The people we will accompany include:
Christian people are always wandering from God. Christ-like disciples will make it their intent to: go after them, challenge them to return, and be the ones helping them back. People who will live with God forever are now concerned enough to care and to care enough to help those in spiritual need.
And contrary to some who say Jesus will take everything from us until we learn to trust him and will then return it to us, Not necessarily. For many believers have learned that what they once considered essential to their unsaved state has no use to them once growing in Christian maturity. They have learned that surrendering to Jesus whatever he took away was the very thing they had no use for once more mature in faith. Indeed, what they could have reclaimed, with his permission, is the very thing they didn’t want at all and would never ask to have again, even if freely given by the Father! End Part II
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Judy and I shop at the Ralphs grocery on Old Grove Road and the Walmart on Marron Road, Oceanside, California. Because we like the people in both stores. We exchange greetings when we enter, hugs with several and repartee with customers, employees and cashiers.
The people make the difference. Think of Bible people who have made a difference: Adam and Eve, for example. Our common parents. He the handsomest man ever, she the peerless beauty. Nobody ever looked that good again. All without make-up, ladies, and without body-building buff, men. To this writer, other names naturally follow: Abraham, Joseph in Egypt, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, David, Solomon and those GREAT prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. But only as a sampling of many more. For with the sacred writer, we say, “I do not have time to tell about...” et al, et al, so many of God’s great people of old Hebrews 11:33. In the next blog, consider a few of the kind of people with whom we’ll share the new heaven and earth in new bodies and minds. Each kind will make a difference in our lives even then. End Part I Those who seek only to live for Jesus NOW, so they can live with him THEN, shall have the privilege. But it begins now and continues always.
Years ago, in the Plaza Bonita Mall, National City, California, I saw a sign in the Glamour Shots window. It offered a Mother’s Day Special—one for her to remember. That stirred a thought. Jesus does for our soul in conversion and reconstitution of our spirit what Glamour Shots does for our face. But with significant differences.
Walt Whitman, George Stuart, Charles Lindbergh, Thomas Edison, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Thomas Jefferson all rejected, doubted or didn’t think an after-life mattered enough to consider it.
God grants us the right to an opinion on the subject. He won’t force Heaven on anyone. If we want to believe that none exists, too bad for us. For no one unprepared to be there will be there. Make no mistake: while God gives us freedom to draw conclusions, we have none that determines the after-life. Some, from what they call near-death experiences, have concluded that only reward, not punishment, exists after death. The book Life After Life recorded the experiences of such people. Some, who had previously believed in Bible teaching, revised it to match their experience. What did it prove? Only that they saw in their experience what they expected to see—subjective hopes fulfilled. In reality, it’s nothing but a rebirth of 2000 year old Gnosticism. II Corinthians 5:10 and Revelation 20:12, among many other passages, teach reward or punishment after death. Indeed, God warns us that we are not only judged by what we do here, but both good and bad are recorded. If unforgiven, all sin remains recorded, so no doubt exists, with no appeal possible. Do not let Satan deceive us with what humans SAY they have discovered in near-death experiences when their experiences are patently contrary to what God’s word TEACHES. End Part I As it’s the property of rain to be wet, and the property of fire to burn, it’s the property of Jesus to transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. He says he can do it by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control—an awesome power of creation, of regeneration, of dominion. He can do what he pleases, and he pleases to transform our lowly bodies! Amen.
Our age has lost this hope. Judge by the latest modern procedure to find new life for the body. It’s called cryonics. The blood is drawn from the body. Then a solution is instilled to preserve the organs. Then the corpse is stowed in deep freeze, held in suspension till future medical technology can revive it. The treatment costs at least $70,000, and a few have already been frozen. That is a hope born of desperation. Jesus has a better idea. Belief in him guarantees eternal life that begins now. If we die, not to worry: Jesus lives. If we decay, worry even less. When Christ is ready, he will reunite soul and body in a glorified, eternal state. In the meantime, this promise: not only are our victories victories, but our defeats are really victories in disguise. Our sorrows are really joys; all pain is really pleasure, wearing thorns; all weakness is strength, all labor is really rest. And this...even this...death is no end but just a beginning of indestructible life. That is our destiny! Go to the rest homes and see the infirm; but that isn’t the end. Go to the hospitals and see the sick; but that isn’t the end. Go to the graveyards and see the dead; and that isn’t the end. Against all that, go to Revelation 22:1 and see “the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Go to Revelation 21:9 and see “the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” Then go to Revelation 21:3 and hear, “A loud voice from the throne saying ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’” To finish the tour, go to Revelation 21:5 and hear God say, “I am making everything new!...it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” And none of all that will be the end either. No. But, praise God, praise God!! It is the Beginning that has no end! Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain” celebrates the restoration of the Union after the Civil War. It also grieves the loss of President Lincoln. Each of the three stanzas ends with a reference to that loss: “Fallen cold and dead.” “You’ve fallen cold and dead.” “Fallen cold and dead.” The Union saved, YES! Abraham Lincoln, DEAD! Not a dream; a nightmare. The cause outlived the person who embodied it, because the cause soared greater still, however great the man.
