Sunday, February 7, 2016

Just a Thought from Reading - (Our tent, Our Mansion, With God Forever!)


I love it when I am listening in a bible class, reading the bible, or reading something from an outside source about the bible and my mind takes a detour of thought. Having begun a study of the apostle Paul in our Sunday morning bible class, I want to be reading on my own so my learning might be more fruitful. I have and incredible teacher, Lanny Partain, who is always successful in getting my mind flowing. In the direction he might like is not always a given, but I fully believe he simply wants people to think about God. 

The reading I have been doing (ever so slowly since the writing is way above my head) is from N. T. Wrights book, "Paul, The Faithfulness of God." While difficult to read from my almost non-existent background in theology, he does stir my thought and when combined with Sunday morning class this morning, the tangent is exciting and I believe plausible, even if it is no more than a figment of my imagination.

In the second chapter of his book, N.T. Wright is discussing the worldview of Paul and describes the temple as Paul would have most likely understood in his development. He expresses the temple as being a microcosm of creation where the heavens and earth come together and God is with His people on the throne. As I understand things, the original creation has God with Adam and all is well prior to sin entering the garden. The temple desired by David and built by his son Solomon becomes God's dwelling place with His people and represents (in my understanding of what is written) a time when creation will be back as planned with God living once again in the midst of HIs people. Paul like other faithful Jews, is awaiting the time when all is made new and his job on earth is to continually prepare and nurture people back into being the faithful people finally out of bondage to this world of sin. 

Coming to mind is this passage from 2 Corinthians 5:4 NIV

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

It catches my attention because it seemed to speak to me of the same thing being represented in Wright's book regarding bondage. In a way, we have what is described as a tent and this is only a preliminary dwelling as we move toward the final heavenly dwelling with God. I definitely see our earthly (bondage body) now and the free and perfect covering/body when we are rewarded with eternal life with God.

My mind immediately went to a song I sang just a few days ago, "I've Got a Mansion," and thoughts went even further. Some translations us the word rooms in John 1:14, but the ASV used the word, mansions.

In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 

I can't even begin to consider how many times I've been told the concept described concerning our final dwelling with God is so wonderful the writers simply could not put things in to adequate words for us to know how special things would be. While in my youth, I often dreamed and thought of how wonderful it would be to get to Heaven and we would sing the songs about how wonderful Heaven must be. Like many, I dreamed of my spirit going to God at death as is taught and believed by many still today. As I began reading and trying to understand for myself what was being said, I gradually gave up the concept of existing for all eternity because of what I had been taught was "included" in the concept of being made in the image of God and took on a belief which I think is more in line with what the bible actually says. As I have been so many times, I might be wrong on this too, but the bible seems to tell me that only God is eternal and His gift to us on judgment day will be eternal life. Until then, I have the promise of being eternal with Him and nothing more.

I read Revelation 21:1-4 and I no longer dream of going to Heaven, but rather being with God, much like I think Wright is telling us about Paul looking forward to a time when all will be new and right with creation once again.

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. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. '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."

After leaving class this morning, I was excited because I knew I had come to looking forward to the time when I would be given eternal life and a perfect "heavenly" body, but what I had not considered prior to class this morning was the community of God in the final setting when all is as it should be. The thoughts came from the discussion of the church and how we are members of the one body of Christ. The community of Christ tasked with making the will of God done on earth as it is in Heaven and all the while figuratively walking around in the desert (bondage of our current situation and need for a tent) one step closer to the "Promised Land!"

As far as I understand, God never returned to the temple and to me, right now, Revelation 21 speaks of the next time (final time) when God will be HOME and all will be as planned by our Heavenly Father. The body of Christ, the Community of God all together in one place for all eternity. In my reasoning, it is a grand thought and yet, the most exciting part was what came next in my thinking.
The community of God will no longer be wandering in the desert but in the house of God where in the translation from ASV there will be many mansions. Whether simple fantasy of thought or reality,
we will no longer be clothed in a tent. We will be clothed in a MANSION!