¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

In the end, Jesus will return again and make all things new.  And in the new world there will be no more sin, tears, pain, sorrow or death.  All that was broken when sin entered the world will not be merely repaired, but replaced.  As followers of Jesus in this life we experience freedom from the penalty of sin.  In the world to come, we will experience salvation from the very presence of sin.

So now once again humanity is face to face with God, just as it all began in the garden.  We have been fully redeemed back into the fullness of relationship with God.  Our natural response will be to join the creatures around the throne of God who day and night never stop saying…”Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

To go a little further…

God’s Love Endures Forever – Psalm 136

Prediction of Eternity:  Isaiah 65:17-25

Inheriting Eternal Life – Mark 10:17-31

Triumph Over Death – 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Our Future Hope  – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The New Heaven and Earth – Revelation 21-22

This Holy Spirit living in us is something much more powerful than my words can explain here.  But I begin to see the power and wonder when I look back at Scene 4 – The Law.  In this scene God chooses a band of slaves to become his holy, set apart people.  They are in bondage, and in great need of instruction of how to order life as a society. He rescues them from Pharaoh in Egypt and begins to instruct them through Moses on how to live and care for eachother in the way he designed.

But he also instructs them to build a tabernacle with a special tent where his presence will be with them again – but in a limited way.  Only the high priest can enter into the most holy place of the tent and that was only once a year to offer a sacrifice for the sin of the people.  While God’s presence was with his people they had to keep their distance.  It’s was dangerous for broken, messed up, sinful people to be in the presence of a perfect and holy God (Think of the end of Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark.) So God was there with the people but still a great separation because of sin.  This picture really captures the essence of God’s presence in relation to his people in that time…The Old Covenant.

Now compare that picture to this one below…the new tabernacle of the New Covenant made not by the blood of bulls, lambs or doves – but by the blood of Jesus, Son of God and perfect sacrifice for such great sin.  This is the dwelling place now of the Spirit of God…his people cleansed by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  (This is my dear friend Brandon Frenzel and his daughter Ava who live in Texas…could just as well be your picture too.)

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

To hear more on this, listen our Cornerstone Church podcast, The Story, Scene 7: Spirit.  And here’s more to chew on…

God’s ever-present Spirit – Psalm 139:1-16

Life found in the Spirit – Romans 8

The gifts of the Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 12

The fruit of the Holy Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23

The Spirit marks us as God’s people – Ephesians 1:11-14

Jesus – “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”  Philippians 2:6-8

Yes, Jesus – the one back there in “Scene 1” at the foundations of the earth – in the most amazing act of humility intentionally enters into the world as a man and puts himself under the penalty of death – that penalty that has destroyed every living thing on the earth since the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

In doing so he serves as the perfect sacrifice…a lamb unlike the ones the people had been sacrificing year after year in the temple.  This was a lamb provided by God, one final sacrifice that would atone for the sins of the world.

But it doesn’t end there with Jesus’ perfect death for us.  He actually comes back to life again and thus defeats death.  “Where O’ death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?…But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Corinthians 15:54, 57

More words for us to journey through as we continue living in grace…

The Lord is Gracious:  Psalm 145

God’s grace to a wayward Israel:  Nehemiah 9:1-31

Messiah’s birth and death prophesied:  Isaiah 9:1-7, 52:13-53:12

The Coming of Jesus:  John 1:1-14

The lost son:  Luke 15

The death and resurrection of Jesus:  Luke 22-24

God’s grace in the midst of suffering:  1 Peter 1:3-12

So today I was working through our Lenten Reader and sitting in the passage where Jesus heals a man born blind (John 9).  This dude has been living in a world of darkness for all of his life – he was now a “man” meaning that he had been in darkness for many years.  The disciples ask Jesus – “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”  In that day the Jews had come up with this idea that when someone was born with a deformity – it was because of a sin that occured in the womb (???) or by thier parents.  Jesus plainly contridicts this with, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happend so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

Then he breaks out with this – “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.”

Notice the “we” here.  He didn’t say “I” or “you” or “Clergy” or “People who have been to seminary”.  He said “we” must.  I find so much meaning and truth in this:

• He shares responsibility with his followers in the work of healing, restoration and bringing light to the world.
• We are not alone – the work of taking light to the world we do with him.  It’s not all on my shoulders.  We are co-workers with Christ.
• “We must” – this work together is mission critical, the utmost important calling of our lives.
• The “we” pulls us out of the shadows of passive Christianity and into the game of redemption alongside of Jesus.

I don’t know about you but there is something in these words of Jesus that give me jolt of, “OK – it’s another day.  The sun it up.  It’s time to lace up the boots – double knot baby – grab the sword of the spirit, the shield of faith, let’s find some darkness, get in there with Jesus and reflect light with him.”

