GodReflection: Life in the Holy Presence

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 2 Peter3:13

I’m not sure when it happened.

But somehow and at some point in time over the past five years my heart and my eyes started to focus more and more upon the Holy City.

From the reign of King David through the time of Jesus’ earthly walk Scriptures refers to Jerusalem as the Holy City. It was the Holy City because God’s temple was there to house God’s presence.

I find it interesting that after Jesus resurrection physical Jerusalem is never again referred to as the Holy City.

Because of the Jesus event God moved His present from the Jerusalem temple and took up residence in the individual bodies of Jesus followers throughout the world.

When Scripture comes to a close I see in John’s record of Jesus’ revelation where he introduces a new Jerusalem and calls it the Holy City:

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, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell 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. I am making everything new!”’ Revelation 21: 1-5

In other posts I’ve alluded to the fact that I have been blessed beyond human comprehension. From my family of origin, people I’ve known, places I’ve lived, sights I’ve seen, the level of health I’ve experienced and task roles I’ve received, I’ve experienced firsthand God’s goodness.

I’ve also witnessed on a daily basis Satan’s destructive walk on the face of the globe. His signature in bold red hot ink is visible on every tear of the mourning, on every death certificate, on every pain, and on every cry of despair.

I’m tired of death and mourning, crying and pain. I want to live where this old order of things is history and within the “I am making everything new” of the Holy.

To live in the Holy City will be to live in the complete presence of God’s goodness and in the total absence of Satan’s destruction.

I trust in the promise of a new body in which I will reside eternally upon a recreated new and perfect earth.

Yes, I am at a point in life where I anxiously await my move from life in the shadow of the Holy City to the reality of residence within the city walls.

Richard Rohr sums it up in YES, AND. To live in the shadow of the Holy City is to trust God that beyond the shadow my final end is union with God and all things. This is the simple goal of our existence.

For now, my life continues in the shadow of the Holy City until the promised day when I will be completely immersed with everlasting good flowing from the Holy Presence and that will be my eternal state.

Shouldn’t we all be praying more earnestly, “Come quickly Lord Jesus”?

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells

A GodReflection on Life Within the Shadow of the Holy City

Gary@Godreflection.org     www.GodReflection.org

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