Archives For Theology – Eschatology

Ascension Sunday: 1 Cor. 15:12-28

May 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

In the days of the prophet Elisha, the King of Syria was at war with the northern tribes of Israel. But Elisha frequently knew ahead of time the movements of the armies of Syria, and he would warn the king of Israel. This happened a number of times before the king of Syria became convinced that there was a traitor among his cabinet of advisors or generals. But even they knew what was going on, and they told their master that Elisha was a prophet who might even know what you said in the privacy of your own bedroom. So the king found out where Elisha was staying and sent a great army of horses and chariots and surrounded the city where Elisha and his servant were. When Elisha’s servant woke up in the morning, he saw the great army surrounding the city, and he said, ‘Alas, my master – what shall we do?’ But Elisha answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And he prayed and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kgs. 6:8-17).

Where is heaven? Where is heaven? We often ask what heaven is like. What is it like in heaven? What will it be like when we die? But perhaps an equally or more important question is: Where is heaven? And actually, I think answer the question where, goes a good ways toward answering the what.

The answer of the Bible, as illustrated in stories like this one with Elisha and his servant and the armies of Syria, is that heaven is here. Heaven is not far away, on the other side of the galaxies. Heaven is close by, nearby, all around us. But we can’t normally see it. The problem isn’t that heaven is far away. The problem is that we are like the servant of Elisha, and we can’t see it though the heavenly presence of God is all around us.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, fire didn’t shoot out of the soles of his feet. He didn’t blast off like a human rocket into outer space (as cool as that might sound). Luke says He was taken up, but He also says that a cloud received Him and He was taken from their sight. Remember other events like this: Enoch walked with God, and then he was not for God took him. Or God’s heavenly presence in the burning bush and the cloud and fire leading Israel out of Egypt, coming to rest on Mt. Sinai, and then later the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle and temple. Or Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind. Or Stephen who gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. We gesture upwards, we look up, we lift up our hands and hearts, but the heavenly presence of God seems to break out in various places at various times all around us. Heaven is above us and all around us. Heaven seems to overlap with earth in some sense. Continue Reading…

In Ascension, Bible - 1 Corinthians, Church Calendar, Creation, Culture, History, Sermon Outlines, Theology - Eschatology, TRC
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The Wood Remembers

October 30, 2012 — 2 Comments

My daughter recently began violin lessons, and her mother and I are very excited about this. She has actually wanted to play for a while, much to my delight, and she has a fantastic teacher whose enthusiasm, skill, and creativity mesh together to make my daughter even more into it than before (if that is possible). Of course there is some of the beginner squeaking and scratching going on, but I can honestly already imagine the sounds growing solid, maturing, filling out, glowing warm and vibrant off the strings, singing high haunting notes, resonating through the wood, filling my home.

Anyone who has played violin or has any interest in violin music knows or has heard that the most famous, most coveted violins in the world have the name Stradivarius. I don’t really know much at all about violins, but I have heard the name Stradivarius. Though the rightful preeminence of these violins is disputed by some, the name alone has become short hand for excellence, quality, and a legacy of beautiful sound. Because of the weight of glory that follows the name, many studies have been done both to the materials the instruments are made of and built with as well as various analyses of the sounds they make. While there doesn’t seem to be any conclusive results from these investigations, the legendary status lives on. Continue Reading…

In Art, Creation, Education, Family, Grace, History, Music, Theology - Eschatology, Worship
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Christmas Means We’re All Calvinists After All

December 8, 2011 — 2 Comments

Isaiah says that when God restores Israel, He will go before them and behind them (Is. 52:12). The first Advent of God was the incarnation, when God went before us, leading us out of the dungeon of sin and death. The final Advent of God at the end of history is when God comes up behind us, as our rearguard, finishing what was begun at the incarnation.

In other words, from Advent to Advent from first coming to second coming, God is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the alpha and the omega.

Or, in other words, we are all Calvinists after all. The incarnation is God’s decisive, efficacious act of regeneration for the whole world. Because we could not prepare ourselves for Him, He came in order to prepare us for Him. Then He sent His Spirit to comfort, strengthen, and cheer us, continuing the work that was begun in us. And He will come again and finish what He started.

God came in Christ in order to make us into a place where the Spirit could dwell in order to make this world a place that could bear the weight of heaven when it arrives at the end. It’s all of grace from first to last because it’s all of Jesus who is the first and the last. He was and is and is to come.

