Hiking the New Earth

I. Crave. Hikes.  I visualize trails lined with naked, gray trees, softened by damp, rose-painted leaves. Clay-colored streams cut through my steady trek, slipping down hillsides.  No leaves block my view so my gaze can follow the tumble and splash all the way down to the creek. Amid the leafless trees, bird calls are distinct; I can spot the noisemakers - - tweeters, chirpers, squawkers - - hopping branch to branch in heated conversation. Tall trees that look immovable, are moved by the wind, groaning as they sway. I hear and feel rain. From thousands of feet up, millions of translucent droplets dive toward Earth, landing on crisp leaves, spongy moss, solid branches - - a percussive symphony like none you will hear from a stage. It all feels like a secret letting me in on itself.

But it isn’t a secret. It’s a proclamation. “For ever since the world was created people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can see clearly His invisible qualities - - His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20 NLT) God is shouting, speaking, and whispering His glory. So, if you ever meet me on the trail, don’t be surprised if I am weeping. It happens a lot. Earth’s beauty stirs my senses, but it’s more than that. Every tangible thing is expressing the attributes and loving-kindness of its Creator - - my Father. A path makes a way; Christ is my way. Water exists in a never-ending cycle; streams becoming creeks, becoming rivers, becoming seas. The Gospel - - the love of God - - is an unceasing, ever-growing fountain of mercy and grace. The Holy Spirit is like the wind and like rivers of living water, and moves us when we believe ourselves to be immovable. Barren trees allow us to see farther and to see more, reminding us that God uses cold, lonely times to open our eyes and expose what would not be visible if all our days were lush and green; those trees groan, as does all of creation, waiting for the redemption of God’s people, waiting for the New Earth. (Romans 8:19-22)  I am waiting too. (See the rest of Romans 8.)  I groan along with the trees, believing in the change to come. 

One of my favorite “groaning” spots is a trail marked by a sign that says, “Old Forest”.  It’s hard to explain, but when I’m there, I have a sense that the change is not far off - - not in time, nor distance. Sitting at the base of those elderly trees, I feel like an embryo. But, I wonder, what is “old” to the eternal God? Maybe God started life on Earth with ancient trees and layers of rocks and minerals, instantly speaking into existence billion-year-old mountains and thousand-year old trees. Maturity may be necessary to give birth to life’s processes. Adam and Eve, according to Scripture, began life as adults, so why shouldn’t a forest? Old trees make new trees. So an “old forest” is always full of new life. I have never been on the trail in any season, when I did not see green foliage. Old produces and nourishes, new sustains and extends. I think Heaven will be like the forest; new - - like nothing we’ve ever seen before because it will be free from corruption, swelling with imperishable life, but a New Earth, so not  unfamiliar, like a place we were made to inhabit - - like home.

So . . . I. Crave. Hikes. I visualize trails lined with gray trees clothed in green. The ground is still soft beneath my feet, the water still tumbles over rocks, racing down the hillside; birds still converse. Tall trees continue to be moved by the wind but the groaning is over - - it was only temporary and has become one of the former things. Rain still dives and taps out a song. There are hints in Scripture that my travel could be quick, instantaneous. But, I hope I can take my time - - all forever of it. I hope to give new meaning to the term, “through hiking.”  I will walk the entire globe and not grow weary. I’ll climb steep hills and stop in the middle only to love the view, not to catch my breath. My knees will feel great. A virgin forest will grow daily before my eyes and I'll witness its progress as it ages a hundred, a thousand, a million years. I’ll see a leaf come to rest undisturbed over the course of a millennia until it becomes a stone-cast work of God’s art. For the rest of my never-ending life, the New Earth will proclaim to my senses the glory of its Maker. And, best of all, I will meet face-to-face, and hike side-by-side with Christ, who has walked with me all along and whose flesh bears the scars of this Old Earth - - the scars that will have made all things new.