But Jesus and the Kingdom of God, co-terminus, exist together, indivisible! He is both the Cause of the Kingdom and the essential Person in the Kingdom! Forgiveness of sin is experienced because he rose from the dead. Heaven is won because Jesus lives. Hope in tomorrow flourishes because Jesus Reigns forever. And if we still can’t find in the promises what moves us to accept and live for Jesus, personalize them. All who now sing so low they can’t hear themselves will then be belting out hymns like Enrico Caruso, in solos or in vast choirs. Those who can’t imagine themselves standing in front of people talking will be preaching like Billy Graham. Those who don’t know a scripture verse larger than “Jesus Wept” will be quoting long passages from David’s psalms and Paul’s epistles. Those tone deaf will be composing cantatas. Those who can’t move their hips except to walk will be like David, leaping in sacred dance before the Throne; or, like Joy Hurley, unfolding their arms in the sacred allure and soft moves of hula. Those who don’t know high C from a C-note will find themselves experts in trumpets, guitars, violins and—Sergio Saucedo—accordions. They will all play in sacred harmonies the soaring passion of Elijah and the towering “lift you off your seat, rise from your seat and stand on tip-toe” strains of the Hallelujah Chorus. And...for those who like to keep their distance from others—who feel uncomfortable hugging...we’ll be laughing and hugging everyone in sight and, when We All Get To Heaven, there’ll always be someone in sight! The last word: hold lightly what we now cannot keep. Hold firmly what in faithfulness to Jesus Christ we cannot lose! Fini Isaiah 64:4 says, “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Paul quoted an altered version of the prophet to stress the difference between those deaf to and open to the Spirit’s teaching I Corinthians 2:6-16.
This writer has discovered that even those open to God’s truth can hardly comprehend it, let alone adequately communicate it. We must ask God for help in doing both. Thus, if the information in this blog has confused, not enlightened, you about Heaven, hang in there. One day ahead, and forever after, we’ll be illuminated and never again confused. Since God’s promises for our future remain beyond our mental and spiritual capacities, hang in there. One day ahead, and forever after, God will increase both capacities to envelop it all. We’ll find ourselves repeatedly saying, “”Uh huh,” I understand. “Uh, huh,” that makes sense. “Uh huh,” it’s all clear now.” We now have a daily experience with the Living God and his Living Son. Yet nothing like what’s to come when we stand in their presence, our mortal bodies transformed into an infinitely greater spiritual body with an equivalent brain! However, what we know of God NOW; what we experience with God NOW; right now, today, in daily life, we’re bridling with courage facing either life or death, problems or potentials. Even now, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us and gave himself for us. Hallelujah! End Part VI The new heaven and earth are coming. The New Jerusalem will be the sole city of God’s beatific Heaven. This part suggests what MAY partially constitute our life there—as the least of what God has prepared, which human brains can only imagine in our present state. But in contrast with our earth-bound life, these possibilities.
Eternal life with God reveals secrets heretofore hidden; and revealing, calls constantly to mind, and never forgotten. It’s a life where our eyes see everything and miss nothing. Where our brains understand every mystery and retain it all with encyclopedic perfection. Where the spirit inside our new body develops luxuriantly in unmeasured grace. A life where sorrow vanishes forever; where joy begins and continues always. Where righteousness rules without exception. Where safety guards and nothing makes afraid. Where tears stop and laughter begins to never end. A life where we can start anew and go on—in a bliss that soars. A life that’s stimulating, spectacular, substantial AND all the while safe, secure, steadfast, worth being prolonged eternally. A life whose depths cannot be plumbed, or heights climbed, or breadths enveloped. A life whose meaning remains inexhaustible however thoroughly investigated. Whose exegesis deepens with each new discovery; whose significance grows with each new revelation; whose dimensions expand with every explanation; whose experience exceeds itself as it’s practiced. End Part V Paradise is a life of recognition. It’s also a life of peace.
In this part, Paradise is not a life of education. While worth considering, this is my opinion, so hold it lightly. The dead in Christ NOW aren’t ages and eons beyond US in knowledge of and experience with God, Abel knowing more than anyone since he was the first to die. No education is continuing in Paradise. At rest means....AT REST...no worries, no study, no concerns, no knowledge of this life. Fully conscious, those present remain peaceful and care-free. Fully-aware of others, they remain profoundly cordial, gentle and festive. While in motion, they never disturb. While completely crowded, they enjoy plenty of room. AT REST, they await the Savior’s Return to earth, as we do. They want history to conclude, as we do. They want HEAVEN to begin, as we do. They want the New Jerusalem to come down to the new earth, as we do. For they know, as we do, that means the end of NOW and the beginning of an endless TOMORROW. And what that means is: education in the mysteries of God’s presence and ways awaits the consummation of history. So Nothing Begins in Heaven over THERE until it’s ALL OVER, OVER HERE! End Part IV The story continues, citing reasons NO ONE should miss being in Heaven.
It’s a life of bodily resurrection, not mere spirit immortality. That entirely new idea in the first century is no more welcomed by many in the 21st. When we say bodily resurrection, however, we don’t mean the skeleton men rising from their graves and contesting the Argonauts in the movie Jason and the Argonauts. No, but splendid, powerful physical specimen clothed in brilliant light that would immediately bring us to our knees before them, much as the apostle John fell as a dead man before the Glorified Christ in Revelation 1:12-17. Which leads to the question, “Do the dead in Christ now have bodies?” NO. They are presently spirits—souls—Revelation 6:9 says. When their body died, THEY ascended to Paradise to be with Jesus. It’s a life of recognition. Are the dead aware of each other? YES, remember...YOU...the spirit within your body recognizes ME—the spirit within mine. Once WE—the spirit within us—exits the body—the body dies, but WE live on. Since it’s the spirit within us who recognizes the spirit within others, why wouldn’t we continue to recognize others who have left their body? It’s a life of peace. What are the dead in Christ doing? They REST—Luke 16:25, Revelation 14:13. Even Revelation 6:9-11 relates to rest. While the souls of God’s people question WHY their positive service to humanity would be attacked and vilified, God graciously soothes them with the assurance that they can wait...i.e., rest from cares and concerns in perfect security until his perfect will is achieved in history. Resting...in a state of constant ecstasy...likely sharing with each other their personal spiritual journey through life to endless life, perhaps rejoicing in Song. End Part III |
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