Behold, I Make All Things New

I just completed my first graduate class for my Intercultural Studies degree called "Organizational Systems Of Society." It is one of my top favorite 3 classes that I have had thus far in my academic career. The class was about the reality of the world in which we live and how utterly screwed up (I wish i could insert much stronger language here) the world (especially Africa) really is. It is the most depressing class, without competition, I have ever taken. We grappled with realities of the world, that as an American are not my reality, such as: human trafficking, world hunger, child soldiers, failed states, the bottom billion, conflict, war, genocide, and many other things that plague the world. I am now informed and bothered by the horrific things happening in the world that seem to have no easy or hopeful solutions. The depressing fact is that there really aren't any quick-solutions for the human family. Peace is something that is sought after but very rarely ever found. My rose-colored glasses are removed and I am left with a lot of cynicism. However, after this class, I have a new longing for REDEMPTION that ONLY Jesus Christ can provide. All day today, I was plagued by the phrase in Revelation, "I have come to make all things new..." This is the hope that I cling to tonight, that one day Jesus Christ will RESTORE and REDEEM His creation! I have a deepened understanding of the immense beauty and necessity of restoration and redemption. Christ is the only Hope for the world. My hope can be found in no other, and for HIM I give my life, my time, and my devotion.

The passage below is BEAUTIFUL and gives me hope...

Revelation 21:1-8
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

I hope to post more of my thoughts about this class in the upcoming weeks. I have been grappling with things such as war, the US' role in the world, and many other things that I hope to share as I begin to really process what I really did learn and take-away from this class.