Scars in Heaven

I have a scar at the base of my right index finger. As scars go, it's not much - - a delicate silvery sliver from a wound close to forty years old, the result of a playground injury. This scar is a permanent part of my earthly flesh - - a constant reminder of a screw jutting from a swing set.  When I was cut, I saw blood, but was unaware as a child, that beneath the surface of my skin microscopic cells with various specialties were at work beginning the healing process in an ordered, intricate operation. If we are paying attention, there are exhibitions of God's genius everywhere, perhaps most remarkably inside our own bodies. The healing of a wound, to me, is a tiny picture of a bigger picture. God spoke the world and all its creatures into existence, but then allowed His processes to take over - - the sowing of seeds, water cycles, life cycles, birth, growth. Colossians reminds us that Christ created all things and that He sustains them as well. The way a wound heals displays His sustenance of life. When God's creatures are wounded, He does not speak their wounds healed - - although that is not an impossibility for Him, but allows the system that He put in place to follow its planned course.

Think about it for a moment. When my flesh was pierced by that little screw, the response of my body was instantaneous. My cells rushed to work, some to stop the bleeding, others to destroy any bacterial invaders. Over a period of a few days to about 3 weeks, other specialized cells took charge, forming new flesh and new blood vessels. The edges of the wound pulled together and skin cells traveled across the newly joined surface. Finally, a fibrous tissue called collagen went to work to form my scar - - the same substance that makes up the majority of my skin, but in the case of my wound, coming together in a less structured manner in order to make needed repair quickly.  

1 Timothy 2:5 says, "There is only one God and one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity  - - the man Christ Jesus." (NLT)  Some may find it unromantic or less spiritual to think of Jesus as flesh. But, that is in fact what the Bible teaches. He is forever both God and man. In the twentieth chapter of John's gospel, Jesus shows his wounds to the disciples and the women; then again to Thomas. The Word does not use the term scar. These wounds were only three days old, after all. According to God's design, they were still in the process of repair. To me, this is the most romantic and spiritual thing of all. That Christ would take on a flesh just like the one He gave me. A flesh that must feel pain and must heal and must produce permanent scars. That is how God-made flesh operates and Christ became like us so we could become like Him.

Thomas wasn't present when Jesus appeared to the other disciples. When he showed them his crucifixion wounds, the Bible says they were filled with joy because they were seeing the Lord. When Thomas placed his fingers on Jesus' body, Christ's wounds were still tender and sore; the cells still working to fill in the wound with new tissue and blood vessels. But, for the disciples, Thomas included, it was this wounded, red, sore flesh that caused them to declare that Christ was God and Lord. Those deadly wounds on a living man were the evidence of Christ's deity. Christ's flesh and bone, does not make him less God. He is all in all - - everything. The fact that He could determine to be man and sinlessly walk a man's walk, sinlessly endure a man's pain, and sinlessly bear all men's sin should take away any doubt of His deity. He chose to live in flesh and participate in the physical processes that He created in us. He chose to live as a baby, a boy, a man - -nourishing his physical life by his own creation. He chose this because He chose a people and desires to live with them forever.

Hebrews 4 teaches that Jesus entered into Heaven as a man who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.  He now bears the scars to prove it. As scars go, His are much - - a permanent part of His flesh from deep, traumatic, terminal wounds that are thousands of years old;  a constant reminder of nails pounded through human skin, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and nerves into rough, wooden beams by hands He'd formed of skin, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and nerves - - human hands He determined to love with an everlasting love.  A scar cannot really be removed. Modern medicine can reduce or revise them but they are always a part of our earthly body. I don't know if my little scar will remain on my resurrected body, but I know the scars of my Savior will always be - - everlasting scars to display a love that cannot be removed, revised, or reduced. I know when I see them and touch them I will say, undeniably, "My Lord and my God!"                               

