What does it mean to speak of our homeland as heaven?
Because of the suffering and brokenness of life “in
the flesh,” the Gnostic sect believed that ordinary life in our
world is evil. Instead, its members thought that we human
beings were meant to be “spiritual,” completely unconcerned
with the physical world. Many of these Gnostics identified
themselves as Christians. They believed in Jesus—but not a
flesh-and-blood Jesus. On the contrary, they thought Jesus
was like a ghost sent to give us the saving message of his
Father who dwelt outside creation to draw us to a spiritual
world beyond.
The early church fought hard against such a dualism
that denied the goodness of God’s creation as well as the
reality of the Incarnation. Instead, our Christian ancestors
affirmed that God never intended our world to be broken.
In Romans, Paul insists that creation itself is groaning in
a kind of bondage connected with human sin. At the end
of time, when we receive our resurrection bodies, he says,
the physical world will also be restored to God’s original
and loving intent. This restored earth is our homeland. (See
Romans 8:18-25.)
What form this restoration will take and its timing is not
for us to know, however, and speculation on it can sidetrack
us from the real job of Christian loving and living. Nevertheless,
we need to be reminded of God’s love and care for
this very world we live in.
By Roberta C. Bondi from The Upper Room: 60 Days of Prayer for General Conference 2016