Living with the End in Mind
My friend has a beautiful backyard filled with rock walls, stairways, and multiple terraces built into the hill behind his house. It’s beautiful. It is even more impressive that he dug up and placed each rock used over the last twenty-plus years. We recently had coffee in his capstone project, a screened-in porch at the top of the hill. While we were together, I asked him if he made it up as he went along or if there was a master plan. He said he had a vision for what it could be and the layout. Then in a myriad of short moments or a hard day of labor, little by little worked toward that vision. He began with the end in mind and persevered toward that end.
Revelation offers a vision of the world’s destiny. Not as some type of cryptic prediction but as a vision in which God sets the world right by bringing an end to the evil that destroys creation and the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world become one.
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15
Revelation reveals the way and the end. The end is the earth and creation restored, not left behind or escaped (Rev. 11:18). The way is persevering servanthood. This way is modeled by the Lamb of God, who sacrificed so that all would have life. It’s also the underlying encouragement of the vision from John to the early church. Don’t back down from Rome’s ruthless evil and empire; instead, persevere in offering grace and trusting that God will set things right.
I love a GAP commercial. They are happy and filled with color. I’ve seen them again after a long hiatus, which triggered the GAP living concept for me. It’s a random association, but we live in the gap between now and the end.
We are to be the people who live with the end in mind. Knowing that God will deal with evil and restore all things allows us to offer forgiveness, turn the other cheek, resist judgment, and serve the world, trusting that God will destroy evil and bring restoration. It empowers us to be G.A.P. people.
Grace
Action that Restores
Prayer
How can you practice G.A.P. living this week?
Whether at home, work, or school, you will have opportunities to extend grace to those around you. Also, look for action that brings restoration because that is the end. It might be clear, like the work of our friends at the Samaritan Center, or subtle, like engaging a lonely person. Finally, commit to praying so that we might see and love the world as God sees and loves the world.