In The Beginning: Heaven on Earth

In the beginning, God spoke the world into existence ex nihilo - - out of nothing. The second chapter of Genesis says this same all-powerful God then planted a garden, formed a man, and breathed life into the man's body. He could have spoken the man alive and the garden into existence, but instead, sowed seed and made "every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, " to "spring up." (Gen. 2:7-9). Then with dust from the earth, he gave shape to man. God's breath filled lifeless lungs with life-giving spirit and so man is forever nephesh  - - life, vital breath, soul. Man was not made from nothing; his physical body was formed from the stuff of earth and animated by the breath of Heaven - - an amalgamation too grand to comprehend.

In the beginning, God lived on Earth. He worked with his soil, and he walked with his image-bearers. The English Standard Version of the Scripture states Genesis 1:7 and 8 this way: "And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day." There is debate as to the nature of this "expanse." I won't pretend to know, or even have an opinion as to what is was.  Was it solid or liquid?  A sort of giant terrarium? A bio-dome? Not a clue. But, I know from Scripture that it was here and it was Heaven. I love that the ESV capitalizes Heaven. That uppercase 'H' causes the gears of my brain to whir. A proper noun - - a real place like Canada or Ohio. When God created Earth, He created Heaven as well, and they were one place.

In the beginning, heaven and earth, man and God coalesced. Everything existed in a God-made oneness. A close friend of mine said, "God is always coming down to us." What an accurate and glorious truth! Ephesians 1:10 tells us, "And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ - - everything in Heaven and on Earth." (NLT) Colossians 1 says Jesus is the great reconciler, knitting all things, whether on Earth or in Heaven, to God. Man's rebellion caused God to shut the door to the garden he had planted - - no more access to the Tree of Life.  The first man and woman were expelled from paradise and entered into the trials of life on a planet corrupted by sin. This corruption was all-inclusive. Pain became front and center in childbirth and in our efforts to obtain nourishment. Pain is now a prerequisite for life.  Spiritual and emotional frustration, pride, contempt - - so many poisons entered into our relationships. There would be no more surviving by reaching out and reaping what the Lord God had sown. Man would eat only by the sweat that comes from laboring against thorns and thistles. And the body formed from dust would return to dust. The fusion of Heaven and Earth was torn. Mankind and his planet-home now stood on the edge of an uncrossable chasm.

In the beginning, God planted a garden. The Bible gives no indication that this garden ceased to exist. God's people wanted to get back; to walk again with God on Earth; to be the caregivers of His creation.  The Way back was proclaimed throughout the Old Testament. Prophets shouted, wept, and pleaded then grew silent - - four-hundred-years-worth of silent. Then Heaven's voice became incarnate. The Voice spoke to Zechariah at the birth of his son, John the Baptist, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David . . . "  (Lk. 1:68-69) The Voice spoke to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy - - the Son of God."  (Lk. 1:35) The Voice spoke to the Shepherds, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Lk. 2:10,11)

In the beginning, God spoke Earth and Heaven as one. In the Word to Zechariah, Mary, and the Shepherds there is evidence, once again, of this convergence. The Lord God would be the God of a people. God would visit earth to perform a heavenly feat - - the redemption and salvation  of human beings. God would come through a human bloodline and would, indeed, be a human. A girl would be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and God would once more plant a garden, a Tree of Life on Earth, sowing his seed in a human womb. A child  would be born possessing all the bodily needs and functions of any other child, but this one would be called "holy - - the Son of God." Angels came to the earthiest of earthlings - - shepherds, to proclaim that the anointed one of God would be born in the city of an earthly king.

In the beginning, God came down to us and proclaimed for centuries that He would make a way home for us. Christ, the Way, came telling people that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. In his flesh, Heaven had again come near, approached, drawn close to mankind and to Earth. This wasn't an invasion or an intrusion. Jesus didn't just step into Earth's time and space; he traveled the birth canal, nursed at a mother's breast, worked at carpentry alongside a father. His flesh was stabbed and bled and when he released his nephesh, his heart stopped; his lungs no longer took in air. Jesus became like us and, when he rose from death, he became like we will be.

