Grand finale
Baseball’s long season finally
end in October with the World Series. The football season comes to a close with
the big event, the Superbowl. A good story pulls us along towards the
conclusion when the tension is resolved by some dramatic event. On a
cold, rainy Saturday I’m likely to find an old Western to watch. There’s
something very right about seeing the good guy drive the villain out of town
and win the heart of the beautiful woman. (And you thought I wasn’t a
romantic.) Yes, life is a series of beginnings and endings, starts and
finishes. What about the flow of history? We know there was a beginning.
What of the end?
The Lord promises that the great Story of human history will
be brought to a close. He Who reveals Himself as “A” and “Z” (Alpha and
Omega) will, in His time, bring a resolution of the struggle between good and
evil. Here’s how the Scripture describes that Great Day. " In the last
days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the
mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to
it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we
may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for
many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they
train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the
LORD." (Isaiah 2:1-5, NIV)
What a vision! People will love God and stream into His
Presence to worship. The issues that have kept nations at odds will be resolved
by His judgment. The waste of resources on war and destruction will be
eliminated as peace dawns in His Kingdom. In the climax of His great Story, God
redeems the earth! Too often Christians fail to recognize this part
of the divine plan. Their only hope is ‘going to Heaven,’ escaping this
old world. The by-product of that mistaken focus is a failure to understand
that we (Christians) are to work for reconciliation between people and
restoration of a fallen Creation. If God the Creator is not ready to
abandon humanity or this planet, how can we be so ready to consign it all to
the junk heap?
Oh, yes, I love the promise of a home in God’s Presence. I
love the promise of Heaven, but that must never cause me to forget that God’s
Kingdom is coming to earth. "In that day the Lord Almighty will punish
the proud, bringing them down to the dust." (Isaiah 2:12, NLT) "The
arrogance of all people will be brought low. Their pride will lie in the dust.
The Lord alone will be exalted! Idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed.
When the Lord rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into
holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of
the Lord and the glory of his majesty." (Isaiah 2:17-19, NLT) "They
will crawl into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of cliffs.
In this way, they will try to escape the terror of the Lord and the glory of
his majesty as he rises to shake the earth." (Isaiah 2:21, NLT)
If our hope of a grand finale fails to include the setting
right of all things, the revelation of God’s design for this present world, our
Christianity will be skewed towards escape, not salvation. We are
called into God’s Kingdom, and we enter into it by faith, right here and
now. True enough, by and by, there will come yet another part of His plan
when the curtain is drawn on this present world. It will pass away and a ‘new
Heaven and a new earth’ will be brought forth by the declaration of the Lord.
"I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the
first earth, gone the sea. … The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making
everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
(Revelation 21:1,5, The Message)
Like a team who plays hard to get into the SuperBowl, I want
to live in His light so that I can participate in His Kingdom. There is much
about the revelation of things to come that neither I nor you can or should
understand, but there is enough revealed to let us know that we have purpose,
that there will be a moment of resolution, that there will be winners and
losers. Because of Christ Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, and my King, I will
stand among those who enjoy the Kingdom, and on the final Day, I will be
welcomed into His glorious Presence. How about you?
________
Kingdom Of God
The kingdom of God
Shall have no end
A kingdom of love
That is built in our
hearts
And not by our hands
The kingdom of God
Shall have no end
This shining
magnificent
Glorious kingdom
Forever shall stand
The kingdom of God
(REPEAT)
Thine is the kingdom
Thine is the power
Thine is the glory
forever amen
Thine is the kingdom
Thine is the power
Thine is the glory
forever amen
The kingdom of God
forever shall stand
The kingdom of God
forever amen
The kingdom of God
Twila Paris
© 1990 Ariose Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music
Publishing)
Mountain Spring Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music
Publishing)
CCLI License # 810055
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