The End of the Age
There is so much information about the end of the age in the Bible. The end of the age is truly the best term to describe the return of Jesus. It isn't the end of the world, it isn't the end of days...it is the end of the age of brokenness and the beginning of the age of light. It is truly the story of Jesus coming back to finish what He started, remaking the earth into what God called very good in the first place: God face to face with His beloved people in a garden of Eden...that is what this earth really is, and will soon be again.
When Jesus returns, He will setup His new government in Israel. He is bringing with Him a city He has been building, called the New Jerusalem. It will descend out of Heaven and "hover" over the geographic location we call Jerusalem right now. This is the first stage of heaven coming to earth.
God loves processes. Everything He made lives in process. Birth takes 9 months, trees grow over time, people mature...God loves process and He has woven it into all of creation. Many imagine when Jesus returns that He waves His hand and makes everything new...that all of the sudden He changes His mind about process and magically and suddenly fixes everything...this is not what the Bible describes in vivid detail. The truth is God is not late for a meeting, biting His nails, or waiting to see how this all goes down. God is zealously anticipating our reunion to Him, but He is going to savor the entire process. He wants us to savor it, too.
Choosing to savor the process of an all-powerful God in the midst of a very intense set of circumstances is the highest expression of faith and humility. It is a living way of saying to God "I believe You are who You say You are, that You are faithful to be good to me, the object of your love, and that You know what You are doing."
Jesus is going to establish His throne in the New heavenly Jerusalem, and His footstool will be earthly Jerusalem. He is re-joining heaven and earth, because He owns them both, and the Father said that heaven and earth joined together, with man face to face with God, is "very good." There is a reason demons try desperately to possess people, it is because the fullness of existence is physical joined to spiritual. The enemy's time is short, but forever we will enjoy the fullness of existence...the supernatural joining the natural again....it will begin in a dramatic way at the end of this age.
So that leaves a bit of a problem for the natural earth the way it is. Some intense preparation must be done. The Father withdrew from the physical realm for a reason. It wasn't anger, and He isn't afraid of getting dirty from our sin...it was love that moved the Father of all creation to erect a veil between the spiritual and the physical realm. His presence simply became deadly once the earth was broken.
God created us with an infinite capacity to encounter an infinite God. When Adam and Eve chose their own way, they became something less than infinite in their capacity, and anything less than infinite is "infinitely less." Suddenly, God's blazing glory became infinitely too much for the human frame to bear. For love, God withdrew from what He called "very good." Who is this amazing Father that sacrifices His desire just to give to those desiring to reunite with Him a chance to live a life of superior infinite pleasure as the object of His perfect affection??!! The mind cannot comprehend the love and beauty of this perfect God, and the process He has selected.
Many are afraid of the rumors about the process described in Revelation. The process God has selected is, in reality, amazing. if you are the apple of the author's eye, the story is always good for you!
But the truth remains that the earth is unready for blazing glory and holiness infinite in strength to touch down. Everything less than infinite in capacity to receive Him will be utterly consumed. Revelation is the story, told in advance, of Jesus readying the earth for His Father's return.
Jesus' process begins with His Bride, who becomes pure and spotless herself in the process. There is only one type of creation that can pass through that veil and not be burned up in holy glory...things that have died. Jesus wants to open the veil...split the sky and make a way for the Father to return in full splendor...but for Him to do that He has to renew the earth. He does this in a great process clearly laid out in the Bible. That is what He is doing through His Bride right now. She is the first one to die...to herself...by intentionally choosing a Sermon on the Mount lifestyle...1st Corinthians 13 love...Her death to herself makes unity possible. As she dies to self-seeking, bit by bit, Jesus resurrects her in glory. Everything that dies in agreement with Jesus gets resurrected in glory. To the measure she dies to herself, Jesus resurrects her in His own glorious image!
Jesus is beginning to assemble Her together in cities all over the earth to seek Him with intent and intensity...night and day, day and night. As the Bride draws together in unity, He will answer with grace to become more and more like Him...Him in us and us in Him...
...this is a big story...I could write for days and months about all the amazing details of what is clearly foretold in the 150 Chapters dedicated to this concept in the Bible. But this is the most distilled truth I can convey about the whole thing: as Jesus unites His willing Bride, the ones that have made themselves ready to endure and not fall away by wholeheartedly giving Jesus their hearts to resurrect, we will become one with Him and be ready for Him to be with us...beholding His bright and blazing Glory that He had in the beginning...what was called by God "very good."
