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Wonderful City of God
Wonderful City of God
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. . . . But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16)
“There’s a wonderful place we call home, Tis a city of glory divine, It is built in the garden of rest, And that beautiful home shall be mine, O that wonderful Eden so blest, Where Jesus the Master has gone, To prepare us this glorious home, There he bids us a welcome to come” (J.W. Ferrill). The beauty, the glory and the majesty of that city God has prepared for those who love and obey him is beyond anything that we have ever seen or heard in this earthly life. John does give us a glimpse of its beauty and majesty when he tells us that in that wonderful city, God will wipe away every tear and there will be no death there, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain (Rev. 21:4). I don’t know how you feel, but the thought of living forever in that wonderful city where all things are made new, gives to me a hope that brings a measure of strength, comfort and peace to my weary body.
In the wonderful city of God, we will be alive, really living. I don’ know what kind of body we will have there but I do know that God will clothe us with a new body (1 John 2:1-4). The city whose architect and builder is a real place; Jesus tells me so (John 14:1-3, Paul tells me so (2 Cor. 5:1-4). Peter tells me so (2 Peter 1:10-11) and John tells me so (Rev. 21:1-3). When I think about this beautiful home of the soul, I think about the people who will be there; God, our creator and sustainer (Rev. 21:3), Jesus, our Lord and Savior (John 14:1-3, 2 Cor. 5:8), all those great heroes of the Bible (Hebrews 11) and not to be forgotten, will be many of those we have loved so dearly in this life. I love the refrain from one of our grand old songs that proclaims, “Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away to a home on God’s celestial shore; Just a few more weary days and then I’ll fly away to a land where joys shall never end.”
Today, we are on a great journey, one that is most unique because it has a beginning but it has no end. O, to be sure, the day is coming when this physical body will cease to exist. It will be placed in a grave but 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 as well as1 Corinthians 15 tell us that the grave is not our final resting place. The truth is that with every breath we draw, every step we take we are brought just a little closer to that moment when we will fold up this earthly tent and step out into eternity to live forever.
One of my favorite passages is Gal. 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” I love this life and I want to stay here for as long as possible without being a burden on my children yet I know that this world is not my abiding place and neither is it yours. Each one of us should be living every moment of every day knowing that the next moment could be the one that will usher us out into eternity. With all our being, we should be running the race of life with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith knowing that for the faithful child of God, the best is yet to come Hebrews 12:1-3, 2 Corinthians 5:6-9)
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
