New the Earth and New the Heavens – Part 2

            
            

Part 2 of the poem I started last week. I like how the colours turned out with this one! Again, this series draws on some of the imagery in the last few chapters of Revelation, a time at the close of world history when God promises to make all things new and to live amongst his people. As a Christian, I live in faith that death is not the end – that there is something more wonderful than this life in the life to come, and that God is working all things together towards this final conclusion.

Knowing what God has in store, it might be tempting to rush through this life, not to worry about all the pain and suffering and trouble in the world because we’re headed somewhere better – but that’s not God’s desire for us. His commission to us is to live lives that honour him – to make the most of our time here, and to share with others the hope that he’s given us. If you’re reading this and you aren’t a follower of Jesus, I hope that it gives you pause to think about the gospel. Here is a God who created us, knowing full well the pain and grief we would cause him. Who, rather than abandoning his project, set his mind to rescue us from ourselves, at the highest price imaginable – his own son would pay the price for our sins. Can you begin to grasp the overwhelming love God has for us, that he would go to such unthinkable lengths to bring us back to him – all with the goal of one day making a home where we could live with him, and he could live with us. I can’t begin to imagine why he would think us so worthwhile – but I suspect it says rather more about his love and character than it does about us. Why not speak to him, ask him to reveal to you something of the love he has for you? Why not read one of the gospels and see it spelled out in the accounts of Jesus’ life.