But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
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The longing inside of you, fulfilled in great part by the coming of Jesus and the salvation of your souls, is going to be completely fulfilled at His second coming. Then shall Genesis 3:15 be realized in full. Then shall all of Eve's daughters who joined her in trusting in her Redeemer be ushered back to their Eden. Then shall all of Adam's sons who died in Adam and who lived again in Christ return to their garden. For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth. There shall be Eden regained.
Conclusion
This week I spent several late nights with the Lord as I read from this 1944 edition of C.S. Lewis' Perelandra, another fantasy about Eden. But my heart was so stirred by the longing that this study of Scripture produced, that I had to go to the end of the book. But there I began to read that Lewis did not call it "the last things," but through his character, he spoke about what we are studying in Genesis 3:15. I read these words about that time to come:
It is but the wiping out of a false start in order that the world may then begin. As when a man lies down to sleep, if he finds a twisted root under his shoulder he will change his place — and after that his real sleep begins. Or as a man setting foot on an island, may make a false step. He steadies himself and after that his journey begins. You would not call that steadying of himself a last thing? And is the whole story of my race no more than this?5
Yes. That is the story of our race: a covenant of works broken and a curse that followed; a covenant of grace by a God who sent His Son, born of a woman, to redeem those under the curse so that, by faith in Him, we are reborn to a new way of life that will finally lead us to this:
. . . "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4).
Truly that is not the end. That is the beginning.
That is what we are longing for.
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Michael Milton is Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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NOTES:
1. Frederick Buechner, The Longing for Home : Recollections and Reflections, 1st ed. (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 3.
2. Simone Weil, The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties Toward Mankind, trans. Arthur Willis (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1952; reprint, New York, Harper Colophon Books, 1971, 3; as cited in M. Craig Barnes, Searching for Home: Spirituality for Restless Souls (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2003), 67.
3. M. Craig Barnes, Searching for Home : Spirituality for Restless Souls (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2003).
4. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30).
5. C. S. Lewis, Perelandra (New York, NY: Collier Books in arrangement with The Macmillan company; reprint, 1962).
