Listen

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God.”

Revelation 21:1-3

Think

I still remember April 27, 2019. It was a Saturday, and the cinema was packed with people to see Marvel’s new movie, Avengers: Endgame. (Spoiler alert)

We know the scene: Thanos confronts all the Avengers and everything seems to come to an end when he has the Infinity Gauntlet. “I am inevitable,” he says with an air of victory, until he realizes at the snap of his fingers that he doesn’t have the gems. Then the scene cuts to Iron-Man with the gems in a gauntlet he prepared himself, ending the war and bringing peace to the world, even though it costs him his life. Thanos was inevitable, perhaps. But not indestructible.

The power of God’s love has one purpose: to bring peace and renew this world. John’s experience of seeing a new heaven and new earth, followed by the loud voice coming from the throne affirms that there are Thanoses in our lives that seem inevitable, but they are not indestructible or eternal. The time will come when the God who lives within us will come to live with us.

Juan Diego Rojas Miranda

Question to Ponder:

Can you trust God today to overcome the inevitable Thanos in your life?

Pray

God of love, help me to trust amid life’s problems that seem inevitable. I trust in your plan, that you will be with me until the end of the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Go

“I have decided to follow Christ,

my eyes fixed on the cross,

I will not turn back.”

Joshua Holiday, “Goodbye Yesterday,” Elevation Worship, 2024