The Endgame
For so many years the Christian churches have viewed
eternal residence in Heaven as the endgame, that is, as the final
product of God’s salvation. As is true of any system, when the wrong
goal is held there is confusion back down the line, from the procurement
of materials to manufacture to quality control to marketing.
Since Christian theology, particularly that area dealing with
redemption, presents an incorrect goal, the formulas for success are
misleading and the results are invalid, at least from the standpoint of
the Kingdom of God.
Quality control procedures, given the present understanding of
salvation, would suggest that the number of people who gather on Sunday
morning in the church building is the indication of successful or
unsuccessful ministry. The idea is that all of the members have
subscribed to the "Statement of Faith" of the church, and now are
waiting to go to Heaven and live forever in a mansion, doing nothing of
significance. Thus the objectives of the program have been met.
(6/28/2009) The last two chapters of the Book of Revelation describe
the endgame, that is, the result of the Divine redemption. Notice that
our destiny is the earth. It is a new earth, to be sure, but it is not
the spirit Heaven, the spirit Paradise that occupies so much of our
hymnology and preaching.
There is a new sky and a new earth. There is the holy city, which is
the glorified Christian Church. There are the nations of saved people,
who are the inheritance of the Church and whom the Church will govern.
In what way is the new Jerusalem the glorified Christian Church? The
city is the assembly of the saints; and the parts of the new Jerusalem
portray their characters.
Here is the main point if we would understand the symbolism presented
in the last two chapters of the Bible. The portrayal by the Apostle John
is the way God sees the saints. What we would see would be a
congregation of people, the Wife of the Lamb, the eternal Tabernacle of
God. We would see many activities and hear many sounds that are not
portrayed by John.
God would see a massive wall with precious stones in the foundation.
We would see saints whose characters have been formed under great heat
and pressure.
God would see a River of Life, and trees of life growing on each side
of the River. We would see saints who are able to bring life and healing
to the citizens of the new world of righteousness. Out from their inward
nature flows rivers of living water, as Jesus said. When they lay hands
on the sick, the sick recover.
The holy city is wherever these members of the city are. All who see
them shall acknowledge them that they are the priests whom God has
chosen to govern and bless mankind.
God sees pillars of glory that provide structural strength and
symmetry for His Temple. We see stalwart saints who are responsible for
the strength and beauty of the city. God’s name, the name of the city,
and the new name of Christ, are on each of those who constitute the new
Jerusalem.
God sees what is true of the new Jerusalem. We see the people and
their activities.
The same situation exists on the earth of today. We see the great
cities of the world, Tokyo, Moscow, Berlin, New York City, Paris,
London, Beijing. Delhi. They are a wonder world to behold. Driving or
flying into Las Vegas, Nevada, at night is to enter a fairyland of
fluorescent lights.
But what does God see in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City? A
procession of skeletons who dwell in dark caves, participating in a "Danse
Macabre," a "Totentanz," a dance of death choreographed by demons.
What does God see in me, in you? What does God see in my house, in
your house?
One must overcome the morally dark environment of the world if he or
she is to be a pillar in the Temple of God and inherit all this Divine
Glory. The destructive doctrine of Dispensational "grace" tells people
they can please God by belief in Christ even though they do not overcome
the forces that come against them.
Thus this pernicious doctrine robs them (and God; and the citizens of
the new world of righteousness) of members of the Body of Christ capable
of installing and governing Paradise on the earth.
Our world began with two people playing in a garden. The new world
also will be a garden, a Paradise in which people with the hearts of
children perform the tasks for which they were created. They live in
righteousness, love, joy, and peace because money no longer is a medium
of exchange.
Each one receives freely and gives freely. There no longer are rich
or poor. The angels of God minister to the heirs of salvation, making
certain that everyone does his part, and no individual accumulates more
than he needs or without what he or she needs.
The Paradise on the new earth will be installed and maintained by the
members of God’s elect, those who constitute the new Jerusalem. This is
why we are struggling upward in darkness, so to speak, endeavoring to
serve God in a world that is becoming more evil each day. All these
pains, problems, and frustrations are necessary if we are going to
possess the character required for the installing and maintaining of
Paradise.
The great majority of the citizens of the new world of righteousness
will not be members of the holy city, of God’s elect. Rather they will
be governed and blessed by the elect, the saints of God.
I expect that this true vision of the endgame will become clear to
all Christians in the next few years. This will redirect the churches
into more productive efforts and more scriptural preaching and worship.
The words of the hymns will speak of Christ and of righteous
behavior. They will teach us of the warfare that brings us into the
Kingdom of God rather than about flying away to a mansion in Heaven.
Such words may have been helpful in time past but they are not
appropriate today.
