THE FINAL ABODE OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
By E. E. Andross
THERE is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God. . . . This Word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilst all the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God.—D’Aubigné’s History of the Reformation, book 13, chapter 6, par. 13. Whatever, therefore, the idea of any may be upon any subject, if it does not conform to the Bible strictly, it is of no real value to the seeker after truth. But if one shall adopt the plainly expressed scriptural idea, even tho it should differ from the popular belief, it is still the truth; for “Thy Word is truth.” John 17:17. The word “heaven” among Christians is used to represent the final abode of the righteous, as well as the habitation of God. As we are most concerned in the former, this phase of the subject will engage our attention for the present. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” “And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Gen. 1:1, 31. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.” Gen. 2:8, 9. “Thou madest him [man] a little while inferior to the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of Thy hands.” Heb. 2:7, margin Thus was the earth beautified and adorned by the hand of the great Creator, and given to man as the place of his abode (Isa. 45:18); but man sold himself for naught (Isa. 52:3), and with this sale lost all his possessions. Notwithstanding this, the promise immediately follows, “Ye shall be redeemed without money.” So we read the words of our Saviour, “The Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” Matt. 18:11. And, again, Paul speaks of the “redemption of the purchased possession.” The Gospel plan is, therefore, sufficiently broad to include the “restitution of all things.” Acts 3:21. “Restitution is made by restoring a specific thing taken away or4lost.”—Webster. The restitution of all things embraces the complete redemption of man and his lost possessions, the restoration of the world to a holy and happy state. “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth,” were the gracious words of the Saviour as He addressed the multitudes upon the subject of eschatology. Be silent before the Lord, and we shall hear these words of good cheer from the “sweet psalmist of Israel:” “Evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” “The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37:9, 11. But some one may say, “Can it be possible that this old earth, groaning and trembling under the curse of sin, will ever be heaven for the redeemed saints?” I would answer: Not in its present condition, no more than man could inherit glory in his unrenewed state. The earth, like man, must be regenerated. The curse which was placed upon it for man’s sake must be removed; so we read further in the Word of inspiration: “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. In the interpretation of the parable of the tares, our Lord said: “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.” Matt. 13:40, 41. “The kingdoms of this world are [to] become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 19:16), removing every offensive element, and destroying the works of the devil. Then will be fulfilled the words of inspiration, “And there shall be no more curse.” Rev. 22:3. Inspired by this blessed hope, Abraham, the “friend of God,” left his home in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father’s house, and “by faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;” and by so doing declared plainly that he sought a country, yea, “a better country, that is, an heavenly.” Heb. 11:9, 16. Tho “these all died in faith, not having received the promises,” which embrace the heirship to the world (Rom. 4:13), and tho it may seem that their “hope is lost,” it shall yet be known that God the Lord hath spoken it; for “thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” Eze. 37:11, 12. “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. Read also Isaiah 35 and Revelation 21 and 22. And then when from all over this old earth the dead in Christ shall rise, in incorruption, in glory, in power; when the “eyes of the blind shall be opened,” and “the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped;” when “the lame man [shall] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing;” when “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose;” when “God will wipe away tears from off all faces;” when “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away;” when the city of God—all resplendent and glorious, with its pearly gates and golden streets and mansions fair, with the throne of God and of the Lamb in the midst of it, with the River of Life proceeding from the throne, and the tree of life on either side of the river—shall come down from God out of heaven and be with men; when the redeemed of the Lord shall come from all over the new earth to Zion “with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads,” and shall only “obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away;” when they shall bathe in the crystal waters of the River of Life, and shall pluck the life-giving fruit of the tree from which Adam was driven; when they shall see the face of their God, and bask in the sunlight of His presence forever; when “the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one” (Zech. 14:9); when “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,” shall say, “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever” (Rev. 5:13). O, that will be heaven for me! E. E. ANDROSS.