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On The Edge of Time
The Controversy Ended
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away.” Rev. 21:1. The fire that consumes the
wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally
burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin. One
reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His
crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, His hands and feet, are the only traces of
the cruel work that sin has wrought.
In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country
(Heb. 11: 14-16). There the great Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of
living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of
the tree are for the service of the nations. There are everflowing streams,
clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths
prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell
into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On
those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long
pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.
There is the New Jerusalem, “having the glory of God,” her
light “like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as
crystal.” Rev. 21:11. Saith the Lord, “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in
My people.” Isa. 65:19. “The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell
with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and
be their God, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:3, 4.
In the city of God “there shall be no night.” None will need
or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and
offering praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning,
and shall ever be far from its close. “And they need no candle, neither light of
the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.” Rev. 22:5. The light of the sun
will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which
immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God and the
Lamb floods the holy city with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the sunless
glory of perpetual day.
“I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple of it.” Rev. 21:22. The people of God are privileged to hold
open communion with the Father and the Son. Now we “see through a glass,
darkly.” I Cor. 13:12. We behold the image of God reflected, as in a mirror, in
the works of nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see Him face
to face, without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in His presence and gaze
upon the glory of His countenance.
There immortal minds will study with never-failing delight
the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There is no
cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be
developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary
the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried
forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and
still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new
truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul
and body.
And as the years of eternity roll, they will bring richer and
more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so
will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the
greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them
the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy
with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed beat with a stronger devotion, and they
sweep the harps of gold with a firmer hand; and ten thousand times ten thousand
and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.
“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”
Sin and sinners are no more; God’s entire universe is clean;
and the great controversy is forever ended.
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