Origin
Origin
The New Heavens and New Earth
Join us as we close our our podcast season on The End: A Revelation Study. Today, at the table of Origin we will discuss the closing chapters of Revelation as God is making all things new. We will once again visit the options that God has given for us to choose. Try to imagine what a world without evil will be like. A place of perpetual life and peace. We have this hope in Christ Jesus.
We're back at the table of Origin. I'm Regina Johnston, here with my friends, Kyli Rose, and Jina McAfee. Today, we are ending our study of The End. This has been Part Two of The End, a Revelation study. Our discussion today will be about the New Heavens and the New Earth. So after 1000 years of blessing, the Millennial Reign, and after the final defeat of Satan, God makes a brand new heaven and a brand new earth. So Jina, tell us what will that be like?
Jina McAfee:Last week we talked about the Millennial Reign and how good that's going to be. But, this is even better. Everything is going to be new. Revelation 21:1 says this: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old Heaven and the old earth had disappeared." I'm going to go right into verses 3-5a. It says, "I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, 'Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. [That's so cool. We know that in the Millennial Reign, Jesus was with His people, but this is different.] He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.' And the One sitting on the throne said, 'Look, I am making everything new!'" So, we're just going to talk about that.
ReGina Johnston:So in a sense, Eden will be restored, that Original Design will be restored. We've talked about that a lot here at the table of Origin.
Jina McAfee:Back to Garden living. The beginning and the end, the first two chapters and the last two chapters. Is that not cool?
ReGina Johnston:That's how God writes. He's the best author there is. He writes the best stories. I want us to think about this with all of our senses. What does new look like? What does it smell like? Because it has a certain smell when something's new, when something's fresh. It has a certain feel. It really engages all of our senses. What does it sound like? Actually the Bible talks us through some of this as the new heavens and new earth is described. Kyli, take us through some of that.
Kyli Rose:We see one particular portion in that Scripture where it talks about God Himself being with them. You see this full-circle moment. We mentioned Eden, and one of the hallmarks of Eden was the closeness of God. There was no obstruction. They walked with Him; they talked with Him. You get this idea, this beautiful, perfect picture of friendship. Whenever sin entered into the narrative in Genesis 3, just three chapters in, we see God pursuing His people. He wants to be with His people so He sets up a system. We see the system in the Old Testament. They would set up a tabernacle. There was a very specific way that it had to be constructed because God is holy, and He's clean, and He's perfect. The only way that He could live amongst an unholy, unclean, imperfect people was through a very specific system. We see that in the tabernacle. He resided in the tabernacle which is sometimes referred to as the sacred tent. We saw them setting it up and tearing it down in the wilderness. And then eventually we see His presence residing in the temple. This was like the tabernacle. Later, we see Jesus come and the Holy Spirit, and now He's residing in us. We are the temple. But in the very end, we're going to see Eden restored, where God Himself is going to be with us all the time, completely unfettered by sin, and unobstructed by brokenness. There will be no pain. He's going to dwell with us. It says, "And God Himself shall be with them," permanently with them, and will never leave them. He will be their God. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. That is what we have to look forward to.
Jina McAfee:I love in Genesis where it talks about how God walks with them in the cool of the day.
ReGina Johnston:It's like a common occurrence.
Jina McAfee:You know how you have a great afternoon, and you think what that is like. And God Himself is with you. Perfect peace. Perfect joy.
Kyli Rose:And we'll get to really fully know Him. Sometimes we struggle with this idea of friendship with God, because we don't really fully understand His goodness. We don't fully understand how much He loves us. But I think Adam and Eve understood that they were wholly loved and that He is good. There was ease to their friendship. That ease can take so much work for us because we just don't always see Him rightly. But we will get to experience Him in a really natural way, the way it was always designed to be. I can't really imagine that. Friendship, perfect friendship restored.
ReGina Johnston:So this new heaven and new earth will affect everything we know. Everything we know now will be affected by this new heaven and new earth. And we want to look at how that's going to change. What will it look like? It's a hard concept to wrap our minds around because it's nothing like what we know now. So tell us some of what we're going to see, Jina.
Jina McAfee:One of the things I think we have to realize is that when sin came in, not only did death come to people, but it came to animals, to flowers and trees, grass, and all of the things that are part of creation. Sin affects everything. There's this process of dying. Scripture says that creation, groans, waiting. Creation will be set free from
sin and death too. Romans 8:21 says, "Creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay." No more death. No more decay. No more aging.