In the new beginning, at Christ's return, God will again come to Earth. John describes what he saw in Revelation 21:2-3, "And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, 'Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.'" This city will not be made from nothing - - it will be made of the children of God, and at its center will be the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ. Together, the people of God and the Savior of mankind will stand on real feet and legs on a real Earth. God will re-unite Heaven and Earth and will live on his new planet with the people he has redeemed.

Groaning Is Temporary; Singing Forever

Autumn leaves do not fall from the tree - - they are pushed. The tree has to cast off anything that would rob the new life to come of nourishment and water. And so, by force, the tree is laid bare. Frigid temperatures will come. Gray branches will be entombed in ice and some of them will be broken. The fallen leaves will decay to feed the earth and foster new growth.
The path to resurrection is not easy. It is not a delicate wafting on a gentle breeze toward a soft, earthy bed. In the beginning, Adam and Eve appear to have come to life without pain, but all of life since their rebellion has been preceded by pain - - sweat, blood, and struggle. And a resurrected life is preceded, of course, by physical death.
I began this thought with trees because I see in Scripture an intriguing parallel between the believer's journey toward new life and that of the earth's. I see the Gospel in every corner of creation. 2 Peter 3:10 says that "the earth and the works done on it will be exposed," or "laid bare." In Isaiah 48:10, God is talking to His people and says, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction."   Change comes to the earth by means of great violence. Floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes - - all of these things expose, lay bare and make way for new growth. For us it is affliction, pain, struggle, trials - - these things expose the sin in our hearts and lay them bare before God so that we can be conformed to the image of Christ; so we can be transformed into new creatures. Grief, sorrow, fear - - all of these things assault our minds and emotions. A spiritual, emotional trial can cause physical pain or illness because we are a joining of spirit and body. Randy Alcorn, in his book entitled, Heaven, points out that a human being has never lived who wasn't both spirit and body. In Psalm 63, David says that his soul thirsts for God; his flesh faints for Him. We relate to our Creator by both means. When my mother passed from this earth, I hadn't considered Heaven much, and so I thought I had lost her. I experienced a flood - - a fire, a violent grief that pressed on me and roiled inside. I suffered physical pain and mental anguish. But I know now, those things were birth pains moving me, by force, toward real life. I know that God had a beautiful purpose in my groaning. Romans 8:22,23 "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." 
I don't mean to make light of human affliction.  As believers our walk toward the day of our resurrection is a time of pruning, and casting off and pruning hurts. Casting off, cutting away, cannot happen without pain.  The apostle Paul knew about suffering. He spent many years "kicking against the goads." Living a life outside the will and blessings of our Father-Creator is agony. I'm sure, like most of us, he didn't realize what he was missing at the time but he soon found out. He was blinded, stopped dead in his tracks by the light of Christ. He was imprisoned, tortured, and hunted down like an animal. He spent most of his ministry in prison, sometimes physically ill, sometimes hurt and betrayed by those he loved and trusted. He also endured the knowledge that his brothers and sisters in Christ were being persecuted and murdered for their faith. And yet, in 2 Corinthians 4:17 he makes this amazing statement:  "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
His circumstances, to me, seem unbearable.  He acknowledges them to be afflictions but says they are "light" and "momentary." They are "light" and "momentary," not in comparison to someone else's afflictions or to some worse afflictions that he conjur in his mind - - but compared to an "eternal weight of glory."  In fact, he says that this current affliction is "preparing for us an eternal weight of glory."  Not that it is preparing us for that glory but the other way around, as if every trying circumstance is a sort-of glory-brick, building the Kingdom of Heaven. Every time we, as God's people, endure a trial by His grace, strength, and wisdom, His will is being done on earth and the Kingdom of Glory expands.
So back to the tree. Christ, our tree of life, cast off his glory to come down to earth. He was broken and He bled and then He died. He cried in agony - - in human pain. He was and is a physical man. He had a nervous system, a circulatory system and, as a result, suffered the effects of a slow loss of blood and felt the piercing of his flesh. He endured the shame that should have been mine. Now He is making me ready for Heaven - - for a yoke that is light and an easy burden - - an eternal weight of glory. So I am happy as He casts off my deadness to make way for new growth. I don't wallow in shame, but I swim in grace as He lays bare my sin and prunes the chains that enslaved me to it. I know my brokenness is only temporary - - a way for Him to put me back together as I was meant to be. Tombs of ice will melt in the light of the Son. Groaning is temporary, but "I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever." (Ps. 89) 