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Just reading this and realizing how important it is to the Father that we bear fruit.  So what what does fruit look like for our lives?  And I wonder if bearing fruit is as important to us as it is to him?

So go for it.  Help me out – what do you think?

But if If you have, then watch this video.  These words will be much better than anything I can say right now.

Bio of Photo:

Meet Mia.  Living life trying.  Mia is 26 years old. She is a drug addict and a prostitute. In a world of crack, heroin, short term relationships, and too many dark days, she’s trying to lead a half way decent life. Trying to be there for her family and for her friends when they need her. Trying to keep her addiction from killing her. Trying to live a life other people wouldn’t deem worthy.  This picture was taken behind Copenhagens Grand Central Station. This is the area which holds the city’s red light district. It has been a tough year for Mia. She lost her boyfriend to an overdose, her own addiction got worse and she hardly ever saw her six year old daughter who is in fostercare.

It’s a shot of an old dilapidated billboard that reads, “Jesus loves you anyway.”  See how the framing on the billboard is falling off and the paint is all faded.  I love it.  But I especially love the “anyway” part of it.  It set’s it apart.  Breaks the pattern of the normal old “God loves you” phrase (although that in itself is quite profound).

Rusty ended up using this picture in his sermon yesterday at Cornerstone.  He beautifully related how many times we feel like this old crusty billboard…kinda rough, pieces torn apart, weeds growing up all around, paint chipped off, weakened from storms over time.  But the words…they are still there, written on your heart.  It became a beautiful image of how he loves and accepts us just as we are.

Praying that you believe this today.

In these last days of Lent I’ve been living in the passion story with all of my Cornerstone friends.  We’ve been taking the steps with Jesus towards the cross as seen in Matthew 26 and 27…reading the story bit by bit, day by day…totally immersing ourselves in the story and grafting ourselves into each scene.

So today is Maunday Thursday and the cross is just hours away for Jesus.  And as I woke up this morning I captivated by the how he became obedient to death.  We all know this in our head but I wonder if we ever grasp the depth of this in our hearts.  As I get closer to Friday, it seems to become more and more real to me.

Then this morning I began to be flooded with thoughts of my own Dad’s death from cancer almost two years ago.  He did not die on a cross, but in a comfortable bed surrounded by his loved ones:  my mom, my sister, Leslie and I, his sisters and a best friend.  I remember sitting on the bed next to his frail body holding his face in the palms of my hands, praying for him and telling him that it was OK to go on home…my own tears falling onto his face.  He struggled for every breath until there were no more.  Some of you reading this know this place.  You’ve been there with a loved one.  It is holy ground…but a tremendous paradox, mixed with great joy and great sorrow. Death is so hard to watch happen.

But as I reflect on these images burned into my heart I can’t but help but think of Jesus, my rescuer.  That he, the creator and keeper of all things, humbled himself to this place of death, but one so much more severe.  He gasped for air over and over for hours.  Blood ran out from all over his body.  Pain shot through his limbs.  But above all of this, he was alone.  For the first time in all of eternity, the trinity was broken apart as the son of God, full of sin, was hanging on the cross.  It was a horrible.  He wrestled with his mortality in the most raw and primal place until there was nothing left of him but death.

It must really be true that he loves me.  It must really be true that he loves you.

By the way…the picture above is of my friend Brandon Frenzel at the Abbey of Gethsemani.  I took this shot on one of our visits over while we lived in Kentucky.  He’s strolling through the graves of the Monks…just feet away from the the Sanctuary where they spent much of thier life in constant prayer.

Isn’t it crazy that Jesus did this.  Being in very nature God he goes down, down, down, down all the way to being obedient to death…taking on the fullness of humanity, even owning the effects of the fall…death.  And not just any death.  Jesus did not pass away of cancer or a heart attack…a cross.

So what does this look like for those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus?  Many days I wake up and quickly realize that so much in me wants to go the opposite way.  I secretly want my name to be exalted and lifted up, instead of taking the hidden way of following him.  Then there’s the old trap of just looking like you are making your way down in following him…but in reality it’s just still self-exaltation but even more devious-pride in sheep’s clothing.

So what do I do about this?  What do you do about this?  We repent.  We confess our ways of self-exaltation…bring them to light with Jesus, accept his grace and look at him.  Seek his face.  Behold what he has done for us and simply gaze.

Could it be that what looks like a way down of following Jesus (becoming a servant, putting others before ourselves, allowing ourselves (egos, pride, selfish ambition) to die is actually where we find real life, real freedom, real love, real joy?

Anybody else have thoughts?  I’m going to bed now.

Much Love – josh