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Posts tagged with: Revelation

Cityscape at night.

The Surprises of the Holy City: Part 2

If God really cares about the world as much as Revelation 21 implies, then God also cares about how you live and lead each day. God cares about your work, your business deals, and your relationships with your colleagues and competitors. God cares about what your work produces and whether it contributes to the goodness of the world. God cares about what you do, how you do it, and for what purposes. Everything we have and everything we do matter to God.

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The Supertree Grove at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

The Surprises of the Holy City: Part 1

We might have supposed that when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, human beings will dwell once again in God’s garden paradise. But, as it turns out, this is not the case. In Revelation 21:2, John sees “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” In this vision of the future, human beings won’t live in a lush garden but in a shining city.

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An aerial view of the seashore.

Will There Be No Long Walks on the Beach in the New Creation?

So, when John says that in his vision of the future “there was no longer any sea,” this does not necessarily mean there won’t actually be large bodies of salt water in the future, along which we might walk or in which we might surf. The point of “there was no longer any sea” lies elsewhere… When we read that “there was no longer any sea,” the point isn’t the absence of large bodies of salt water so much as the absence of the source of evil and the realm of death.

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A man working in a field.

How Does the Past Help Us Understand the Future?

It is particularly striking to me that the vision of the new heavens and earth in Isaiah 65 includes a clear picture of good work with good results. God’s people will build houses and live in them. They will plant and eat the fruit of their labors. Even more pointedly, they “will long enjoy the work of their hands” (65:22). The full goodness of work, lost when human beings sinned, will be restored in God’s new creation… Divine blessing does not mean we no longer work, but rather that our work is fruitful and meaningful.

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Clouds.

What’s Wrong with Heaven?

My boyhood vision of Heaven came not so much from Scripture as from popular Christian tradition and imagination. If I had read Revelation 21-22, for example, I would have learned things that both contradicted what I assumed and gave me hope that the life of the future would be much better than anything I had imagined. Yet, for some reason, I completely missed the heavenly vision in the end of Revelation until I encountered it later in life.

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A couple standing on a hilltop overlooking a city.

The Right Frame Makes All the Difference, Part 3

In the last couple of days, I have been reflecting with you on how the “frame” of Scripture helps us understand the Bible, and therefore our lives, more completely. In yesterday’s devotion, we noted how both the first creation in Genesis 1-2 and the new creation in Revelation 21-22 underscore the importance of the created world to God. And if God cares so much about creation, then certainly we should as well. Today, I want to consider the role of human beings in both creation stories.

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A town by a lake and mountain.

The Right Frame Makes All the Difference, Part 2

If we frame the biblical story with these verses and what follows, we will understand just how much God cares for his creation, including but not only human beings… The more we take seriously the Bible’s own frame, the more we will understand that this world matters, not just to us, but to God. God is not just in the business of getting human beings to heaven when we die. Rather, God wants the world he created and its inhabitants to flourish as much as possible.

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An empty frame held against an ocean landscape.

The Right Frame Makes All the Difference, Part 1

I believe that Christ died so that I might be forgiven and rose so that I might enter into the life of God. No events in history have a greater bearing on my life than the death and resurrection of Jesus. However, when I framed the biblical story mainly by the death-bringing events of Genesis 3 and the eternal-life-giving events of the Gospels, I missed much of the story of Scripture… My frame limited my vision, which also limited the way I lived each day.

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What in the World?!?!?

This is the look we should have whenever we think about how much God loves us and invites us to the ultimate Royal Wedding!

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A child running through the sprinklers with delight.

Beyond Our Wildest Imagination

Newness originates with God. “Behold,” he says to us from Revelation, “I am making all things new.” Because God is consistently promising us new, we must be intentional about releasing what we’ve always known and how we’ve always done things, in order to get a glimpse of where God is excitedly inviting us to venture.

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A boardroom set up for a meeting.

God of the Boardroom (Faith & Work Integration, Part 4)

As marketplace ministers and leaders, we have the distinct privilege of knowing the God of the boardroom. This powerful God knows how to manifest his kingdom in the most unexpected places and seasons. God has never needed our witty ideas, our professional context, or even our schemes that compel men to acknowledge him. All he needs are obedient vessels who are willing to take God outside of the box of religious and traditional limitations that we have placed him in.

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A Gingerbread cookie marking the new year 2017.

All Things New!

Today is New Year’s Day, the first day of 2017. We’ll hear lots today about newness: new hopes, new resolutions, new leaders, new diets, new relationships, new technology, and so on. But, in fact, there really isn’t much that’s new today, other than the change in the calendar. (And I was just getting used to writing 2016!)

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How Jesus Comes to Us Even Now

Three times in Revelation 22 the Lord says, “I am coming soon” (22:7, 12, 20). This repeated promise points to the future, when Christ will come in victory, establishing his justice and peace on earth. Thus, we look forward to the coming of Christ with joyful expectation, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus” (22:20).

As we await his future coming, we are not without the Lord’s presence in our lives. Yes, he is not with us in the way he will be one day. But Jesus nevertheless comes to us in various ways, fulfilling his promise in Matthew 28:20, “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.”

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A gift package from our hearts.

If Jesus is Coming Soon, How Should We Live Now? Part 2

Today, I want to mention something that can seem almost too obvious, but I think it deserves our attention. Jesus says, “I am coming soon.” We respond, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Not just “Come Jesus,” but “Come, Lord Jesus.”

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A fresh picked daisy.

If Jesus is Coming Soon, How Should We Live Now? Part 1”

In Revelation 22:20, Jesus says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” In response, we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus.” But is that all we do? If Jesus is coming soon, should this truth shape our lives beyond adding a prayer to our repertoire? How should we live in light of the coming of Christ?

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