Daily Bread

For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice for ever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

The prophet Isaiah, in this passage, paints a picture of the future — where it is all heading — and it is a future full of hope. Now, what Christians think about the future is of vital importance because it shapes how we live in the here and now, and within Christianity there have been two major schools of thought about how it all ends.

The first thinks that God will destroy the earth and start all over again. When I was at university, a Christian friend of mine subscribed to this point of view, and he told me that we could trash this earth because God was going to make a new one! If you hold this viewpoint then the focus of mission and ministry is to get as many people 'saved' as possible from the impending doom.

The second thinks that God is in the process of renewing the earth, and it began with Jesus Christ, the first to be raised from the dead. If you subscribe to this point of view it means that how we treat the earth matters because we are to 'model' in the here and now, the future to which we are heading. The focus on mission and ministry is to get as many people saved in the here and now because they are called to be part of, and join in with, this great healing that is taking place.

Now, if you've read anything I've ever written on FAB Church, you will know to which viewpoint I subscribe!

It's not, nor will it ever be, my place to tell you what to believe. You are your own person and big enough to make your own mind up! As a Bible teacher, all I can do is try and paint a picture of how I understand the gospel, and communicate God's unending love for creation, including you.

Doom or renewal? The choice is yours.

(but I'm still gonna lead us in a prayer about renewal - lol)

Holy God
Thank you that you are redeeming,
restoring, and renewing the world,
leading us to a new Eden where there will be
no more weeping nor any cries of distress.
Thank you for calling us to
join in with your ongoing mission in the world,
as we pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done."
Now and forever.