This stewardship includes our handling of time, money, and talents. It becomes the determining factor of the rewards and positions we will receive in ruling and reigning with Him. This is about our eternal calling and position. I do not know about you, but this is a sobering thought for me. I would like a place close to Jesus in that council that we have talked about. Is it wrong to look forward to our reward and our position of authority? No, I do not think so. That was what the saints of old did. Just read Hebrews 11. About Moses it was said, "He was looking ahead to his reward" (Hebrews 11:26). As all fathers want their children to do their very best in school to properly prepare them for their future, so there will be a great future for us. Our Father wants us to be prepared for that day, so that we don't miss out on anything that was originally intended for us pertaining to our glorious future. You may be thinking, All this talk about ruling - I thought eternity was about worshipping God. Yes, it is! But not only in the sense that we will stand for all eternity before the throne singing "Hallelujah" with palm branches in our hands. Actually, when Scripture speaks of our eternal destiny, it deals just as much - if not more - with our task of ruling and reigning. As Adam and Eve were placed in the garden, their task was to rule. Could it be that as they fulfilled their assignment to rule, they did it as an act of their worship? In view of this, it is not impossible to think that part of our worship in eternity is to rule. In discussing our eternal calling to rule and reign with Christ, I believe there is a connection between our eternal calling and the calling or giftings we have now. These giftings are what make us unique, and they will not change as we enter eternity. I think that one gifted in music on earth will continue with that function in eternity. For me personally, as the editor of the Arise and Shine Journal, I experience that I am in contact with the depth of my own heart, with who I am and what my calling is on this earth. As I am in touch with the depths of my own being - of who I am and my purpose in life - I am touching eternity (see Ecclesiastes 3:11). Those dreams and longings that are inside me could also be connected to eternity. As I touch the deep things in my own heart, I am in touch with the eternal calling and purposes that I have. For me, I believe my eternal calling is connected to being an editor. I might be involved in collecting writings and manuscripts from both the old and the new earth - to spread around His eternal Kingdom to give Him honor and glory. The center of the Kingdom is still the throne room, which will be in the new Jerusalem (see Revelation 21). I believe it will include the sea of glass, the rainbow, the living creatures and so on. It will be the place where we return to after administering the affairs of the Kingdom and probably where we will report the events happening outside the throne room. This reporting will probably take place in the council of the Lord. WORSHIP AS THE HIGHEST OCCUPATION Needless to say, worship in the throne room will still be our highest occupation as described in Revelation 4 and 5. There we will take turns in ministering before the Lord. Some may wonder, why won't the worship in the throne room get boring, even if it continues for eternity? First of all, the worship in the throne room is a response to the overwhelming experience of His love, beauty, and majesty being displayed there. And as we have already seen, at the core of our being is the longing to be loved and accepted, but also the need for thrill and fascination. In the throne room all of these longings will be fulfilled - externally as well as internally. The only proper way to respond to such an overwhelming love and delight is to praise God, and share with others our experiences with Him. This could be possible through "responsive singing," one of the dynamics described in Revelation 4 and 5. Our human makeup is such that when we experience something extraordinary, we long to share it with others. Only by sharing will the experience be truly fulfilling. We notice this in all spheres of life; football supporters like to meet and share their excitement when they watch their team play well. If they have to sit alone and watch a game, something essential is lost. The same can be said regarding connoisseurs of art, car enthusiasts, etc. When we experience something that thrills and fascinates us, we cannot help but share it with others. This sharing will also take place in the throne room for eternity - in that place where God is continuously showing us new layers of His love, His beauty, and His majesty. Again and again, we will be touched by Him in the very core of our being, in such a way that we - full of passion and excitement - will express our praise to God. However, that is not all. In this atmosphere of light, sound, color, and His dense overwhelming presence, we will also loudly declare our excitement for God to one another. Perhaps we will say things like, "Did you see that?" in response to the light, color, and sound emanating from His being, as He reveals yet another depth of His character. We may even exclaim, "Our God is truly awesome, grabe!" (a Filipino expression for awesome"). Sam Storms touches on this dimension of our eternal experience of God, and he speaks of how it will forever increase in satisfaction and joy. He writes:
we discover there is nothing beyond. Our experience of God will never become stale. It will deepen and develop, intensify and amplify, unfold and increase, broaden and balloon. Our relishing and rejoicing in God will sharpen and spread and extend and progress and mature and flower and blossom and widen and stretch and swell and snowball and inflate and lengthen and augment and advance and proliferate and accumulate and accelerate and multiply and heighten and reach a crescendo that will even then be only the beginning of an eternity of new and fresh insights into the majesty of who God is! Are we allowed to dream and think about our future like I have been doing now? I believe so. This is about marriage: the union of two equally yoked lovers. In anticipation of their future life together, couples discuss their plans and dreams. Any future husband, for that matter, wants to hear his future wife share what she thinks life will be like with him. One thing is certain: no bridegroom is honored by having a bride who never thinks about their future together. In the same way, Jesus wants us to engage ourselves in thinking about our future with Him. As we start to meditate and imagine how it will be, we pay honor to Him - our coming Husband. Indeed Jesus is looking for an equally yoked Bride who will share with Him her own anticipation of their glorious future. Wow! Could it be that as we share our dreams and thoughts about our future, we can even now begin to take part in shaping it? Consider this: God brought all the animals to Adam and solicited his input in naming; God wanted Adam's partnership as the earth was created. That's what this chapter has been all about. I want to let my voice be heard of how I envision some of our future with Jesus will look like. And now dear reader, I encourage you to start dreaming your own dreams of that future with Him. If you think the pictures I have been trying to draw for you seem too unbelievable, I can promise you one thing: this feeble attempt to look through some of the doors that Scripture opens to eternity is nothing compared to how glorious it will be. What I have been trying to show you are like old black and white pictures that are out of focus. They, at best, are a shadow of the things to come (see Colossians 2:17). As Scriptures says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him" (I Corinthians 2:9). Life on earth then becomes mere preparation for our real task. Our task is to not only fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory, but the whole universe - that His praises will eventually be heard from one end of the universe to the other. Or as C.S. Lewis puts it at the end of the Chronicles of Narnia, this has just been the cover and the title page of the real story.
the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."
great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their lives in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. So why do we cry "Come"? We are a desperate people - hungry for love, for reality, and for substance. We have tasted the futility of this fleeting world, but it has not been able to quench the longing of our hungry hearts and thirsty souls. However, we have now tasted the power of the age to come (see Hebrews 6:5), and we have experienced some aspect of His love, and have seen the beauty of our Bridegroom. Our hearts have been awakened by another world, and we long for its fullness. That's why we cry, "Come!" Yes - come, Lord Jesus, come! Source: BECOMING THE BRIDE OF CHRIST IN THE LAST DAYS, by Haavard Sand, Copyright 2009, Destiny Image - Europe. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
2010 - HIS GLORY REIGNS
| LIFE IN JESUS-MINISTRIES |