~ Chapter Ten ~
The Restoration of All Things
The Future of the Kingdom of God
"I meet many faithful Christians who, in spite of their faith, are deeply disappointed in how their lives have turned out. Sometimes it is simply a matter of how they experience aging, which they take to mean they no longer have a future. But often, due to circumstances or wrongful decisions and actions by others, what they had hoped to accomplish in life they did not. They painfully puzzle over what they may have done wrong, or over whether God has really been with them. Much of the distress of these good people comes from a failure to realize that their life lies before them. That they are coming to the end of their present life, life 'in the flesh,' is of little significance. What is of significance is the kind of person they have become. Circumstances and other people are not in control of an individual's character or of the life that lies endlessly before us in the kingdom of God." [410]
"Within [this present universe] the Logos, the now risen Son of man, is currently preparing for us to join him (John 14:2-4). We will see him in the stunning surroundings that he had with the Father before the beginning of the created cosmos (17:24). And we will actively participate in the future governance of the universe. We will not sit around looking at one another or at God for all eternity but will join the eternal Logos, 'reign with him,' in the endlessly ongoing creative work of God. It is for this that we were each individually intended, as both kings and priests (Exod. 19:6; Rev. 5:10). Thus, our faithfulness over a 'few things' in the present phase of our life develops the kind of character that can be entrusted with 'many things.' We are, accordingly, permitted to 'enter into the joy of our Lord' (Matt. 25:21). That 'joy' is, of course, the creation and care of what is good, in all its dimensions. A place in God's creative order has been reserved for each one of us from before the beginnings of cosmic existence. His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe." [412-413]
"God's way of moving toward the future is, with gentle persistence in unfailing purpose, to bring about the transformation of the human heart by speaking with human beings and living with and in them. He finds an Abraham, a Moses, a Paul--a you. It is this millennia-long process that Jesus the Son of man brings and will bring to completion. And it is the way of the prophets, who foresaw that the day would come when God's heart is the human heart... when what is right to God's mind would be done as a simple matter of course, and when we would not be able to understand why anyone would even think of engaging in evil. That is the nature of God's full reign." [415]
"The purpose of God with human history is nothing less than to bring out of it - small and insignificant as it seems from the biological and naturalistic point of view - an eternal community of those who were once thought to be just 'ordinary human beings.' Because of God's purposes for it, this community will, in its way, pervade the entire created realm and share in the government of it. God's precreation intention to have that community as a special dwelling place or home will be realized. He will be its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant." [420]
The Passage: A Discourse on Death
"When we pass through the stage normally called 'death,' we will not lose anything but the limitations and powers that specifically correspond to our present mastery over our body, and to our availability and vulnerability to and through it. We will no longer be able to act and be acted upon by means of it. Of course this a heart-rending change to those left behind. But, on the other hand, loss of those abilities begins to occur, in most cases, long before death. It is a normal part of aging and sickness. The body as intermediary between the person and the physical world is losing its function as the soul prepares for a new arrangement. But along this passage we do not lose our personal sense of who we are, and all our knowledge of and relationships to other persons will remain intact--except, once again, insofar as they are mediated through the body and its physical environment. Indeed, we will then be in possession of ourselves as never before, and the limited universe that we now see will remain--though that universe will not be as interesting as what we shall then see for the first time." [430]
We will not disappear into an eternal fog bank or dead storage, or exist in a state of isolation or suspended animation, as many seem to suppose. God has a much better use for us than that... [Our] experience will not be fundamentally different in character from what it is now, though it will change in significant details. The life we now have as the persons we now are will continue, and continue in the universe in which we now exist. Our experience will be much clearer, richer, and deeper, of course, because it will be unrestrained by the limitations now imposed upon us by our dependence upon the body." [430]
"We should, first of all, find ourselves constantly growing in our readiness and ability to draw our direction, strength, and overall tone of life from the everlasting kingdom, from our personal interactions with the Trinitarian personality who is God. This will mean, most importantly, the transformation of our heart and character into the family likeness, increasingly becoming like 'children of our Father, the one in the heavens' (Matt. 5:45)." [431-432]
"Common human experience, in all ages and cultures, teaches much more about transition and passage than Western culture for the last century or so has been willing to deal with. Some of it has been reaffirmed, and perhaps overembellished, by the recent interest in 'near-death experiences.' But what common human experience thus teachers is in basic accord with indications to be derived from biblical sources. Most notably, the person in the transition begins to 'see the invisible.' Others whom they know come to meet them, often while they are still interacting with those left behind. If death is sudden, those nearby will have no opportunity to realize that this is happening. But we can be sure that even in such cases the person is not hurled into isolation. You would not do that, if you could help it, to anyone you loved. And neither will God. Here we see the comforting mercy of God toward those who love him or seek him. Poor Lazarus died, we are told by Jesus, 'and he was borne away by the angels to where God's people are gathered' (Luke 16:22). From the 'great cloud of witnesses' come those who have been watching for us. They greet us and enfold us. And while those first few moments or hours will surely present us with one astonishing view after another, we will be joyous and peaceful because of the company we are in." [433]
"Our personal existence will continue without interruption. Perhaps, by contrast, we must say that those who do not now enter the eternal life of God through confidence in Jesus will experience separation, isolation, and the end of their hopes. Perhaps this will be permitted in their case because they have chosen to be God themselves, to be their ultimate point of reference. God permits it, but that posture obviously can only be sustained at a distance from God." [434]
"We need not worry about there being a place for everyone in our new cosmic setting. We now know that there are about ten thousand million galaxies in 'our' physical system, with one hundred billion billion planets. That is, 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets. And it may be that the physical system we know of is but one of many that we have not yet discovered. A few decades ago we thought our galaxy was the entire physical universe. In due time - I can only imagine it will be some while after our passage into God's full world - we will begin to assume new responsibilities... I suspect there will be many surprises when the new creative responsibilities are assigned. Perhaps it would be a good exercise for each of us to ask ourselves: Really, how many cities could I now govern under God? If, for example, Baltimore or Liverpool were turned over to me, with power to do what I want with it, how would things turn out? An honest answer to this question might do much to prepare us for our eternal future in this universe." [434]
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