John, The Dreamer

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

John Lennon dreamed of a world without divisions, a world full of peace and love and togetherness.  The mourners in Paris recently sang this song, a seemingly unachievable dream given the state of humanity.  John Lennon was a dreamer.  Interestingly enough, long before Lennon, there was another John who had this same dream. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, the only one to see old age. Only his dream was more like a vision, and it was given as a promise.  A promise for the church to hold onto when all seemed dark and hopeless.  There is a key difference between these dreams however.  Lennon dreamed of world peace achieved through human effort alone. The apostle John saw a world made new by God himself.  I too am a dreamer.  I dream of peace. I dream of healing for the nations.  And because of Christ, I not only dream, I believe. I believe that one day this vision will be reality.  But the human heart is too broken to achieve this on its own, we need to be made new.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold the dwelling place of God is with humanity. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'... And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb*.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into, and its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there... Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
Revelations 21-22

*"the Lamb" is a reference to Jesus