Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Rev. 21:3-4)
In the New Jerusalem, where the "Old order of things has passed away," there will be no longer marriage, or temples/ mosques/ churches -- but all will be one: the whirling dervishes of the Sufi religion, the Buddhist monks and practitioners, and the Christian believers. Jesus said there would be one flock and one shepherd, and He prayed that they would all be one as He and the Father are one. In John's vision, he says, "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light...nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev. 21:22-27).
The aim of religion is to lead us to union with God, and in Him, union with one another. Sometimes the work of His hands in creation, in music, in art can also move us forward into momentary union with the Creator, but few of us can sustain that moment of union in our daily lives. We need a more structured way, something that goes beyond the senses to our core, something that can overcome our natural tendencies to separate ourselves from one another. We recognize that in this life, we are not united; there is much that separates us from one another, especially our religions. So, then, how can union with God and with one another be attained?
In the Book of Galatians, Paul says, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise...Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." (Gal. 3:26-4:6).
Many people have questioned whether it is possible that someone like Hitler could be saved. I think we might refine the question to ask whether Hitler could receive God's Holy Spirit in his heart, uniting him with the Father as a son and uniting him with the Jewish people he hated so much. As C.S.Lewis points out, there is a difference between a woman who grumbles and a woman who has become a grumble. With each choice we make, we gradually turn ourselves into more and more of what we choose. It is possible, I think, to erase our humanity, our souls, the spark of divinity within us, althogether as we turn ourselves into sin, which cannot abide the Presence of God or of other people. Sin separates and divides; but in Christ, who conquered sin, we find union of spirit. He reconciles us to God and to one another. If we cannot accept that Spirit that comes from God, it is impossible to be saved.
When Jesus came, he announced that the kingdom of God was within (or among) us. He had already begun the work of reconciliation, of giving His Spirit, a work that would continue even more after His death on the cross and resurrection to a new kind of life. Heaven begins now, if we can but receive it from Him!
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