"Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar." (Isaiah 33:17)

"For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:10)

February 7, 2026

Dear friends,

We often emphasize that Christianity is about a relationship with God, not about floating around in heaven playing a harp (or golf, or whatever). And yet, that statement itself gives the impression that somehow location doesn't matter.

Consider the two passages above. Isaiah tells us that not only will we see the King in his beauty, but we also will see a land that stretches afar. And Abraham, in following God, was also looking for a permanent city. These, among many other passages I've been reading, show us that the people of God have always had a hope in the Lord and also in a place that the Lord would provide for them.

Graeme Goldsworthy, an Australian theologian, has summarized the narrative of the biblical storyline in this way: “There is a king who rules, a people who are ruled, and a sphere where this rule is recognized as taking place. Put another way, the Kingdom of God involves: (a) God’s people (b) in God’s place (c) under God’s rule.” (Graeme Goldsworthy, in Gospel and Kingdom, 1994)

So, in Genesis God planted a garden in Eden. And "...the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." (Genesis 2:9) There were also rivers for plentiful water, and gold, bdellium, and onyx for mining.

Later, God designated Mount Zion in Jerusalem as the place of worship and blessing for his people in Israel. Take some time to read through the Songs of Zion (e.g., Psalms 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, and 122), with such images as... streams making glad the city of God; the holy mountain, beautiful in elevation; those in whose heart are the highways to Zion; glorious things spoken; singers and dancers; Jerusalem built as a city bound firmly together; the towers and walls; and tribes going up for worship and judgment. (Judgment being a good thing.)

Before he went to the cross, Jesus said to his disciples, "...if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." (John 14:3) He is the Person, and he himself goes to prepare the Place. "I will come again and will take you to myself..." And we will be with him (the Person) in that place. Interestingly, he does not speak of us building a kingdom here, since we are called to be witnesses (Acts 1:8), not "kingdom builders" (a trendy term). He is the builder, and he will come for us. We gather as his Church, but he builds the City.

And then the day will come when the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to a new and glorious earth wherein his people shall dwell: "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." (Revelation 21:10-11) This City is not built up from below, by humans, even Christians. It comes from above, as a gift from God (like salvation). And finally, the people of God will be gathered together -- risen, healed, empowered, forever -- under his reign in the glorious place that he has prepared for them. "God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule."

So "place" is not nothing. We will behold the King in his beauty, and we will also see a land that stretches afar. We will dwell in the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. We will be in the place that Jesus has prepared, with him forever!

IN OTHER READING & LISTENING.

-- "A King will reign in righteousness." Here's my reading guide for Isaiah 32 and 33 from the M'Cheyne reading plan we did in 2021.

-- Reflections on Psalm 48, "Walk about Zion."

-- The Eagles sing "Long Road Out of Eden."

-- Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young sing "Woodstock" (lyrics by Joni Mitchell).

-- Jonah Goldberg writes about the loss of a family pet, Gracie.

QUOTES.

Man's search for utopia, or his desire to return to the Garden somehow, whether through drugs, gurus, political systems, nationalism, etc., always ends with tragedy in its wake. Below are some quotes about that search...

“They constantly try to escape
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
But the man that is will shadow
The man that pretends to be.”
(T.S. Eliot, “The Rock”)

“A permanent possibility of selfishness arises from the mere fact of having a self, and not from any accidents of education or ill-treatment. And the weakness of all Utopias is this, that they take the greatest difficulty of man and assume it to be overcome, and then give an elaborate account of the overcoming of the smaller ones. They first assume that no man will want more than his share, and then are very ingenious in explaining whether his share will be delivered by motor-car or balloon.”
(G.K. Chesterton, Heretics)

"We are stardust, we are golden
We are caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden."
(“Woodstock”, lyrics: Joni Mitchell)

"Behold the bitten apple, the power of the tools
But all the knowledge in the world is of no use to fools
And it's a long road out of Eden”
(The Eagles, "Long Road Out of Eden")

That's it for this week from windy, snow-drifty southwest Virginia!

Sandy

Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.