Heaven's Designer is in the Details

When speaking of Heaven it is a true statement to say it is not about the place; it's about the Person. The Person being, of course, Jesus Christ. There is, in fact, no truer statement because everything is about Christ. I heard this truth recently in a Sunday message that came on the heels of several months spent with dear friends on a quest to gain a clearer vision of the nature of the place called Heaven. Hearing this truth made me pause; made me a little anxious about the direction of my heart's desire. Afterall, if Jesus will be there, why should I care about the details? He will be all I need. Why should anything else matter to me? I prayed about this, fearing that perhaps I was becoming a "Heaven-worshipper."  Could my longing for Heaven be an idol keeping me from loving Christ - - the maker and giver of Heaven? An even larger knot grew in my stomach when I thought about all the people I had been telling about Heaven - - about all that I had learned. What if I had been leading them astray all this time?
As is my habit, I prayed for a time and then opened the Word. I have been reading Colossians of late - - reading it over and over everyday, but on this particular day verses 3 and 4 of chapter one caught my heart. This is what they say, "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven."  Our faith in Christ and our love for others are directly linked to the hope we have waiting for us in Heaven. I know that since studying the place, I have grown in my faith in Christ. My fear of death fades as my trust in Him grows. I know that since studing the place, my love for others has grown. I feel an ease in sharing my faith and a desire for sharing my faith that I did not possess before.
So why does it matter? Why should we think about the place? Why should the nature of Heaven be important to us?
Firstly, I believe it is important to Christ - - Heaven's maker. John 14 tells us that he is preparing a place for us. That place is Heaven and he's put some thought into it - - that's what we do when we prepare something. Imagine a new husband. He has purchased a house for his bride. She hasn't seen it - - it's a suprise, but he told her he was getting it ready. She's probably a little nervous - - what if it's not nice? What if the colors aren't to her liking? What if the lighting isn't right, or the closets big enough?  But, she needn't have worried. He loves her and knows her and has worked tirelessly on the details so that he could lavish her with good things, and on the day he carries her over the threshold, he can't wait for her to see her new home. He is her groom and has longed to share this day and this home with her for the rest of their lives. He leads her from room to room pointing out all the features he has designed and built with her in mind. Christ is waiting for his people to come home - - to the home that he has lovingly prepared. It matters to Him what that home is like, so it should matter to me.
A second thought came to mind as I wondered about why I should be interested in the characteristics of Heaven. My children have been blessed by God with artisitic abilities. This is one of the greatest blessings of my life. When my son or daughter makes a painting, draws a picture, or takes a photograph, I look at what they have created. I notice every detail - - colors, shapes, tone, meaning. As I examine what they have made, I come to know them a little better; our relationship becomes a little more intimate. And my love for them is stirred.
One of the early questions I posed to my friends and myself as we began our quest for Heaven was this: If all you knew about God was His promise of Heaven, what characteristics would you attribute to Him? If I have a faulty understanding of Heaven, I will not answer this questions sufficiently. This - - this is why I examine Heaven - - why I have been searching the Scriptures for details - - for colors, shapes, sounds, smells, textures. The more I learn about the place, the more my knowledge of the Person grows. I trust Him more. I love Him more. He is the maker of the place for which He is making me fit. He is waiting to carry me across the threshold and I trust He has the strength to do just that.