The End Is Where We Begin
In the Old Testament there is a sense of looking forward... to deliverance, to the Messiah. Prophets called Israel to look for the One who would redeem. Isaiah didn't just call the people to repentance, he also called them to look for the Deliverer. He looked to the end... to the promise of complete redemption.
Jesus was the One they all looked to... and when He arrived, he continued the call to look forward, but not to a Redeemer... to the end. The End... when restoration is complete... the new heaven and the new earth. When all the pain and evil and brokenness has been undone. When death itself has worked backwards and the Author of Life has restored glory and order to His creation.
As Christians, the end is where we begin. We get to know how it all turns out. We are invited to live in confidence of that ending. We aren't just called out of darkness... we are called INTO light, into hope, into a new life. We aren't just called out of this world, we're invited to become citizens of a new Kingdom.
Jesus was surrounded by evil, death, and all manner of destruction of the world He designed... but His invitation was deep. It was full of hope and life. "Come into a new life... a life of fullness and joy. Leave behind this life of brokenness; it cannot fulfill you, but I can."
An invitation out of something is not complete. It must be an invitation into something greater... better... fuller. An invitation out of sin is not complete without the invitation into life with Jesus.
The Pharisees perfected the invitation out of sin. Through rules and regulations, impossible standards and oppressive requirements they achieved great ritual cleanliness. But where was life? They knew no sin, nor did they know the true call--holiness for the sake of relationship with a holy God. Indeed Jesus calls us out of sin... but it is so we might live in our intended state--in relationship with a holy God. It's one thing to live a life clearing away sin, it's quite another to live in the presence of God.
As I stand on campus, the brokenness is sometimes overwhelming. And the temptation isn't to give up... no, the true temptation is more subtle but just as dangerous. The temptation is to forget the true call to holiness. Jesus didn't just call us out of sin, He called us into righteousness, into the Kingdom that was coming and is already come. Look to the end... look to the Kingdom! It takes greater vision and deeper commitment.
It's not easy to do. It means living in a world of sin, brokenness, destruction, and death but seeing glimpses of life. It means when I walk down Buffalo Street on a Friday night and see students partying, I don't just pray that they will leave this life of brokenness but that they will find new life in Jesus.
The end is where we begin... it's where we steel our eyes and set our course. It's the lenses through which we must see the world. Only then can we see the hope amidst the darkness of the world. It's the only way we can see that those same students partying on Buffalo Street are looking for hope, purpose, and life. They are a generation of men and women who don't know Jesus but are committed to social justice, and that is a faint glimmer of the Kingdom. When we look to the end, we see glimpses of the Kingdom here and now... and we do not look to just defeating the darkness, we get to help bring in the Kingdom of Light.
No... I choose to start at the end. I choose to live as a citizen of a Kingdom that has come and is coming. I choose to invite out of darkness and INTO light.
Jesus was the One they all looked to... and when He arrived, he continued the call to look forward, but not to a Redeemer... to the end. The End... when restoration is complete... the new heaven and the new earth. When all the pain and evil and brokenness has been undone. When death itself has worked backwards and the Author of Life has restored glory and order to His creation.
As Christians, the end is where we begin. We get to know how it all turns out. We are invited to live in confidence of that ending. We aren't just called out of darkness... we are called INTO light, into hope, into a new life. We aren't just called out of this world, we're invited to become citizens of a new Kingdom.
Jesus was surrounded by evil, death, and all manner of destruction of the world He designed... but His invitation was deep. It was full of hope and life. "Come into a new life... a life of fullness and joy. Leave behind this life of brokenness; it cannot fulfill you, but I can."
An invitation out of something is not complete. It must be an invitation into something greater... better... fuller. An invitation out of sin is not complete without the invitation into life with Jesus.
The Pharisees perfected the invitation out of sin. Through rules and regulations, impossible standards and oppressive requirements they achieved great ritual cleanliness. But where was life? They knew no sin, nor did they know the true call--holiness for the sake of relationship with a holy God. Indeed Jesus calls us out of sin... but it is so we might live in our intended state--in relationship with a holy God. It's one thing to live a life clearing away sin, it's quite another to live in the presence of God.
As I stand on campus, the brokenness is sometimes overwhelming. And the temptation isn't to give up... no, the true temptation is more subtle but just as dangerous. The temptation is to forget the true call to holiness. Jesus didn't just call us out of sin, He called us into righteousness, into the Kingdom that was coming and is already come. Look to the end... look to the Kingdom! It takes greater vision and deeper commitment.
It's not easy to do. It means living in a world of sin, brokenness, destruction, and death but seeing glimpses of life. It means when I walk down Buffalo Street on a Friday night and see students partying, I don't just pray that they will leave this life of brokenness but that they will find new life in Jesus.
The end is where we begin... it's where we steel our eyes and set our course. It's the lenses through which we must see the world. Only then can we see the hope amidst the darkness of the world. It's the only way we can see that those same students partying on Buffalo Street are looking for hope, purpose, and life. They are a generation of men and women who don't know Jesus but are committed to social justice, and that is a faint glimmer of the Kingdom. When we look to the end, we see glimpses of the Kingdom here and now... and we do not look to just defeating the darkness, we get to help bring in the Kingdom of Light.
No... I choose to start at the end. I choose to live as a citizen of a Kingdom that has come and is coming. I choose to invite out of darkness and INTO light.
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