Sabbath: When All Things Become New

30 comment(s) for this post:

1. Tyler Cluthe:
   21 Dec 2012 I am sorry if I seem so contrary all the time but to me the millennium will not be a utopia. How can it be when we discover all the people we have known that are not there and through research find out why? How can it be when we also realize that we could have influenced many of them toward the right choices and possibly through that eventually see them in Heaven? As I understand it, the millennium will be a time of a lot of tears and self recrimination for our lack of faith and action. In my opinion the real utopia doesn't start until all the sin and sinners are finally no more and the new heaven and new earth are created. At that time I can see the fulfillment of Rev 21:4 but not before.
2. Inge Anderson:
   21 Dec 2012 Yes, Tyler, I believe there will be tears in heaven - tears of sorrow for those who have rejected the grace of Christ. But it seems to me that annihilation might be more attractive than 1000 years of self-recrimination! The problem I see with self-recrimination is that it`s still a focus on self. And the focus of the saved will not be on self, but on Christ. I believe that the tears in heaven will be healing tears. Tears of acceptance of the merciful judgment of God. If we are concerned about self-recrimination, we still have time to do something about that. Today and tomorrow, until the day of our death. It is our privilege to represent God to others in such a way that they will be attracted to Him and learn to trust Him with their destinies. The past is no longer in our control. We can leave it in God`s hands, but today is ours - ours to live to His glory. I see it this way: Yes, we will have a full knowledge of our own failures, but we will also know that they are covered by the blood of Christ. We will see God's mercy and justice fully displayed: Those who have chosen not to accept the grace of Christ would not be happy in heaven. And God, in mercy, grants them their wish to be hidden from the presence of God. To me, it seems that thoughts of what "could have been" are second-guessing God, and I don't think that the saved will be doing that.
3. Alexander Masenje:
   21 Dec 2012 Yes,I agree with your point Tyler,but on ther you need to remember that those taken to heaven for millenium rest,though recrimination shall be the order of the day,will be the salved people. So it will be the utopia in mind and when we will finally setle on new earth it will fully be established 4ever
4. D.Martin:
   22 Dec 2012 But God "will wipe away ALL tears" and once He does that, then Utopia begins....there won't be lamenting like there is on earth for loved ones lost, because if there is, it wouldn't be heaven.
5. Tyler Cluthe:
   22 Dec 2012 On reflection of my comment perhaps self-recrimination was a little too strong of a word to use in that context. The question is during the 1000 years will there be tears and will we be mindful of where we fitted into the plan of salvation with respect to the lost? I remember many years ago hearing a preacher on the radio say that when the wicked are burning outside the camp the saints on the walls of the New Jerusalem will be cheering as the flames go up. I said to myself "cheering? when a significant number of God's creation has to be destroyed?" Besides, I thought, there will be sons and daughters out there that we would have gladly given everything we had in order to help them, even going into deep debt to pay for lawyers to get them out of prison if necessary. We set aside large sums of money to pay for their education and have concern over them our whole lives and do we then cheer when they are destroyed before our eyes? Since when does the Bible say that we should cheer over the loss of a soul, rather doesn't it say that, "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Lk. 15:7 NKJV). The whole reason for the controversy and about 6000 years of pain is for the purpose of saving His creation - not destroying it. Jesus shed a lot of tears over many people while on earth. Why would we think that He will be joyful having to destroy those same people at the end of the thousand years and why would His followers seeing people for whom He died cheer over their destruction? Yes, I believe there will be a lot of tears in Heaven when we sit in judgment and see why they will be destroyed and how easily they could have been saved. In my opinion, the thousand years will not be comfortable years but years of judgment, of questions, and understanding why things must be the way they are to be. Now concerning the problem of introspective considerations, I said that we will be conscious of the role we played in the lives of the condemned. It has been said that our focus will be totally on Jesus and not on ourselves. As a general princple I totally agree with what Ellen White said:

   It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward. {Great Controversy 555.1 (https://egwwritings.org/?ref=en_GC.555.1)}

   In this quote she is referring to 2 Cor 3:18 but notice that she is talking about things which we are "accustomed to love and reverence." I have often used the story of Peter walking on the water to illustrate this but I must be honest, that story is about having faith in Jesus in contrast to letting the world around us cast doubts on our faith and really isn't about having Jesus as an example. Besides, while she says this she also says to examine ourselves:

   The word of God is plain, but often there is an error in applying it to one's self. There is liability to self-deception and to think its warnings and reproofs do not mean me. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Self-flattery may be construed into Christian emotion and zeal. Self-love and confidence may give us assurance that we are right when we are far from meeting the requirements of God's word. The Bible is full, clear, and explicit; the character of the true disciple of Christ is marked out with exactness. We must search the Scriptures with humble hearts, trembling at the word of the Lord, if we would not be in any way deceived in regard to our true character. There must be persevering effort to overcome selfishness and self-confidence. Self-examination must be thorough, that there be no danger of self-deception. A little catechizing of self on special occasions is not sufficient. Daily examine the foundation of your hope, and see whether you are indeed in the love of Christ. Deal truly with your own hearts, for you cannot afford to run any risk here. {5 Testimonies 332.1-2 (https://egwwritings.org/?ref=en_5T.332.1)}

   Ellen White's counsel is well balanced. While she is in no way a salvation by works person she also believed in introspective examination, in fact, there is a whole section in the index to her writings devoted to the subject of "self-examination." To say that we are never to look at self in my opinion is a subtle form of fanaticism. Because of this I do feel that we will be considering the role we played here on earth during the 1000 years and how our lives impacted those who are lost. I believe that that will be part of the judgment as we consider why a person is judged by God to be lost and I do believe there will be times when we will not be very happy with our role that we played even though we will be aware that our sins are fully forgiven. It is the consequences of those sins that don't just disappear, some have an eternal bearing on the finial outcome.
6. John Gilmore:
   22 Dec 2012 If "utopia" means "a perfect social and legal system", we will have that in heaven from the beginning of the 1000 years. Our perfect God will be ruling and all His subjects will be those who have already been made ready to dwell in a perfect place in perfect harmony. But if "utopia" means the fulfillment of Revelation 21:4, including no more tears, then we will have to wait until the new creation. Perhaps thinking of a spectrum of possibilities would help. Even here on this earth, God is working to make His church a reflection of Himself. So, to the degree that we reflect Him, we also reflect the perfection of heaven, and to that degree the kingdom of heaven has already begun. Even with all the problems in the church, I already see that life in the church is better than life out in the world. But God wants us to come to a unity that is a reflection of the unity between the Father and the Son. John 17: 20-21. (That's the experience that will be prime evidence before the world of the reality of God's grace through Jesus.) But the perfecting of the church on earth is only one step in the restoration of Eden. The millenial kingdom in heaven is another phase. The new earth is yet another phase. But even then we expect to continue though all eternity to learn and grow in our appreciation of the works of our Creator and Savior. In that respect, "utopia" will eternally be getting sweeter.
7. Tyler Cluthe:
   22 Dec 2012 John, thank you for a clarification.