Revelation is the story, told in advance, of God answering this request of His Son in OUR generation:
John 17:20-26 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Ezekiel 47:6-12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this? ” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
When Jesus returns, He will setup His new government in Israel. He is bringing with Him a city He has been building, called the New Jerusalem. It will descend out of Heaven and "hover" over the geographic location we call Jerusalem right now. This is the first stage of heaven coming to earth.
God loves processes. Everything He made lives in process. Birth takes 9 months, trees grow over time, people mature...God loves process and He has woven it into all of creation. Many imagine when Jesus returns that He waves His hand and makes everything new...that all of the sudden He changes His mind about process and magically and suddenly fixes everything...this is not what the Bible describes in vivid detail. The truth is God is not late for a meeting, biting His nails, or waiting to see how this all goes down. God is zealously anticipating our reunion to Him, but He is going to savor the entire process. He wants us to savor it, too.
Choosing to savor the process of an all-powerful God in the midst of a very intense set of circumstances is the highest expression of faith and humility. It is a living way of saying to God "I believe You are who You say You are, that You are faithful to be good to me, the object of your love, and that You know what You are doing."
Jesus is going to establish His throne in the New heavenly Jerusalem, and His footstool will be earthly Jerusalem. He is re-joining heaven and earth, because He owns them both, and the Father said that heaven and earth joined together, with man face to face with God, is "very good." There is a reason demons try desperately to possess people, it is because the fullness of existence is physical joined to spiritual. The enemy's time is short, but forever we will enjoy the fullness of existence...the supernatural joining the natural again....it will begin in a dramatic way at the end of this age.
So that leaves a bit of a problem for the natural earth the way it is. Some intense preparation must be done. The Father withdrew from the physical realm for a reason. It wasn't anger, and He isn't afraid of getting dirty from our sin...it was love that moved the Father of all creation to erect a veil between the spiritual and the physical realm. His presence simply became deadly once the earth was broken.
God created us with an infinite capacity to encounter an infinite God. When Adam and Eve chose their own way, they became something less than infinite in their capacity, and anything less than infinite is "infinitely less." Suddenly, God's blazing glory became infinitely too much for the human frame to bear. For love, God withdrew from what He called "very good." Who is this amazing Father that sacrifices His desire just to give to those desiring to reunite with Him a chance to live a life of superior infinite pleasure as the object of His perfect affection??!! The mind cannot comprehend the love and beauty of this perfect God, and the process He has selected.
Many are afraid of the rumors about the process described in Revelation. The process God has selected is, in reality, amazing. if you are the apple of the author's eye, the story is always good for you!
But the truth remains that the earth is unready for blazing glory and holiness infinite in strength to touch down. Everything less than infinite in capacity to receive Him will be utterly consumed. Revelation is the story, told in advance, of Jesus readying the earth for His Father's return.
Jesus' process begins with His Bride, who becomes pure and spotless herself in the process. There is only one type of creation that can pass through that veil and not be burned up in holy glory...things that have died. Jesus wants to open the veil...split the sky and make a way for the Father to return in full splendor...but for Him to do that He has to renew the earth. He does this in a great process clearly laid out in the Bible. That is what He is doing through His Bride right now. She is the first one to die...to herself...by intentionally choosing a Sermon on the Mount lifestyle...1st Corinthians 13 love...Her death to herself makes unity possible. As she dies to self-seeking, bit by bit, Jesus resurrects her in glory. Everything that dies in agreement with Jesus gets resurrected in glory. To the measure she dies to herself, Jesus resurrects her in His own glorious image!
Jesus is beginning to assemble Her together in cities all over the earth to seek Him with intent and intensity...night and day, day and night. As the Bride draws together in unity, He will answer with grace to become more and more like Him...Him in us and us in Him...
...this is a big story...I could write for days and months about all the amazing details of what is clearly foretold in the 150 Chapters dedicated to this concept in the Bible. But this is the most distilled truth I can convey about the whole thing: as Jesus unites His willing Bride, the ones that have made themselves ready to endure and not fall away by wholeheartedly giving Jesus their hearts to resurrect, we will become one with Him and be ready for Him to be with us...beholding His bright and blazing Glory that He had in the beginning...what was called by God "very good."
Revelation is the story, told in advance, of God answering this request of His Son in OUR generation:
John 17:20-26 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Ezekiel 47:6-12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this? ” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
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