In Advent, Bible - Isaiah, Bible - Philippians, Calvin, Church Calendar, Grace, Theology - Christology, Theology - Eschatology, Theology - Pneumatology, Theology - Soteriology
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The Good Old Days are Now

January 30, 2011 — Leave a comment

“… if we must go through what seems the worst of times, we are held in the best of all hands, inseparable from the best of all loves (Rom. 8:38-39)”

Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 2.

In Books, Theology - Eschatology
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Could You be Satisfied?

November 30, 2010 — Leave a comment

John Piper writes in God is the Gospel:

The critical question for our generation – and for every generation – is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

[citied by Francis Chan in Crazy Love, 100-101]

In Justice and Mercy, Theology - Eschatology
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After the First 30,000 Years

November 3, 2010 — 1 Comment

What would you do if you could live forever?

I asked some of my students this question this morning, and it was striking to see how quickly the question was broken in half.

Do you mean eternal life or earthly life?

One student immediately recognized that we will live forever, so it’s not a hypothetical question. But, he went on, if it’s talking about living forever here on earth, it might eventually get kind of boring.

But students quickly reassure me that living forever “in heaven” will be great. What will we do there? Praise God forever, of course. Will that get boring? Of course not…

In some ways it’s grand to long for eternal life with God, and recognizing that worship is the end for which God created us is absolutely true and wonderful. But having these “default” settings without thoughtfully digging into some of our presuppositions can actually obscure what God is up to.

For instance: God created this world, this universe, with billions of stars and galaxies, with jellyfish and rainbows, volcanoes and dragons, oceans and pineapples, and God created Adam and Eve and intended for them to live forever in this world. And apparently God loaded this world with enough treasures to last forever. God didn’t give Adam a job that would get boring after the first 30,000 years.

And this world is piled so high with treasures that Adam was going to need lots of kids and grandkids to help him with the project. Billions of people living forever in this world was part of the plan, digging into the ground, exploring the depths of the seas, and figuring out how to sling shot our grandchildren into other galaxies.

And of course we’ve done our best to screw that up, and slow the project down. We got old and cranky in our sin and told God it couldn’t be done. But God came to make us young again, young like Adam and Eve, young like children who see the universe as their sandbox, young and fearless and creative.

In Christ, God did not come up with the Great Escape Plan. The New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven in Revelation is not a Flying Saucer come to beam up all the good guys and then fly away into some other dimension, some other existence. The New Jerusalem is coming down out of heave to earth. And John hears a voice saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:3).

The promise is that in Christ, God has come to be with us, and the hope of the Gospel is that God’s Life, His Kingdom will come here on earth as it is in heaven. The promise is that God will come wipe away every tear; He isn’t going to wipe away the entire creation and start from scratch. There will be no more pain, but God isn’t busy trying to make this world go away. God has come in Christ to heal this world, renew this world, refashion this world.

So the question is not what would you do if you could live forever. The question is what are you doing since you’re going to live forever? Death for Christians is a nap time. It’s a wonderful, Sunday afternoon nap, dreaming with Christ. Only we won’t wake up groggy or grumpy or still tired. The resurrection will wake us up with the energy of little kids and the wisdom of the mind of Christ. We will wake up refreshed, ready to get back to work. We will wake up healed of our diseases, our afflictions, our hurts, our pain, and our sin will be no more.

And then what will we do? There will be mountains to jump, oceans to walk, magic to learn, volcanoes to swim, stars to explore, and dragons to tame. And of course people, billions of interesting, intelligent, funny, strange people.

If in our old age of sin and death we have fumbled about in the dark and come up with antibiotics and iPhones and space shuttles, what might we find if we could actually open our eyes?

And of course, living forever is all about worshiping the Brilliant Creator of this mind blowing project, but I wonder if it won’t be a bit more active and vigorous than we sometimes think. If Jesus made this world, He is far more into it than we are. He’ll be leading the comet riding ventures and the solar surface tours.

In Creation, Culture, Theology - Eschatology
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When Jesus Began to Return

March 6, 2010 — Leave a comment

Speaking of the sufferings and death of Jesus and their centrality in the reconciliation of all things in God, Barth mentions in passing that included within this revelation is the resurrection which is the “commencement of His return.” Easter was the beginning of the great return of Jesus. The Second Coming began in the resurrection of Jesus and will be completed at the consummation of all things.

Jesus “coming back” from the dead was the greater return. His final, physical return is not nearly so dramatic in one sense. All of human history since Easter occurs in the light of that great return from the dead.

In Theology - Eschatology
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