ReGina Johnston:Do you think there will be no more calories? I've heard people talk about this. I think discipline will still be a part of our lives because, really, discipline is not a bad thing. We've made it a bad thing. It's the stress of doing the right thing that has affected us here in this earth, and that's because of sin, because we are human flesh. But with the curse reversed, basically, we won't have the stress of labor. Will there be a desire to be disciplined?
Jina McAfee:As you were speaking, I think maybe there will not be cravings. You know, here we're not really satisfied so we have cravings. I think in the new heavens and new earth, people will eat until they're satisfied and quit. Could it be that they will enjoy the taste and be satisfied?
Kyli Rose:There's joy in eating. It's a joyful thing, and we see this picture of a table.
ReGina Johnston:There's the marriage supper of the Lamb. So there is this thing about tables and eating and communion.
Jina McAfee:Right. And fellowship. But I think there won't be cravings. Why do we overeat here sometimes? We just think we want more and more and more and more, but I don't think we'll do that in the new heavens and new earth. We'll enjoy each bite, each taste, maybe. I don't know. So Romans 8:22 says, "For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." So, that's so cool. There's a lot of argument about what is happening to our earth, about what is taking place now. You may have heard about "global warming." I heard it yesterday on the news. Make
no mistake:our earth does suffer. There is death and decay, not because of people, but because of sin. Sin rules the spiritual atmosphere except where God's children take it back. The Bible says the earth is groaning for freedom from death and decay. And this is another cool thing: The former things will not be remembered. Isaiah 65:17 says, "Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and [listen to this] no one will even think about the old ones anymore." So if you've wondered if people will remember what happened on earth, I don't think they're even going to think about the hard things they went through. They're not even going to remember them anymore.
Benson's Commentary says this:"For behold, I create new heavens. I'm about wholly to change the state, not only of My people, freeing them from the afflictions and troubles by which they have been oppressed, but also of the world, bringing a new face upon it; sending My Son to institute a new economy and worship, and raise up a new church; and pouring out My Spirit in a more plentiful manner. That state of things shall be so glorious, that the former state of My people shall not be noticed, in comparison." So it's going to be completely, totally, brand new. And we won't even think about the hard things anymore.
Kyli Rose:That word "new" there in its original context denotes the idea of freshness. And it's not just this brand new thing that just sprung up like it was just born. It's really speaking to its freshness. That word struck me as I was preparing for this, because life can feel so heavy sometimes, and you can feel the weight of sin. Knowing God is going to do something fresh allows you to just take a deep breath. Like, it's going to smell good. It's going to feel good. And you're going to be able to feel it to the very core of who you are.
Jina McAfee:I love when He talks about doing something new in Scripture. We go back to that every new year, because we long for that.
ReGina Johnston:That reminds me of the Scripture in 1 Peter
5:10, where it says, "For the light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." It feels like what we're going through right now is so heavy and some of the things we're experiencing seem so long lasting, but in the light of eternity, it's going to seem like nothing, really. I love that. So, Kyli, tell us more about this new heavens and the new earth.
Kyli Rose:It speaks of the river of life and the tree of life. And again, we're kind of seeing this full-circle picture.
In Revelation 22:1-2, it says,"Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations." You're getting this picture of total abundance, that everywhere this water goes, life just springs up, not just like a normal amount of life, but an abundant, supernatural, over-the-top, overflowing life. Perpetual. It just keeps producing in season and out of season. We have seasons now but every season is a season of growth in God's new heaven and new earth. And then we see the same language in Ezekiel 47. It talks about the water flowing out of the temple, how it's insurpassable. It flowed all the way to the Dead Sea. And we know that the Dead Sea represents a place that can't inhabit any life. It's dead. And wherever the river flowed, everything came back to life. It's actually talking about two different rivers, but the same source. The source is God. But we see in Ezekiel that the river is flowing from the house or the temple of God, that wherever the Gospel went it was going to explode and bring life, that the house of God was meant to be a place of life. A palace can't do that. Life doesn't flow from a palace. Life doesn't flow from the White House. It was always designed to flow from the house of God. But here at the end of the story, we see it flowing from the throne of God. So the same source, flowing from two different places. I love how it paints this picture of life just flowing from the very throne of God itself. We see it is also the promise to the church. We see the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve could eat from this tree and it perpetuated life. We see this is also the promise to the church that overcomes in Revelation
2:7. "To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the tree of life." So we see this tree of life that actually represents Jesus. For whoever endures, He is going to be your reward. And then you see this new Jerusalem. Again, the word new denotes "fresh." And it says, "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband" (Revelation 21:2). He has been preparing this new Jerusalem. Brides meticulously prepare for that day, and He is meticulously preparing to meet His bride. All the details of this city are well thought out. I can't even imagine what it's going to look like and smell like and feel like. It's going to be remarkable.
