Final Refuge

I have long thought that the Bible is the ultimate seedbed for writers and storytellers. Any author experiencing writer’s block needs only to spend a few minutes reading the Bible to come up with the plot of a best-seller. The truths of the Bible are timeless. God had the writers spare us no details of both the highest glories of God and the most wretched and sinful men and women that ever walked the earth. The Bible lays out almost every possible theme and genre: from dysfunctional families to beautiful love stories; incredible military victories to defeat and enslavement; from creation to fantastical prophesies of future events; and depraved mankind being pursued by a patient and loving God.

One genre of writing and movies that appears in the Bible, and confronts us every fall, is horror. Some movie channels play gratuitous gore and horror films nonstop throughout October. One horror film series is the “Final Destination” franchise, with at least six films, as well as novels and comic books. The idea behind each story is that the main characters have somehow cheated death. But death is vengeful and will not tolerate being cheated. So the characters, one by one, face the most graphic, violent, and shocking deaths that the writers can imagine. In the end, death wins and is the characters’ final destination.

For those outside the will of God, the Bible contains numerous horror stories. Can you imagine the increasing horror of the Egyptians as the ten plagues progressed in severity or the terror of the Egyptian army as the sea collapsed around them? Can you imagine the shock and sheer terror that Korah and his followers experienced as the earth shook, split open, and swallowed them alive (Num 16:31 ff.)? Can you imagine the fear and trepidation Sennacherib experienced as he woke up one morning to find that 185,000 soldiers from his Assyrian army had been slaughtered overnight by the angel of the Lord (Is 37:36 ff.)?

But the kings of Israel who did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and the rebellious Israelites who worshiped other gods also met horrible deaths. The Bible provides graphic details about the horrible deprivation in Samaria as mothers bargained to eat each other’s child as the army of Aram besieged the city (2Kings 6:24-30). Contemplate the terrors the inhabitants of Jerusalem witnessed as the Babylonians slaughtered thousands with the sword and deported thousands more to Babylon.
All these horrors and many more are of this present world. Death is horrible. But there is a much worse horror awaiting those who die denying the one true God of the Bible. Students of the Bible know that death is not the end. Hell and the lake of fire, the second death (Rev 20:15), is the final destination of those without faith in Jesus, which is far worse than any finite human mind can possibly imagine. The lake of fire is where “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:10). The pain and suffering of hell and the lake of fire are not fictional stories. After the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11–15), God will throw “anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life” into the lake of fire forever. Neither Dante, Stephen King, nor any other writer or movie producer can begin to frighten us like a single second of the reality of hell and the lake of fire!

Final Refuge

All this year, “The Beacon” has provided encouragement and reassurance of God’s provision for His people as He provides refuge from the storms, disappointments, and horrors of this world, sin, and death. The ultimate good news is that heaven is the place of refuge for all those whose name is written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 21:27). You might say that heaven is our “final refuge,” although final would be a misnomer because passing from this world into the next is not the end for those in Christ. Death is not even the beginning of the end – just the beginning of eternity with Christ. So, instead of saying final refuge, we can speak of heaven as our eternal refuge.

Just as we cannot begin to comprehend the eternal horrors of hell, we cannot begin to understand the wondrous glories of eternal refuge in heaven fully. Thankfully, the Bible offers us glimpses of what we can expect in heaven. Because Jesus is “Faithful and True” (Rev 19:11) and His judgments are true and righteous (Rev 19:2), the King of Kings and Lord of Lords makes war with righteous justice. In the new heaven, God eliminates injustice, lies, deception, unfaithfulness, and all sin. Nothing unclean, detestable, or false will ever exist there (Rev 21:27).

In Revelation 21, God unveils His new creation, including a new heaven and a new earth. In verse 3, we see that God will live with His people, the redeemed in Christ. Living in God’s presence means that there will be no sin in the new heaven, we will never turn away from our God again, he will always thereafter be our God, and we are His people forever. Verse 4 states that there will be no more tears as the horrors of this present age have passed away. Death will no longer exist for those in the new heaven. There will be nothing to grieve about and no crying. The aches and pains (physical, emotional, social, and spiritual) of this world will have ceased for all of time.

The new Jerusalem is immense in size, and John provides an incredible description using every precious metal and valuable gemstone (Rev 21:15-21). Yet my mind is incapable of imagining its beauty and grandeur. As incredible as the new beautiful city may be, the city can not begin to compare with God’s presence, whose glory illuminates the new Jerusalem with no sun, moon, or other source of light except God alone. Night does not exist, and there is no temple because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are always there, and we will worship them in person (Rev 21:22-26).

In Rev 22:1-4, John describes the river of the water of life and the tree of life. The leaves of the tree bring healing. We see that God has reversed the curse of sin from Genesis 3, allowing all believers in Christ to eat freely from the tree. We find the original “fruit of the month club” to be the tree that bears 12 different fruits. Down the main street flows the river of the water of life. The river’s source is the throne of God and the Lamb, and all the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem are invited to come and drink the water of life freely (Rev 22:17). Hunger and thirst will cease to exist through God’s gracious provision.

In Genesis 3, when sin entered the world, Adam and Eve lost access to the Garden of Eden and the tree of life. The greater loss, however, was their loss of direct face-to-face access to God. Being cast out of the garden, they could no longer walk with God. God separated Adam and Eve from unbroken fellowship with Him, and their sinfulness robbed them of the joy of seeing their Creator face-to-face.

In the new Jerusalem, God restores the tree of life and the water of life to His people. However, the greatest restoration of all is the never-ending ability to see God’s face – what joy! We will be His people, experience His constant presence, and worship Him forever and ever. My sins will no longer be a plague to me and will no longer separate me from God. My sinful nature will be removed by the grace of God, and I will see Him face-to-face.

Come quickly Lord Jesus!

You are my final refuge.

-Walker Downs

Walker is the husband of Lana, who serves as the Bookkeeper at Ninth and O. They have two grown sons, Jackson and Daniel. Walker retired from LifeWay Christian Stores after 28 years and has an MDiv from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as a member of the Personnel Committee, the grounds crew, and as Director of the AC2 BFG at Ninth and O, where they have been members for 22 years.