The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1956-12-28

can have that is DR.. Foreman
new. is a new attitude to some Of
these things. But that is another
story. What we have to think about
here is another of the great chap.
tiers Of the Bible. the one in which
come the thrilling words, Behold.
| make all things new What will
F life be like in that new heaven
and new earth which is described
here in shining pictures in the very
last chapter Of the Bible?
Death Behind Us
In that life wherein all things
are made new, not by clumsy man
but by the power of God, what
will be especially newt you like.
shockingly new. so new we shall
not perhaps easily become used to
it? First we can see a complete
contrast with this present life, in
that death Will be always in the
past, never in the future. The one
thing that is certain about life on
earth is that we shall all die. Death
is the one certain prediction that
can be made about every one who
reads these lines COR, if Christ
should come in your lifetime, you
would undergo radical change,
Just as radical as death itself. in
any case.l But in that world where
all is made new, death is behind
every one, not in front; a memory,
not hope or a fear The one ex-
pcrience which unites all men in
this world is one which they have
not yet had. But in that world of
the redeemed, the experience Of
death is one they all shall have
had. We cannot even imagine this,
just how il will be But think how
much activity in this world is de-
voted to one object alone-to Stave
off death All that will vanish with
death itself
Evil No More
Another absolutely and unimag-
inably new thing will be the com
plete radiance of all forms of evil,
especially suffering and sin. Ig-
norance and ugliness too no doubt
will be done away with. but they
do not weigh upon us here quite so
painfully as the other two). No
matter what your idea may be
about sin and suffering, what they
are and where they came from,
you have to admit that human life
is woven of these threads. At this
very moment every readers life
would be radically different il he
himself had never signed, and as
for our neighbors' sins, and the
sins of our ancestors, the world we
have inherited is a world fashioned
and controlled by sinners. 1t is only
by the mercy of God that il is not
worse than il is Try to think what
life would be if there were no
form Of evil affecting it whatever.
You can't really think it; but that
goes to show what an amazingly
new state of things the new
heavens and earth must be.
At Home With God
Most wonderful, and least mag
Unable, of all the new features Of
that life to come, is the presence
of God 1t is true, God is every
where. But it is also true that God
is in some places and situations
and occasions more than others.
What is said in Revelation about
God coming to dwell with men
leads us to think of God presence
in the truly New World as being
far more direct and less yelled
than for US at our present stage Of
existence.
Indeed, as God is real TO us in
prayer far more Gas rule) than
when we are feeding the hogs or
getting a haircut. so the presence
of God in the all-new World may be
IS far beyond our highest aware
ness of him here. as the prayer is
more spiritual than the haircut or
the hogs. All we know is that in
this world we seldom do feel quite
at ease in God S presence, and may
even be seldom certain that he is
near. But lover yonder, we shall
be at home with God as we never
been in this life. Foretastes Of the
New Life we may enjoy here: in
freedom from fear Of death, in
life growing more purified by the
Spirit, in the practice Of the Pres
ence of Cod; but the fullness of
glory we cannot imagine, only
trust God that these things shall
be-
tBssed on eutIine. copyrighted by the
Division Of Christian Education, Ma
ticnai Council Of the Churches Of Christ
In the Z. s. A. Released by Com m unity
Press Ssrviee.D