ReGina Johnston:As we talk about things, and as we're seeing them unfold, we're seeing that the Word of God is just being fulfilled. God watches over His promises to perform them. He's watching over His Word. So John 14:2-3 says,"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. There is more than enough room in My father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am." So, Jina, can you help us understand that Scripture even more?
Jina McAfee:To me, that Scripture has come alive with the study of The End. Here we are, events still future when this Scripture was penned and now, today, and Jesus knows their hearts are troubled. And He knows our hearts are troubled. But He said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled." That's a command. So how do we do that? We trust in God, we trust in Jesus. He says."There's more than enough room in My Father's house." Just like a bridegroom took his bride to his father's house, to a place prepared just for the bride and her groom, here we are anticipating Jesus doing that, that He's preparing a place in His Father's house for us, His Bride. And when it's time, Father God will say, "Get your bride." I love that. Whenever I've read this Scripture in the past, I've always thought about the fact that this is a place that God was preparing for me, like all about me, my earthly life ended and my entrance into His kingdom, into heaven. And it is, but it's so much more. It's about us, the church, the new heavens and new earth. And realize this place that He's preparing is under construction now. He said, "When I go, I will prepare it." And He went, what, 2000 years ago. So has He been preparing the city for us for 2000 years? I don't know. "When everything is ready, He will come and get us so that we will always be with Him where He is." Let's look at one more Scripture in Hebrews about Abraham, who is the father of our faith. This is
what is said in Hebrews 11:10 & 16: "Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. [So we're getting ready to talk about the new Jerusalem, a city built by God.] They [the faith-filled saints of old] were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland." That's a long time ago, thousands of years ago, but we're still in that same place. We're still looking for that heavenly homeland. Are we confidently looking toward this city with eternal foundations, the city designed and built by God, the saints of old along with us looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland? Last week, we heard about the Millennial Reign and as good as that was, the new heavens and new earth are better. It's like we keep going up, up with Him, rising in our sights and our expectations. We have to look up. God told Abraham to look up.
ReGina Johnston:Well, I heard that there's room enough for everybody. I'm concerned about that because, you know, I'm thinking about sharing bathrooms and bunk beds and all of that. So I was really happy to hear there's a lot of room. So Kyli, tell us more about this city. Give us some understanding of how really massive this city will be.
Kyli Rose:Revelation gives us some insight as to the real estate that this city will occupy. It's bigger than any city that we could compare it to. It will dwarf what we know as big now. It's going to be massive and beautiful. ReGina posed the question, "Is there going to be room in my father's house?" The answer is, "Yes!" I think there's an old song. Do you remember that old song? It's a big, big house with lots and lots of room. We're going way back. But, yes, that was true, that song, if you sang it as a kid, it's true. We see that in
Revelation 21:15-17. It gives us a little bit of insight about the size of the city. It says,"The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates and its walls. When he measured it, he found that it was square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel)." We know that we measure things to make sure they're exact, and we still don't get them exact, right? Things still aren't plumb. They're still not square. But the angel here is carrying this divine measuring stick, making sure that every single detail is exact, and it is perfect. And what we find about this city is it is a perfect cube. I'm going to give you just a little bit of context. Commentators have said that this city, the New Jerusalem, will be 600 stories high, that it can house a population 70 times the present population of the entire globe. You will have plenty of room. You're going to have room to move and room to live and have your being forever and ever. And then it talks about the walls, the thickness of the walls. We read in Scripture how the walls of Jericho were thick walls, but this is going to dwarf what we know. It's really beyond our human comprehension. And I think that's what's so fun to sit with. We don't know, we just simply don't know. So we get to dream. I love how they compare it to a cube. We know the length, the width, and the height are the same measurement. If you go back to the Old Testament, to the description of the tabernacle, this tent that they would set up, God gave them specific measurements. There was a place within this tabernacle or this tent where the presence of God resided. We call this the Holy of Holies. Whenever we see them construct the tabernacle in the desert, this Holy of Holies was a perfect cube. God is basically doing what He did in the desert a few thousand years ago, just on a grander, real-life scale.
ReGina Johnston:It's a massive scale.
