Relics to Come

Hebrews 11:13-16

In “Soul Survivor,” Philip Yancey writes:  “G. K. Chesterton viewed this world as a sort of cosmic shipwreck. A person in search of meaning resembles a sailor who awakens from a deep sleep and discovers treasure strewn about, relics from a civilization he can barely remember. One by one he picks up the relics—gold coins, a compass, fine clothing—and tries to discern their meaning. Fallen humanity lives in such a state. Good things on earth—the natural world, beauty, love, joy—still bear traces of their original purpose, but amnesia mars the image of God in us.”

The author of Hebrews tells us that people of faith only saw the things promised and “welcomed them from a distance. . . They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. . . They are looking for a country of their own . . . longing for a better country—a heavenly one.”