The true vision is simple, clear, and scriptural. The present concept
of mansions and streets of gold is not simple, clear, or scriptural. In
fact, it is not what people really want. What people actually want above
all is loving relationship, whether the setting be luxurious or plain.
Revelation, Chapters Twenty-one and Twenty-two describe what God has
planned from the original six days of creation. Now God is resting. We
are to enter that rest, that finished work of God. We enter God’s rest
by continually looking to the Lord Jesus for His Presence and wisdom in
every aspect of our thinking, speaking, and doing.
Notice, in Chapter 22, the "River of the Water of Life." This is
flowing from the Throne of God. This means the Holy Spirit will now be
issuing from the saints, since the Throne is in the city, in the members
of the glorified church. "The streams of living water shall flow from
within him," Jesus said concerning those who believe in Him.
The saints follow the Holy Spirit until they are living in waters to
swim in, a river that cannot be crossed. They are trees of life on each
side of the river.
This is the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles,
and Jesus made this proclamation at the feast of Tabernacles. Here is
the endgame. The members of the Christian Church, God’s elect, the
saints, are to bring eternal life to the saved peoples of the nations of
the earth.
Our training as a saint throughout our lifetime is to prepare us to
govern and bless those multitudes of people whom God intends to save to
the new world of righteousness.
There is only one Tree of Life. It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
But when we have eaten of His flesh and drunk His blood, and the Father
and He are dwelling in us, then we are a tree of life. This is how the
Tree can be on both sides of the River.
We will see God’s Face and His name will be on our foreheads. This
unprecedented blessing makes all of the problems and pains of our
discipleship seem as nothing when compared with such an inheritance.
There is "one great street" of the new Jerusalem. I believe this
street symbolizes "the way of faith." It is of pure gold, transparent as
glass.
The curse has been lifted. The blood atonement has been made on the
cross. Since then a multitude of people have come up from the dust of
the earth, through the grace of Christ, and have obeyed the Father. They
have overcome the Accuser, Satan, by the blood of the Lamb. Their lives
have given a true witness of God, His Person, His will, and His ways.
They have set aside their own life that Christ might have His unhindered
way in them.
Through them God is able to lift the curse from the world.
They will live by that light that created an evening and a morning
during the first three days of creation, when there were no sun, moon,
or stars.
They will be so filled with God’s eternal Life that there will be
need of a night in which to rest.
They will govern the works of God’s hands throughout eternity. There
will be an ever increasing multitude of people who have been saved into
the new world of righteousness. "Of the increase of His government and
peace there will be no end."
The members of the Church, the called out from the nations, have been
created for the purpose of installing and maintaining Paradise on the
new earth. This is why their discipleship is so rigorous. They must be
perfected in obedience to insure that there never again will be a
rebellion against God.
People who do wrong must continued to do wrong. People who do right
must continue to do right. This is so the way of the Lord can be made
straight, transparent, crystal clear to everyone. There shall be no more
crooked, elevated, rough, crooked ways among people. There shall be no
more mixtures. The holy will be with the holy. The unclean will be with
the unclean—throughout the eternal ages to come.
Jesus shall reward every individual in terms of what he or she has
done. This statement in Revelation has been fought tooth and nail by
religious leaders. They are speaking from Satan when they say this clear
statement can be circumvented. But it shall stand. Let every man be a
liar.
I do not know how the saved people of the nations are going to "wash
their robes." Perhaps in the same manner we Christians do—in the blood
of the Lamb.
In any case, people who continue to sin will not have access to the
Tree of Life or be permitted into the city. Therefore they will lead a
miserable existence, being denied access to that which have brought them
life and healing. This is true even today, isn’t it? It is not always
readily apparent that sinful people lose their vitality; but eventually
they do.
The Spirit of God and the Bride of the Lamb. invite all who will, to
come and receive the Water of Life. Again, this is true even today.
In Verse 18 of Chapter 22, Christ warns against altering in any
manner the words of the Book of Revelation. I don’t know if this same
curse is spoken concerning any other book of the Bible. This shows us
how important the Book of Revelation actually is.
We sometimes hear from the pulpit that we should avoid the Book of
Revelation because it will confuse us. I wonder where this advice
originates!
I do not know very much, but of one thing I am absolutely certain.
The sun may not rise tomorrow morning. The sky may turn green. None of
us may be alive. But every word of the Book of Revelation is heavier
than the weight of the sand of the combined beaches of our planet. It
shall survive every event that takes place. It shall never pass away!
Each and every word shall come to pass precisely as written, and
there is no authority or power in the heavens, on the earth, or in the
dark regions under the surface of the earth, that can in any manner
change what is written in the Revelation that was given to the Apostle
John on the Island of Patmos.
rbt5@cox.net
http://www.wor.org
http://www.mount-zion.org
Church: (760) 747-8325
Fax: (760) 747-0416