Kyli Rose:So we will be living in the Holy of Holies. And the cool thing is, in the tabernacle in the Old Testament, you couldn't just go in and out of that cube. You couldn't go in and out of that space. There was a veil. And if you did, you would die on the spot. In fact, one guy could go in there one time a year. And so the idea that we get to live in the very presence of God, all the time, all day, all night, forever and ever is just so profound. And it's the coolest story. Like, tell me the Bible isn't real. Only a divine God could have crafted something like this. I love to talk about this. I think about in Eden too, there were so many beautiful stones and gold and silver, similar to what we see described here. It was beautiful. John is
Jina McAfee:So Kyli told us some about the size, Jina, tell attempting to describe something here in Revelation that he's physically seeing in the spiritual world, something more beautiful, more magnificent, more wonderful than anything our limited minds can possibly understand. Let's read
Revelation 21:11, 18-19a. Verse 11 says, "The new Jerusalem shone with the glory of God [the glory of God] and sparkled like a precious stone, like jasper as clear as crystal." I asked a jeweler friend of mine to show me what jasper was like. A lot of it is kind of murky looking, but she found one that was as clear as crystal. It looks almost like a huge diamond. It's gorgeous. Verses 18-19a say,"The wall [the wall] was made of jasper [can you imagine], and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. [So it's clear like glass.] The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with 12 precious stones. The 12 gates were made of pearls, each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass." It will shine with the glory of God, sparkling like a precious stone, like jasper, but as clear as crystal. So what stands out? All of that gold and glass and crystal clear and jewels and foundation stones. And the thing that really just stands out to me is that all of this is not for monetary value. It's not for how much you can sell it for and then take money and keep it for us about the beauty. yourself. It's just for beauty's sake.
ReGina Johnston:And in my mind, I don't believe we're going to look at that and say, "My, how gaudy." I think it's going to be done in such a tasteful and beautiful manner that we're just going to be captured by it.
Jina McAfee:I think we're going to be in awe. Live in it. Yes. One commentator I read pointed
ReGina Johnston:I think it's like standing at the ocean side, honestly, and being captured, or standing at the foot of a massive mountain and being just captured by its beauty. And That's some huge clam! knowing that there had to be somebody bigger than we are that out that a pearl is formed by hardship, by trial, or by actually created this, a Master Designer, the Artist of all
Jina McAfee:It is! Jesus paid a price. Father paid a price. If time, that created this beauty, and we're going to get to live in it. irritation, and the twelve gates will each be one big pearl. you think about it like this, it was an exorbitant bride price. There was a bride price. He paid for us with hardship, with death on a cross, with Father God seing His Son give His life. That's hardship. This is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1
Corinthians 2:9).
ReGina Johnston:We can look too and see how Scriptures prophesied long ago are now being fulfilled, some fulfilled long before our time, but some of the fulfilling of the same Scriptures happening right here in the book of Revelation as we read about the new heavens and the new earth. So, Kyli, can you give us an example of that as we realize that in this new city, God and Jesus rule?
Kyli Rose:When you get to see the end of the story, it adds this richness and depth to some of the Scriptures we've read over and over and over again. We see this in Isaiah 9:6-7. It says, "For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us. [He's speaking of Jesus.] The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!" You always hear this read at Christmas time. For some of us, Jesus is still in the manger. But we see that He comes back as the Warrior King, and He is now sitting on a throne in this new city. So after the life we've lived, we appreciate having just government. He is the One who rules and reigns. And so as the believer, we know that His economy will be just, that it will be fair, there will be a just rule. And talking about not having a concept for what that even means, we don't have a concept for that. We don't have a framework for it. But I think that honestly, it gives us a lot of encouragement because there are so many of us who will not experience justice on this side of heaven. I think our hearts long for that. Right? We hear stories, horrific things, and it's like we're asking, "God, where are You right now? Are You going to make this okay?" He is letting us know, "I will make it okay, and you're going to get to live in a place where I rule and I reign and Justice reigns as well." So this is the only kingdom that never ends, the one prophesied in Daniel. We see God and the Lamb, the light and the temple. It says, "I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need for sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light"
(Revelation 21:22-23). It will be a place that is just. It will be a place where love and light rule because He is ruling, and there is no darkness in Him.
ReGina Johnston:So we've heard about righteous rule in the Millennial Kingdom, but here in the new heavens and new earth, there will be no sin, no death, no curse, no evil. How is that so, Jina?
Jina McAfee:It's something we haven't experienced in our whole life time, right? We haven't experienced it. But we are told that the curse of sin is gone. There will be no more sin. When we live in the new heavens and new earth, there will be no sin. No one will sin. No one will be sinning. We will be in glorified bodies. We won't see that anymore. It says in the new creation, sin will be totally eradicated. And there will be no more curse. "No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will worship Him"(Revelation 22:3.) Can you imagine how free we will be? We will be able to worship the Lord without any distractions, any concerns. Sin is gone. Let's think about it. With the curse of sin removed, it means there will be no evil, no sin and no death. It's beyond our
imagination. Revelation 21:27 says this: "Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." The new earth will be free from sin, evil, sickness, suffering and death. It will be similar to our current earth but without sin. It will be the earth as God originally intended it to be. We're Origin, and I love that we get to look at this. It will be Eden restored. We will be free from evil doers, no more hateful words, no more backstabbing, nothing lost or stolen, no sickness, no disease. The thing is, we belong to Christ, so we have the ability to choose not to sin now, but still we have thoughts come to our minds and we have to choose not to sin. In the new heavens and new earth, those thoughts won't even come to your mind. That will not be anymore. No crying, no sorrow, no pain. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever"
(Revelation 21:4). The Lord will personally wipe away your tears. Like everyone's tears, He will personally wipe away.
