Paradise Restored
Much of my recent reading reminds me that paradise will not be merely regained, but restored. Restored to a better than original state. The word "restored" even seems an inadequate description. Perhaps "recreated" or "renewed" better captures the concept of not simply a return to the original, but a remaking that surpasses the original.
Today's Tabletalk devotional on Revelation 21:1-22:5 reminds me that our existence will not be merely ethereal, but a fulfulling physical existence of glorified bodies in a new creation that has undergone "cosmic renewal." This final paradise will be much better than Eden not only because sin will never enter, but also because it will be more bountiful and our fellowship with the Lord will be far more intimate.
Reading the last chapters of Revelation can only make you wonder: how did anyone ever come up with the popular picture of winged people playing harps on clouds?
Today's Tabletalk devotional on Revelation 21:1-22:5 reminds me that our existence will not be merely ethereal, but a fulfulling physical existence of glorified bodies in a new creation that has undergone "cosmic renewal." This final paradise will be much better than Eden not only because sin will never enter, but also because it will be more bountiful and our fellowship with the Lord will be far more intimate.
Reading the last chapters of Revelation can only make you wonder: how did anyone ever come up with the popular picture of winged people playing harps on clouds?
posted by Glenda | 5:42 AM
2 Comments:
"The world into which we shall enter in the Parousia of Jesus Christ is therefore not another world; it is this world, this heaven, this earth; both however, passed away and renewed. It is these forests, these fields, these cities, these streets, these people, that will the scene of redemption. At present they are battlefields, full of the strife and sorrow of the not yet accomplished consummation; then they will be fields of victory, fields of harvest, where out of seed that was sown with tears the everlasting sheaves will be reaped and brought home."
Edward Thurneyson, quoted by A. Hoekema in _The Bible and The Future_, pg. 281
Thanks for the fabulous quote, Jeremy!
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