Heaven and Earth
Bringing the spaces together
I love this video from the BibleProject. It is called “Heaven and Earth.”
In this video, Mackie and Collins argue that there are currently two spaces: the space of God (“the heavens”) and the space of our current life (“the world”). They say that originally, these two spaces overlapped - heaven and earth were one. The dirtiness of human rebellion forced these two spaces apart (remember in my last blog the holy Presence of God can not be in space that is dirty or points to, other than he is, death). The ultimate goal of the world is to bring these two spaces back together again as depicted in Revelation 21:9-22:7.
This was an idea that was once very new to me. I had thought the current world is bad, it’s going to burn up, and then we will go live a spiritual existence in heaven with God. So, yes, there were two spaces in my understanding, but never any connection between them. The goal is to escape this one and bring as many souls with us as we can into the spiritual space.
How does this relate to God being the God of Life? A long time ago, back at the very end of my undergraduate experience, I began to wonder what the point of existence on earth was if all that mattered was dying? 1
I realized that God loved this world, that he walked in it in the garden (his Presence was there with humans), and that Jesus’ resurrection meant even more than “I was saved from my sins.” Instead, Jesus, the God of life, defeated death. With death defeated, the two spaces could come together again. The space of the world is being redeemed and will be redeemed, not destroyed. God’s Presence could live in the midst of his people - like he always wants to. This meant so much to me.
God was making it possible for his Presence to always be where his people are. And where God’s Presence is there is life. As God’s people live and work and love, they are spots of heaven and earth overlap. They, through God, are a space of life “on earth as it is heaven.”
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I remember watching a documentary about how pollution was negatively affecting sea turtles. I cried for them. When I explained this to one of my Bible professors at the time, his reply was “That’s liberal propaganda.” Implying it’s either untrue, or not worth worrying about, or that the problem is overblown - something negative. Who cares about the suffering of sea turtles if it’s all going to burn up and human souls are what will survive after?
