Then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away.
And the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new!" Also he said: "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.
"He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."
4 comments:
Everything was going so nice (except where is one to go surfing!) up until that last part.
Isn't that a different voice in that last paragraph, those last two verses? Tempting as it might sound, with certain well-known liars in mind--Does this sound like the same Spirit who says: "To the thirsty I will give, without payment"!?
Forrest:
It's the age-old controversy between the theologies of the "Elect" and Universalism (in the original meaning of the term), between the hard-nosed and the soft hearted. The second doctrine is more common among the kind of Christians I meet, especially the Quakers, while 'hard right" Christians more likely choose the first. In my miniscule political consciousness it's the difference between 'republicans' and 'democrats'. Let the poor fend for themselves and take what's coming to them, say the 'reps'. Feed the poor, say the 'demos'. There's no doubt in my mind where Christ comes down.
Yeah, Larry, but remember this: A Republican will see a man drowning 50 feet from shore & throw a life-ring with 30 feet of rope so that the man has to swim 20 feet to reach it -- doesn't want to create dependency.
The Democrat will throw him a ring with 75 feet of rope, and then drop it and walk away; he doesn't want to get involved.
Christ isn't either of them. He gets engaged and puts himself at risk, too.
Good, and unexpected, to hear from people here again?
Try a different book? I'm for that!
I have to agree that the portrayals of God, and of Jesus, in this book are on the harsh side. Worse than God's appearances in the "Old Testament," where He is certainly mysterious and dangerous, but is frequently seen as compassionate and willing to forgive (if only those pesky humans would behave!)
As for Republicans and Democrats: The last time I was active in a political campaign I helped get Lyndon Johnson elected President, so we wouldn't get dragged into some crazy war.
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