The Eternal City
Adapted from Treasures of Faith
Sharon and Chuck Betters
Today’s Treasure
…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
James 4:14
Our lives on earth, the Bible tells us, are a mere wisp of breath on a cold winter day as we just read in James 4:14. So much more awaits us. The author of Hebrews seemingly cannot mention the life to come often enough. He refers variously to:
a city with foundations (11:10),
a country of our own (11:14),
a better country—a heavenly one—a city for us (11:16),
a better and lasting possession (10:34),
a better resurrection (11:35),
the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God (12:22),
the eternal presence of God (13:5),
the city that is to come (13:14).
In the Old Testament, the belief of God’s faithful people that the Messiah might come at any moment transformed their whole view of life. They believed the covenant, the promises made by God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to all who followed after them. Today, we live in the glow of those fulfilled promises. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead fulfilled the terms of the covenant and sealed the promise of eternal life for every believer. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who lives within each one of us and who is the “deposit” guaranteeing the full inheritance yet to come (Ephesians 1:14). We no longer hope for the Messiah for He has already come. Indeed, He is here now, among us, and His resurrection transforms how we look at life.
We now must have a forward view, as Abraham did, toward the eternal city. As Joni Eareckson Tada explains, “I know what it’s like to grab hold of memories, like bricks, and build a dyke against time. When I was first paralyzed in 1967... time was an enemy in that it kept putting more distance between the past on my feet and the present in my wheelchair.” What she really longs for, however, lies ahead of her, in the future: Our nostalgia for Eden is not just for another time, but another kind of time. Those who do not believe still feel the tug. Even those who do not hope for heaven still wrestle with this vexing enigma of “eternity” set in their heart.
Most people have it backward.
Unlike those who don’t believe in God, our road is not back to the Garden of Eden, but forward. One should never look over one’s shoulder on the road of hope. In Genesis, God sent the seraphim with the flaming sword to bar Adam and Eve from returning to Eden once they had fallen. “The road to God lies ahead, ‘east of Eden,’ through the world of time and history, struggle and suffering and death. Ejected from Eden’s eastern gate, we travel through and around the world, from west to east, forever seeking the rising sun (the Rising Son!) and find Him standing at the western gate . . . saying ‘I am the door.’ ”1
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
It is very easy to lose sight of what lies ahead because we are so prone, in our weakness, to look sadly and longingly behind us. Transfixed by the siren song of what was, of hurts that cannot be undone, of people we have loved but who, to our limited vision, never trusted in Christ, and now it is too late, too late. “What about them?” we ask. “How can we ever be joyful again . . . even in heaven?”
But God says that we can and we will, and that we must trust Him for all we do not understand. Gently, with firm but loving hands, He turns our faces again toward the east, toward the Rising Son. And who can say what lies beyond that far and bright horizon? When your heart is breaking and the “winds and waves” threaten to drown you and you long for all that you have lost, speak softly to your own soul the words of Katharina von Schlegel’s marvelous hymn:
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake to guide the future as he has the past. Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart, and all is darkened in the vale of tears, then shall you better know his love, his heart, who comes to soothe your sorrow and your fears.
Be still, my soul: your Jesus can repay from His own fullness all he takes away.
PRAYER
Oh Lord, may our souls be still with a peace that passes all understanding, no matter what today holds.
1 Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 102–3. She also quotes here from another book (Peter Kreeft, Heaven [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989]).
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Sharon W. Betters is the author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.