When God Moves In!

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Revelation 2:1-4

When you learn a new language or even your first language there are always stumbles along the way. As a child I remember learning the term “passed away.” In English it is a gentler way of saying someone had died. I was shocked one Sunday morning when my mother leaned over in Church and told me that a man had “passed out” in the isle. I thought he had died right there in Church.

You may be shocked to hear that “the first heaven and the first earth” as well as “the old order of things” is going to pass away. The old order of things includes death and mourning as well as crying and pain! So death itself will die! How can that be? The death of death is a double negative which we were all taught is a positive!

When my grandfather passed away my grandmother moved in with us. As sad as was his passing, when she moved in it was at least for me a glorious experience. As far as I was concerned she was the perfect grandmother and when she came to live with us my life was definitely better.

When heaven and earth pass away God Himself is going to move in with His people. If you spent the rest of your life pondering how wonderful that will be you would not even “touch the hem of the garment” of the ecstasy of when God comes to dwell with men!

When I was a child I got confused about the difference between passing away and passing out. I am tempted to still be confused. The “old order of things” here on this earth is not going to “pass out,” it is going to “pass away.”

As a human being I would prefer that God clean up the old order of things and let them pass out if He must while he works His surgery. But that is not what the Bible says He will do. The old order of things will surely pass away. But then God will move in with His people.

When God moves in the sun will come up on a day that will never end!