REALLY? GOD DWELLS WITH THE HUMAN RACE?
“Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people
and God himself will always be with them as their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.’
“The One who sat on the throne said,
‘Behold, I make all things new.’” Rev 21:1-5a
“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race!” Really???? What evidence do we have that this is true? Let’s think about that. Maybe because:
- Our hearts are longing for love: to love deeply and honestly with our whole heart and soul. Why do we want that? Because we are made that way – “Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness” Gen 1:26. And this God is Love itself – that ever flowing love, flowing in and out of us, too, because we are made like God. But we have a choice, here. God doesn’t force us to accept and enjoy working on being like God. (Why do we have to work on it? Maybe so that we can do some creating ourselves – have some “skin in the game.”) God leaves us free to choose to get into this gift that God offers us or to choose to ignore it and search for happiness by filling our days with fleeting pleasures which is really as useless as trying to “fit a square peg into a round hole.”
- Human nature is the same today as it was when the first humans were created. God got it right the first time! People born today are just like they were then. Even after all of these years, and the huge pile of mistakes we and others have made and are still making, God sees no reason to change the design.
- The same with all of creation that is around us – the harmony, the interdependence, the beauty – even the molecular structure and system. Look at a water molecule – a SHARING of electrons. Not the bigger electron-rich oxygen atom stealing the lowly hydrogen atom’s one electron, but a SHARING of electron leading to a bonding of the two atoms. Is this a sign for how we should be with each other? And the leaves on the trees, being gently caressed and swaying in response to the invisible breeze. Did God make this happen to remind us, when we SEE it that God is here caressing us and nudging us to give a little?
- What would you like to add to this list of evidence that “God’s dwelling is with the human race”?
THE OLD ORDER IS PASSING AWAY
And where did the “Old Order” come from? The tears, the mourning, the pain? Could they be caused by a God who is love? Or are they the side effects of the quick fixes and other maneuvers humanity has sought rather than seeking obedience to God’s wisdom-filled plan for us and God’s world?
What can you and I do to help us move away from this “Old Order” created by human foibles of the past and today? Perhaps, if we turn off our devices and turn our attention to this God “whose dwelling is with the human race”, if we become like those tree leaves letting the invisible breeze of our God (who is Love) move us, we will “behold” how we, along with God are “making all things new.”
Sister Loretta