Kingdom Theology 101
The inquisitive mind is a gift from God, and I’m pretty sure he intended us to use it. I think sometimes we look down on the questioning of the Bible, or the questioning of “the Story” or of God or whatever, but we shouldn’t. God is all-powerful, right? No question can dupe him. Or prove Him wrong. Or put an end to His work here on earth.
So here’s a question that’s produced all sorts of cool growth in my bible study and in my spiritual life: What was God’s original intention for us here on the earth?
I think it’s highly unlikely that God intended for Adam and Eve to walk around the garden naked forever and not reproduce. So eventually, had everything gone as originally planned, there would have been a bunch of people in the garden. Eventually, there would have been a ton of people—millions, billions perhaps. So, what would God have done with us? He probably would have built a city for us to live in.
City building is something God is into. He likes it. Heaven itself—our final destination and the dwelling place of God—is a city. In the book of Revelations, after God has effectively removed wickedness from the world, what does He do? Does he take us into the clouds right before he blows up the planet? No. He actually renews the earth, His original creation, and He builds a city on it. In this city, all His people will live with Him forever, and He Himself will dwell within the city. It’s an amazing concept; heaven is not in some other dimension where there’s poofy clouds and lots of harps. It’s right here, on earth, after God makes all things new.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’" (Revelations 21:1-5)
This is the fully realized “Kingdom of Heaven” that’s mentioned throughout the Greek Scriptures. Revelations actually gives a pretty detailed description. Go read it for yourself.
So here’s the story: God created us in a garden, in which we were to grow and multiply and dwell with God personally. But things went wrong. You know the rest. Instead of building and expanding the relationship that we had with God in the garden, we rejected His plan and were cast out. But God, in His great desire to be with us, came down to earth and made things right. His death and resurrection made it possible for us to be with Him again, and now, provided we embrace His sacrifice and accept our unworthiness, we will live with Him forever in a really, really cool city.
So what happens between the original garden and that awesome city? This, I believe, is the most important question we can ask about our lives as Christians.
More to come...
So here’s a question that’s produced all sorts of cool growth in my bible study and in my spiritual life: What was God’s original intention for us here on the earth?
I think it’s highly unlikely that God intended for Adam and Eve to walk around the garden naked forever and not reproduce. So eventually, had everything gone as originally planned, there would have been a bunch of people in the garden. Eventually, there would have been a ton of people—millions, billions perhaps. So, what would God have done with us? He probably would have built a city for us to live in.
City building is something God is into. He likes it. Heaven itself—our final destination and the dwelling place of God—is a city. In the book of Revelations, after God has effectively removed wickedness from the world, what does He do? Does he take us into the clouds right before he blows up the planet? No. He actually renews the earth, His original creation, and He builds a city on it. In this city, all His people will live with Him forever, and He Himself will dwell within the city. It’s an amazing concept; heaven is not in some other dimension where there’s poofy clouds and lots of harps. It’s right here, on earth, after God makes all things new.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’" (Revelations 21:1-5)
This is the fully realized “Kingdom of Heaven” that’s mentioned throughout the Greek Scriptures. Revelations actually gives a pretty detailed description. Go read it for yourself.
So here’s the story: God created us in a garden, in which we were to grow and multiply and dwell with God personally. But things went wrong. You know the rest. Instead of building and expanding the relationship that we had with God in the garden, we rejected His plan and were cast out. But God, in His great desire to be with us, came down to earth and made things right. His death and resurrection made it possible for us to be with Him again, and now, provided we embrace His sacrifice and accept our unworthiness, we will live with Him forever in a really, really cool city.
So what happens between the original garden and that awesome city? This, I believe, is the most important question we can ask about our lives as Christians.
More to come...
posted by david t at 7:58 AM
6 Comments:
"The Book of Revelation" not (s). It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, not Revelations.
Just keeping you on your toes.
Owned.
;)
More to come, to be sure, but just a quick note Brian's note: the original Greek aside, the Book of Revelation has been frequently refered to as the "Book of Revelations" over time. I don't have much problem with it, as long as one recognizes the cohesion of the "revelations" (and of the whole Bible, for that matter). John, after all, is writing as a prophet and these are the divine revelations that he is recording. That all said, I prefer to speak of it in the singular myself since it fits nicely in the phrase "The Revelation of Jesus Christ", but I defer to you Greek scholars as to the original title (if any) and the proper translation thereof. If I am not mistaken, as I often am, it is "Apokalypse".
Brian, if I understand his point correctly, makes a good point, however, in that it is important to realise that these are not merely a collection of "random" prophesies and esoteric metaphors as one might find in a text like the Icelandic Voluspa (which I bought in Keflavik and proceeded to lose in Paris) or the Rg Veda Samhita. I would argue with strong conviction that such texts are rarely randomly compiled anthologies either, but that's getting beside the point of the moment.
I dunno brianicus, there's quite a few things revealed in that book.
Ah, forget it. I'm just going to go with my gut on this one and call it St. John's Apocalypse.
I am pretty sure we will reign with Christ 1000 years on earth, not forever, and then go to heaven.
There's the millenium, then the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem. While this could arguably not be on this planet, God does say "Behold, I am making all things new" suggesting a renewal of the present earth, a return to the garden so-to-speak.
Quite so. The Earth is not entirely abolished -- it is re-created after the milennial reign of Yeshua HaMeshi'akh on Earth, His final battle with Satan and the Last Judgement.
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