ReGina Johnston:That's sounds so tender as you think it.
Jina McAfee:It does. Like a mother with a child. He will remove all pain both emotionally and physically. So no more hurt, no more hurt hearts. No more physical pain. All gone forever. No more weeping, no more sadness or depression. No more anxiety. Think about that. Completely and totally free from sorrow or pain.
ReGina Johnston:Then Jesus says, "It is done!" In
Revelation 21:6, He said, "It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life." So at last, all things are renewed and all things are restored, all promises fulfilled, all believers freely filled up by the living water. We won't want for anything. It reminds me of Psalm 23, where David says, "I lack nothing. I lack nothing." And truly here, there will be no lack because we're able to experience God in all His goodness and glory, all His beauty, and splendor. And everything that we need is provided in Him. It's provided in Him. One commentator says,"Only those who thirst for spiritual satisfaction in Jesus will be filled. His grace saves and satisfies the thirsting soul. During His earthly ministry, Jesus told a spiritually thirsty woman at Jacob's well, 'Whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst again. [This is Jesus.] The water I give him will become in him a spring of living water welling up to eternal life' (John 4:14). [I love that.] Also, the fourth beatitude promises that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be fully and
freely satisfied (Matthew 5:6). That promise is fulfilled entirely and completely in eternity." So here we are, again, at choice. This whole bible study has been about the fact that we have a choice. And it's been a contrast of choices. And we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about it here as we end the study of The End, if we didn't talk about that gift that God has given us, the gift of choice. So Kyli, as we close out today, talk to us about this gift of choice.
Kyli Rose:So the choice on the table is: Will we be inside or outside? Will we be a citizen or an outsider? We see in
Revelation 21:27, it says,"Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's
book of life." Revelation 22:14-15 says, "Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. Outside the city are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshippers, and all who love to
live a lie." The cool thing is:we've all sinned, and we've all fallen short of the glory. We were all outside, and He has made a way for us to come in. The invitation is on the table. But there will be a point, and the part of the story we're talking about today, is after many, many invitations have been extended. But today, you still get a choice. So is it blessing or eternal separation? And it's not just blessing and getting to live in this incredible city we just talked about, but it's blessing today. When you choose today, you get to know peace today. You get to know joy and fullness and love and life. And then you get to experience that like it's in Technicolor at the very end of the age. So there's only one choice for life. There are no exceptions. And the invitation is now. "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price"
(Revelation 22:17). So will you choose life? "Today He has set before you life or death, blessing or curse. [And He is imploring you. He is urging you. You can almost hear Him just urgently pleading.] Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children [and your children's children] might live![and live in abundance]"(Deuteronomy 30:19).
ReGina Johnston:That's eternal. So, Jina, will you pray us out as we finish the end of The End?
Jina McAfee:Lord, we love You. Lord, we praise You. You are worthy. There's one worthy, Jesus, the Lamb that was slain and the Lion from the tribe of Judah. Lord, You have so graciously set before us a picture of what eternal life with You is going to be like. It's greater than anything we can imagine, but we're trying to imagine it. And every aspect of this picture is desirable for life. And just like Kyli said, it's life now. Abundance now. Blessings now, and then blessings forevermore. So, Lord, once more, we know Your heart that each one, everyone, all would choose life. Lord, that's Your heart. You're saying,"Come." We're saying, "Come." And so Lord, You don't just say,"Come," but You open hearts and minds and eyes and ears. So Lord, for everyone that's listening right now, and for our family members, for those who have not yet said, "Yes," Lord, I pray that You would draw them by Your Holy Spirit, and Lord, that they would see the choice that's before them to be inside or outside, and that they would choose life. And Lord, we pray for those who have children who have not yet chosen You, Lord, that You would draw them by your Holy Spirit, and they would choose life. Lord, there's so much goodness in the life You have for us. You are good. You are love. You are so sweet, Lord. It's in Jesus' Mighty Name that we pray. Amen.
ReGina Johnston:Thank you for joining us this season at the table of Origin.