Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Scott Tunseth.
And so, we come to the end of a wild ride, a bumpy journey through the book of Revelation. I, for one, am glad that Pastor Walter wanted to conduct us on this journey. Revelation is filled with wonder and imagination while also being strange and fear-inducing. It’s no wonder so many theological reflections and downright theological hokum has been spent on this book. It’s like staring at a mysterious and dark painting and trying to decipher what it all means.
I was a freshman in college when Hal Lindsey’s The Late, Great Planet Earth hit the bookstores. Like many others, I read it, naively thinking it might reveal the “real” meaning behind the mysterious book of Revelation. I read both with skepticism and anticipation. Did he really have a handle on how the world might come to an apocalyptic end? Was he right about the identification of the beasts? As we have learned during our journey, Lindsey’s book was rooted in premillennial dispensationalism. As Craig Koester helpfully points out in his book Revelation and the End of All Things, “those who hold this view . . . divide history into periods or ‘dispensations’ that will culminate with the thousand-year kingdom of Christ on hearth. They are also ‘pre-millenialists,’ because they argue that world conditions will worsen until Christ returns before (pre-) the millennial kingdom begins.” In short, all hell must break loose on earth before Jesus returns to sort things out once and for all.
The late 1960’s and early 70’s certainly were times of unrest and upheaval in American culture and in the world, but I am not sure things then were any worse than they are today. The potential for global conflict is just as threatening and we are clearly in a global climate crisis. How convenient it would be to have a roadmap or recipe for what will happen in the near future. But John, the author of Revelation, is not really interested in providing such a road map or “battle plan.” Rather, he stands in the line of the great Old Testament prophets to speak, even preach, a message of hope for God’s people and, if fact, for all of creation.
In Revelation 21:1-5, John proclaims some of the most hopeful words in all of Scripture:
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, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
So, this bold proclamation is not simply about the redemption of human souls, it is about the redemption of all creation. This sounds like the apostle Paul’s great promise in Romans 8:21-25:
. . . creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor,and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees?But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
All of creation waits with hope for the new creation to come. And notice, Paul says that “hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees?” What a perfect rebuttal to those such as Hal Lindsey who wanted to provide a roadmap, and clear vision of what would happen on earth leading up to Christ’s return. Such a roadmap is something “seen,” and that, says Paul, is not hope at all. Hope is about living each day without knowing exactly what the future holds, but rather leaning on the ultimate promise that God will do a new thing, and we along with the groaning earth will be redeemed. Tears, death, crying, and pain will cease when God makes all things new.
As I was preparing this devotion, I came across an anonymous poem linked to the Winnebago people:
Pleasant it looked,
this newly created world.
Along the entire length and breadth
of the earth, our grandmother,
extended the green reflection
of her covering
and the escaping odors
were pleasant to inhale.
The first-creation hope that inspires our present days with beauty and wonder will pass away, but a new heaven and new earth will come. Be patient. Remain hopeful.
Creator God, we thank you for the amazing gift of life and all its abundance. But we admit that we are flawed, and because we are, all of creation groans for redemption. Inspire us to live as hopeful people, trusting in your redeeming love. Amen.