Reading NT Wright's Surprised By Hope, with its chapters on bodily resurrection, the notion of paradise, and the second coming, it's almost impossible to keep one's mind in the purely academic realm of theology - debating the scriptural support of amillenialism vs pre-or post-millenialism, the timing (or literal occurrence) of the rapture and tribulation, and many of the other speculative discussions I've heard in dispensational circles over the years regarding details of and preparation for the end times. By contrast, Wright's arguments and illustrations of the afterlife thrust academic debate back into real life in a way the Left Behind series never could. Indeed as you read and think over the implications of this view of the afterlife as redemption and re-creation rather than just rapture and reward, one's imagination soars (what will the new world be like? how will our new bodies work? what will it be like to finally have God with us?) And yet in pontificating about the when and how of heaven and hell, it is refreshing to hear a perspective that expounds on the why. Understanding God's ultimate purpose and promise for this world spiritually affects how one sees one's life now and the way God is redeeming it toward a future glory. And not just one's individual life, but the whole church throughout time. It's reflections like these (rather than intensive speculation on signs of the end times at one end of the spectrum nor ambivalent resignation to the afterlife being something we just can't understand at all on the other) that keeps one's thoughts captive to Christ and hopeful and joyful for his return.

Amidst these thoughts of the second coming and the impending end (of both my life at death and this present world at judgment), I was reminded this week of a Johnny Cash song,"The Man Comes Around". Given that NT Wright also frequently alludes to hymns and their scriptural basis, it seemed worth digging up to listen to again. If you're not familiar, hope you can hear some of the same things - set, of course, to really good music and Cash's great voice. Unlike Wright's playlist, it doesn't underscore deep, nuanced theology or even likely align with his views on the mechanics of the last days, but its imagery does bring one's heart to worship and awe of the power and majesty of our returning king. Lyrics littered with scripture, the song makes it difficult to accept the idea of Jesus coming back as just one of those feel-good but distant things we as Christians believe nominally but not operatively. The first time I heard it, it was chilling; it still is. Christ coming back, witnessing his judgment, seeing him face to face and on his throne - to envision what that will be like (whether we are alive on earth or with him in paradise), is both rightfully terrifying and incredibly moving. Finally meeting our personal, loving saviour and experiencing his power to renew is the awesome hope we all have. After all of the pain and strife of this present world, it really will be wonderful for God's kingdom to fully come to earth, with "multitudes a marching" and a "hundred million angels singing", all of us together praising him in all of his glory. What a song that will be.