Well, the Stanley Cup has been won. The Los Angeles Kings are the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions of the National Hockey League. Last night they capped off an impressive run where they finished off the New Jersey Devils handily by a score of 6-1 in the sixth game of the final series. The road to the Cup was not easy for the Kings either, they were the eighth seed in the Western Conference and had to beat the likes of the Vancouver Canucks (#1 team in the West), the St. Louis Blues (#2 team in the West), and the Phoenix Coyotes (#3 team in the West).

When it came time to face the New Jersey Devils in the Cup Final the Kings were the clear favourites as they had 12 wins and 2 losses coming in and had won 8 games on the road. I am not a Los Angeles Kings or a New Jersey Devils fan, but it was fun to see a team do so well from start to finish and win the Cup in such a fashion as the Kings did. As the players hoisted the greatest trophy in sports over their head I couldn’t help but think about how happy each of them felt as their boyhood dreams had finally come true.

As a Christian, I could bring up the idolatry issue as they kissed the trophy and almost worshiped it, but I’m not going to go there. I am sure for some the Stanley Cup may be an idol and I am sure for many others the players who hoist it are idols too, but that’s not what came to mind either (okay maybe it did in the back of my head). The truth is I just reveled in the victory.

It is not a bad thing to celebrate victory and to take joy as the battle has been won. For the players they can now shave off their playoff beards, throw on their shorts and flip-flops, and enjoy the summer as Stanley Cup Champions. That is a good thing.

The victory is a reminder of the day when our battle is over as well.

I was mowing the lawn yesterday afternoon before the game and it is during my “mow the lawn times” that I get to listen to podcasts in their entirety and/or listen to music on my iPod. It just so happened that I was listening to a worship playlist where I was just hammered with the truth of our victory in Christ and what it will be like in the end for us who know Jesus.

Here is the song and lyrics:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first had passed away
I saw a new city, Jerusalem; a bride on her wedding day
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“look at the dwelling place of God”
He will dwell with them, they will be his people, and He will be their GodWipe away every tear from our eyes
Death will be no moreAnd he who is seated on the throne, said “I am making all things new”
He said “It is finished, hear these words, they are trustworthy and true”
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end
And to the thirsty he will give water, from a river with no end

Wipe away every tear from our eyes
Death will be no more

All this mourning, all this crying
All this death we’ve seen, all these broken things…
…will end, all our pain
All this death we’ve seen, all the former things
…will end

And I saw no the temple in this new city
It’s temple is Jesus Christ our Lord
And this bright city has no need for sun
Only the glory of our God

I just find joy in that song and most of all in the truth that it speaks of. That song is rooted in one of my favourite passages in Scripture, Revelation 20:1-8:

    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. 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.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The Kings are the 2012 Stanley Cup Champions and this is their day, but the day is coming when our victory will be here and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, death will be no more, and He will make all things new.

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