Revelation 22:3-5 (NIV) 3 No longer
will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city,
and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his
face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There
will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of
the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever
and ever.
On Sunday night Joanne and I watched
the series finale of Downton Abbey.
This television program which originates in England ran for six seasons here in
the U.S. and gained a large following of fans. One theater in Portland hosted a
community viewing of that last episode. Things like this happened in many
communities. Fans everywhere could not get enough of the show. PBS used the
occasion to garner financial support. After the program concluded one of the
PBS hosts was just glowing with delight at how “satisfying” a conclusion the
episode was. I think she felt that because virtually every circumstance and
relationship of the show’s characters ended up experiencing a happy ending. I
remember thinking as I was watching, “This is all a little bit too good to be
true, isn’t it?” Of course, with fiction you can write it and make it happen
any way you want.
The world cannot guarantee us happy
endings in real life. In fact, life surrounds us with all kinds of injustice,
evil, sadness, brokenness, and death. Words like cancer, nuclear, warming,
etc., trend our thinking toward unhappy endings for our lives and even the
world. Doom and gloom overhang us and keep us from the comfort of the happy
endings we long for. In fact, some consider anything that ends happily to be
confined to fiction and fantasy. When things are “too good to be true” we may
tend expect that it cannot last, or that we do not deserve it. Real life in the
real world doesn’t happen that way, we may think. Perhaps we aren’t far from
where Solomon was as he wrote the Old Testament book Ecclesiastes. He begins
with "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." (1:2),
and goes downhill from there. But if you stay with the book of Ecclesiastes you
will find a happy ending: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of
the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of
man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.” (12:13-14). Now that might not sound too happy to you.
But it seems to me that any ending with God in control is a happy ending.
The
Scriptures reveal to us a God who writes the last chapter, and at the end of
all things He will establish complete and perfect justice. All injustice will
be judged and/or “made straight”. At the end of all things God will overcome
all evil and all impact of evil in the universe. At the end of all things God
will destroy death and all of the despair that accompanies it. God will put an
end to all things that cause hopelessness. All of our hopes in Christ will be
fulfilled. There will be no such thing as pain, and all sorrow will be healed.
How is all that for a happy ending? And it is not “pure fantasy”. This is the
real promise of the Word of God. What a future awaits us in Christ! What joys will
result from knowing and walking with Him!
And
here is really good news: The foundation for such a “happy ending” future has
already been established. It would be easy to accuse Christians of a “pie in
the sky when I die” mentality… if it were not for the cross. When Christ
entered this world, the beginning of the end was written. When Christ went to
the cross and when He rose again, everything that awaits the people of God was
sealed for eternity. The Gospel promises that God will make all things right
because the work of Christ on the cross was sufficient to do so. The power of
the cross undoes sin. It heals all that is unwell in us and in the universe.
Are
you looking for a true “happy ending” to all the problems and troubles of life?
Then look to the cross and to Him who gave His life for you upon it. See there
the Gospel of God’s love and grace and put your hope in Christ alone. You will
not be disappointed, even though your world may be full of adversity now. We
have victory in Jesus and true peace in the midst of hardship. God is faithful
and He is good.
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV) For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of
God.
2 Corinthians
5:17-19 (NIV) 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling
the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV) 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."
PRAYER: My hope is in You Lord. Thank you for all that
is ahead of me in Christ. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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