Things to Come: Final Destination


I hope you've been watching Ken Burns' documentary on country music.  Especially compelling to me was a segment on how difficult life was, even in the early decades of the 20th century.  One of the tributary streams of country music was church and gospel music.  For many people, their only hope the life to come.  Plus, contact with death was much more intimate.  

One of the early country hits was "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" by the Carter Family.  (Yes, I know we know it as "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," but "Can" was the original!)  The song is a lament about the passing of a person's mother, the dearest person in her life.  The grief of the song is deep, but the hope is high.  The chorus says:

Can the circle be unbroken,
By and by, Lord, by and by.
There's a better home a-waitin'
In the sky, Lord, in the sky!

The people in Bible times had even tougher challenges.  In addition to the harshness of life, they also faced the possibility of losing their lives for their faith.

The scriptures teach that our final destination will be hell or heaven.  Where we land depends on our response to Christ.

The technical term for "hell" in the New Testament is gehenna.  It refers to the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, located outside the old city of Jerusalem.  It was a garbage dump that burned all the time.  When ancient people thought of the place of eternal separation from God, they thought of that valley.

The scriptures teach that hell is a place of darkness, fire, anguish, and torment.  It's a place you don't want to go!

The New Testament uses several terms to describe the eternal home of God's people.  Jesus used the word "paradise," which originally referred to a garden.  It was as if God's people went to the Garden of  Eden.  Jesus referred to it as his "Father's house."  The idea is God's people will live in one big house.  The book of Revelation refers to it as "the new Jerusalem."  God's people will live in a great city on a renewed earth.  

Knowing that eternal life is ahead of us motivates us to serve Christ's eternal kingdom today!

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