Sunday, November 4, 2012
Revelations 21: 1-6a
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.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-- they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
Revelations is a grand vision given to the elderly Apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos. It is a vision of the future for believers as they stood against the threats of death from the politics of the day. The choice was real for one must ask, is my belief and dependence upon the Christ more important than the approval of men? Is it more important than life itself? In John’s day the choice to stand up against the persecution by the Roman supposed divinity was practical and in your face. This same choice remains for believers to this day, the politics may be different but the same life choice is required of all believers. In this world, on this earth, in this order of things, there will be recurring and misdirected attempts to cleanse the hope of God from all human consciousness.
Today it may be a cross on a hilltop or a terrorist scourge. Generally it is the secular Godless philosophy of humanism and social order that is actively replacing the hope of God. The Church has been winning and losing a very long string of battles but the war goes on. All of us will die fighting or ignoring this war but the hope for John was that his people die well, believing in the Christ and heirs to the New Jerusalem. In this new reality of the new Jerusalem God will be immediately accessible 24/7. Believers shall experience the knowledge of God without the earthly distortions of death, regret, or constant pain to be endured. What a tent meeting that will be!
To this point there is no dispute amongst the community of believers but some of us would like to ask Saint John, is this glorious future of a new Jerusalem only for the few? Is there no consideration beyond death for the majority who are not victorious, the non believers, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars? Will God assign these close relatives of ours to eternal damnation and in so doing cry uncle! Some of us believe that it is not within the character of the God of the universes to ever give up on anyone as a promised inhabitant of the new reality. In the few scriptural references to the concept of hell, some of us believe that this term must be understood in time sensitive context. The word hell is a temporary description of the great gulf between what God expects of men and the fact of man’s spiritual condition.
What is not time sensitive is the redemptive, saving, loving heart and motivation of the eternal true Divine Presence. You may ask, what about the fiery lake of burning sulfur and the second death in John’s vision? Is not such a destination final judgment? Maybe or maybe not. Revelations 2: 11 tells us that the Spirit of God broadcasts, “Whoever has ears, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Those who are victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” The obvious assumption is that all who experience death will wind up in the lake of fire, a very unpleasant place, and experience the second death. However, the truly victorious, the spiritually ready to inhabit the new reality will not be hurt by the fire. What does hurt mean? Can we not think of the fire as a purifier for all instead of a final judgment for the majority?
G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca
