davidbowerkingwood

Tomorrowland movie promotional photo by Walt Disney

It’s Coming, you can Count on That!

I saw this movie advertised on TV and decided to record it for future viewing; the other night I finally got around to watching it and enjoyed it enough to watch it all the way through and now I’ve ordered the disc to add to my collection of science fiction movies. As a science fiction fan I found it of interest as it told a story of time travel and adventure with the usual collection of good guys and bad guys.

From a theological perspective (everything in my life has a theological perspective) it falls into a familiar trap; human problems can be resolved by adjusting the environment. In this version a machine in the future is reaching back through time to influence the thinking of all mankind in a negative way; (spoiler alert) the answer is to blow up the machine and remove all of the negative influences that were causing all of mankind’s problems which is done by the good guys and gals.

From a science fiction movie point of view it is light entertainment designed for the younger audience; it is rated PG and is essentially free of gore and bad language and generally suitable for the family. The movie picks up on the very real feeling that there should be something better than what we have now; there must be a better way if we could only find it. I’m convinced this feeling of longing is based in part on the essential essence of who we are and how we’re made. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 it is written:

¹¹ He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

We have eternity set in our hearts; after all we are made in the image of God with all the resultant ramifications of that creative act. There will never come a time when you are not a living, self-aware life; you have been created to live forever. I find it fascinating how little that is taught; very few people live their lives with the realization of the true nature of their eternality.

Is Perfect Environment the Answer?

In Tomorrowland the implied message was the shutting down of the machine would bring peace and harmony to mankind; the movie ends with the destruction of the machine and the promise that all would now be well. This sad illusion has driven many as they sought to correct various perceived imperfections from the environment or the social or economic fabric of society; virtually all of the world’s “isms” have operated on this assumption and have failed miserably to accomplish their desired goals.

The Bible describes the futility of this hope in the Genesis narrative of the Garden of Eden and the Revelation narrative of the Millennial Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. In both instances, one past and one future, the narrative shows beyond any doubt that perfect environment is not the answer. If a lack of a perfect environment is not the cause of man’s problem then what is the cause of man’s inability to achieve the utopian world of which he dreams?

The Bible provides a very clear answer indeed although the explanation doesn’t rank very high on the popularity scale; the cause of the problem is not external, it is internal! Mankind is, by it’s nature, a fallen race whose members are born spiritually dead and have no way to correct that condition by any means available to them. The Genesis narrative tells the sad story of mankind’s rebellion against God and his spiritual death; what is even more sad are the ramifications of Adam’s disobedience which resulted in the spiritual death of the entire human race. It is this death and the presence in all of Adam’s descendants, born of a human father, of an incurable virus called sin. I have written more on this in the essay Is There One Unforgivable Sin?

God’s Tomorrowland

No matter how big you can think your wildest imaginations are going to fall way short of the Tomorrowland God has planned for his family. The art work at the top of this essay sparks my imagination but it doesn’t even begin to compare with the description in Revelation 21:10-27 that tells us of the New Jerusalem.

God’s plan for the redemption of mankind is well underway and will ultimately see full realization at a time yet future. The vital first step has been taken by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary; when our Lord spoke the words, “It is finished” God’s irresistible plan for the redemption of mankind had been put in place. I look forward with great joy and longing for its fulfillment and our entry into God’s Tomorrowland!

For Dreamers Only

The movie ends as a new tomorrowland is beginning to emerge which will be built and populated by dreamers; God’s tomorrowland is also a place for which we can dream. We can dream of a place where God is with us and He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. All who are thirsty may drink freely from the springs of the water of life.

There will be no temple in God’s tomorrowland, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And God’s tomorrowland shall have no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates it, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter into God’s tomorrowland in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there.

 There shall be a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb and it shall flow down the center of the main street. On each side of the river will grow a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves shall be used for medicine to heal the nations.

No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.  And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever in God’s tomorrowland.