and posted in Explore
God's dream is to bring the reality of heaven to earth. His dream is for all of his creation to experience with him, forever, the love, beauty and goodness of his home. God's home is characterised by his loving presence and caring rule; a home where there are no tears, no fear and no abuse...
You may not realise this, but Jesus didn't just teach that heaven was a place believers went when they died... Instead Jesus emphasised that heaven was a reality that people could start experiencing immediately, here on earth, in this life and continuing in the next if we believed in him. Jesus modelled and taught that living in relationship with God and in tandem with God's dream is a better way for us to live.
When asked by his disciples (or apprentices) how to pray, Jesus told them to pray that heaven would become a visible reality here on earth. By saying things like this, Jesus was inviting his friends to become active participants in seeing God's dream happen here and now.
However, it is obvious that our world does not always appear to display much evidence of God's dream. We refer to human acts of evil, like the holocaust, as being like hell on earth. We talk about women in abusive domestic situations as experiencing a living hell. We can bring hell to earth through our actions; such is sin's nightmare grip on this world and humanity's rebellion against God's dream.
Alternatively, we could share God's dream... but what might this look like today?
Imagine an end to poverty and a world where all people have access to clean water, decent shelter and to medical supplies. Imagine a world where the plight of the widow (and women generally) was defended and where there was no abuse of power. Imagine a global effort to protect the environment and reduce global warming. Imagine a world of peace and reconciliation rather than of conflict ... you get the idea...
Everywhere these things are happening, whether they're in small bubbles or in larger pockets, and by whoever is doing them, God's dream is breaking into reality.
Heaven is touching earth.
