Transcript
I think a lot of the dysfunction in the Christian community is the result of eternity amnesia. Although we say we believe in eternity, we live as if we believe this is all we have. And so, my job is to turn this into a paradise, and if my marriage isn't a paradise and if I don't have paradise children and my job isn't a paradise, then I'm unhappy and dissatisfied and complaining and grumbling. This will never be a paradise. The apostle Paul says we live in a world that's groaning, waiting for redemption.
Be Sure Paradise Is Coming
Now, what the doctrine of eternity tells me is be sure paradise is coming. It's not this place where we're floating around with wings playing harps. The Bible presents that all of this stuff is going to be burned up and we're going to live in a newly-created, new heavens and new earth where shalom exist.
Shalom isn't peace. It means much more than that. Shalom means everything is now in its right place, doing exactly what it was meant to do. It's peace and righteousness reigning forever and ever and ever. Nothing broken. No bad people. No bad motivations or intentions. Every animal, every created thing, every moment in every location being perfectly what it was meant to be. That's coming.
Now, here's what you [need to] understand. That teaching means that this moment we're in now is not a destination. It's a preparation for a final destination. And so, everything that God brings my way is intended to be preparatory. I don't live with a destination mentality, trying to turn my world into a paradise because this isn't intended to be a destination.
A Preparation Mentality
And so, I've got to live with that preparation mentality. Practice is repetitive. Practice is energy-taxing. Practice is meant to teach. Practice is developing capabilities that you didn't have before you practice. That's all what preparation is.
And so, if you live with a preparation mentality, you get why life is hard. You get why you need to persevere and you get why you don't put your hopes and dreams in the "now" because "now" won't deliver. You don't get to marry a perfect person. Your marriage doesn't get to live in a perfect world. You don't get to raise pre-sanctified children. Your boss isn't going to be perfectly holy because this isn't paradise, but take heart.
Take heart. Paradise is coming. It will be perfect beyond your wildest imagination and you will look back, and you will say every moment of hardship was worth it. You can't stop and camp before the destination. You can't be like the family going to Disney World, and they stop at the first sign that says "Disney World - 150 miles" and have their vacation there. It'll never work. You got to press on. Destination is coming and it will be worth it.
