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ONE LAST THING I believe that by the uttermost end of all things, Hell will be emptied and every last fallen soul and spirit redeemed. Satan’s willful disobedience will be all but spent, his rage exhausted, his fury ended. Alone in the prison of his own torment, the ancient enemy will at last repent. He will cry out for the Lord, calling for the magnificent lover he had scorned before the beginning of all things. Last, lost, and finished, he will cry out, begging for forgiveness, seeking a wondrous grace eternally denied, submitting at last to our holy God, hungering for a light long absent from his own heart. In that final moment, as the last remnants of Hell itself are dismantled, Christ will carry the one who was furthest from God back into his great and loving light. And in the way God always does, he will whisper gently to his child that he was always near, always waiting, always hoping, always loving. And our enemy, who has brought ruin into our lives and into the lives of all who ever lived, will whisper back; “I am sorry.” This is the completion of all things. |