Knowing the End

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:1-7 ESV).

As you may remember me writing before, one of my favorite pastimes is woodworking. I particularly like making things for my family. Recently Becca asked if I would build Maggie a “Toddler Tower.” I said, “Of course.” I then asked her if she had a picture or plans of what she wanted. She directed me to a site where I found some basic dimensions and a drawing of the finished product. As you can see it was a pretty easy build. We went and picked up the materials and I built it with a dark stain to match the cabinets in their kitchen. It really was the perfect solution to safely allow Maggie to be a “helper” while Becca was preparing meals at the kitchen counter. Perhaps the most interesting thing of all, however, was that Maggie really didn’t know anything about the project. It just seemed to appear all of a sudden one day when I brought it to their house. And, even funnier, she didn’t know what to do with it at first. David later told me that the first time she climbed on to the platform, she raised her hands in an I-don’t-get-it gesture and said, “Daddy, where’s the slide?” I knew what it was going to look like from the plans; but I had no idea that the end result would produce that reaction. He delight at her new play-set must have been priceless! This is the truth underlying John’s recording of the end of history as we know it. God has always had the plans to bring redemption to his creation. He is building it now. Someday it will come to pass and our reaction to it will be even greater than Maggie’s delight. Can you even imagine the wonder at the final elimination of all sickness, pain, and death? Can you fathom the wonder of God’s final redemptive act? This is the hope that allows us to go forward through every trial and challenge of life. This is the power that enables us to face every circumstance with victory. Whatever you are going through in your life today, know that God is building you a very special eternal life. It will be worth it all!