Getting Job-ed
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.” Revelation 21:3-4 ESV
We need hope in a world that is so hopeless. We are constantly bombarded with such negative messages and darkness in this world and it’s so despairing. We see the stock market tanking, wars breaking out across the globe, public shootings, civil unrest, etc. Will there ever be an end to all this? For the Christian, the obvious answer should be a joyful “YES!”
God is with man
Do you understand how important and mind-boggling the statement “the dwelling place of God is with man” should be? Mankind absolutely does not deserve to have a seat near the infinitely holy God. Look at 2 Samuel 6:6-7, where Uzzah touches the ark of the covenant and dies. This demonstrates how our utter depravity truly cannot survive next to that kind of God unless an intervention takes place (aka Christ stands as an advocate for us). Read Leviticus, this book described the conditions that had to be met for God to be near the Israelites in the Old Testament. So, in Revelation where God says His dwelling place is with man, unveiled and truly visible, this is a big deal. We will see God, not through shadows or haziness, but purely be in the presence of God.
All Satisfying
We will be with a Being that is completely all-satisfying. This is something we cannot understand because we’ve never been truly satisfied. We fill our voids with anything and everything and are left wanting more. This is because we are meant to be satisfied with something more. C. S. Lewis stated,
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (1)
We will be with the Being that is all satisfying. This is amazing hope. It makes me lose hope in the crap that the world offers and turn to something more, something that deserves my hope and longing. Ps. 16:11 ESV, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Don’t give your hope to things that are unworthy.
Hope is powerful
The starting place would be to ask do you have this hope today? I pray that you do. This hope is so empowering in a world that truly is afraid of everything and lives with such high anxiety. There is hope out there. This world is escalating to a climactic end, whether today or in a thousand years. We need hope that all of this will consummate to us being with the most satisfying Being in existence and that He will put an end to the evil that is out there.
-Austin
References
The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/702-it-would-seem-that-our-lord-finds-our-desires-not#:~:text=We%20are%20half%2Dhearted%20creatures,are%20far%20too%20
easily%20pleased.%E2%80%9D
