Tag Archives: Eternity

New for Eternity

Jesus’ Ministry
February 21, 2019

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. –1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42

As I stated previously, I do not concentrate much on the bodily aspects of the resurrection. I do take interest in the idea that we die to an old way of being and are raised to a new way that will structure who we are and what we do for eternity.  Some experience a dramatic shift as Paul did on the road to Damascus but even Paul withdrew into the desert perhaps for three years and pondered what had happened in his encounter with Christ. Most of us through study and meditation gradually become new persons. I rather like the way the song Have Thine Own Way puts it:

Have Thine own way, Lord,
  Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter,
  I am the clay.
Mould me and make me
  After Thy will,
While I am waiting,
  Yielded and still*.

Prayer: In the crush and clatter of life that pulls us all in many directions, teach us to be still and know that you are God and are using every one of our experiences to make us the persons we need to be in your service. Amen.

First verse of Have Thine Own Way by Adelaide Addison Pollard see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/449

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Shalom in Eternity

Living in the Spirit
August 19, 2018

Scripture Reading: John 6:51-58
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.’

I have a pragmatic bent tending to think what I am doing right now is where my attention needs to be focused; eternity will take care of itself. The promise of being a good slave now so one will get a reward in heaven seems to justify oppression in the name of God. I am also not enamored with the various lists of behaviors faith groups use to define who is in and who is out regarding heaven. Funny those lists most often do not include Jesus’ judgment list of feeding the poor, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, restoring the prisoner, and welcoming the stranger. I fear I am a bit jaded regarding the subject of eternal life.

That said, I take great comfort in the prospects of spending eternity near to the heart of God. Perhaps that is because I gain great comfort seeking the heart of God here and now and have experienced God’s Shalom when I need it most.

There is a place of quiet rest,
near to the heart of God,
a place where sin cannot molest,
near to the heart of God.*

 Prayer:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God* Amen.

*First verse of the Hymn Near to the Heart of God with the Prayer being the chorus of that same hymn by Cleland Boyd McAfee see at https://hymnary.org/text/there_is_a_place_of_quiet_rest

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Eternal Life

Eastertide
May 10, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:9-13
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

The Greek word for Life, zōḗ is described by Strong’s Concordance as both physical and spiritual. All life (2222 /zōḗ), throughout the universe, is derived – i.e. it always (only) comes from and is sustained by God’s self-existent life. The Lord intimately shares His gift of life with people, creating each in His image which gives all the capacity to know His eternal life*.

Likewise, Eternal** (166 /aiṓnios) life operates simultaneously outside of time, inside of time, and beyond time – i.e. what gives time its everlasting meaning for the believer through faith, yet is also time-independent.

 It would be pure speculation on my part to describe what life after death was like and I take great comfort in the knowledge that we will spend eternity in the presence of God. Eternity started at our first breath and gained substance in our choice to follow the Son of God. We are living in the now of that eternity and I think that is where our emphasis must be targeted. We are charged with being the Body of Christ in our world today.  Loving like Jesus loves is an avocation that demands all our energies in all aspects of our lives.

Being a follower of Christ calls us to invest ourselves in seeking the wholeness that comes from the love of God that allows us to be the Body of Christ. We can become distracted from that work when we stray from our primary mission. Humanness involves our being fully capable of both good and evil. Wholeness is what draws us toward the good. Practicing spiritual disciplines keeps us aligned with the goodness of God.

 Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I get distracted from following your way. Set me on the path of eternity with you. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/2222.htm
** http://biblehub.com/greek/166.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Eternal Leadership

christ-priest-000Living in the Spirit
October 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. –Hebrews 7:26-28

The author of the book of Hebrews is referring back to Psalm 110:4 when he talks about the difference between the Levitical priesthood of the law and the priesthood of Christ: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ The priest appointed per the law is at the least subject to death. Christ’s appointment by God’s own oath is an eternal assignment.

There is something very comforting about knowing who our leader is and always will be and something very challenging. The Oklahoma City Thunder changed coaches this year. I would say they had a pretty good coach and as far as I can tell, this early in the season, they gained a pretty good coach. These coaches have slightly different styles of coaching, run different plays, and have different areas of concern. Some players probably excelled better under the first, some will under the second, and most will take advantage of the change to their benefit by quickly adapting to the new system. We all learned different things from different teachers and if we were wise we adapted to the changes. With Christ we are challenged to adapt our lives to his way of being and loving forever. We do not have to worry about our leader changing unless we wander off and try to find another leader for whom we do not have to make as many adaptations or we at least think we won’t. This is the challenge. The comfort comes in knowing that we are loved forever by Christ and he will always want the very best for us for eternity.

Prayer: God of Eternity, protect me from the temptations to follow the lesser path that looks easier. Make me moldable to your way of being and reshape me to be more and more like you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Eternal Life

Living in the Spirit
June 27, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Romans 6:12-23 

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 6:20-23 

For some reason, going to heaven after I die doesn’t mean a lot to me, spending eternity with God does. I like the imagery of Revelation 21:1-4 describing God as pitching God’s tent among God’s people.   I do not know where my angst with going to heaven came from. I do remember as a child learning that some slave owners did a number on American slaves by quoting Paul to them telling them to be good slaves and they would go to heaven someday. I did not think that was right. Sounds similar to what some Muslim jihadist are telling young, vulnerable people being recruited as suicide bombers today. It apparently did not set well with God in America during the 19th century. I doubt if it sets well with God in our world today.

I have since discovered N. T. Wright and I think what he has to say makes sense. In his book Paul and the Faithfulness of God, he writes…this is not to say that personal ‘salvation is not at issue or is deemed unimportant. That is a regular slur against fresh interpretations of Paul, but it misses the point entirely….What is being said, however, is (a) that salvation doesn’t mean what the western tradition has often taken it to mean (escaping to a disembodied ‘heaven’),…[it] serves a much larger purpose, namely that of God’s restorative justice for the whole creation. (page164f)

We as followers of Christ are called to live into that purpose today with every fiber of our being. Eternity for us started the day we signed on as a part of the Body of Christ and will never stop.

Prayer: Lord, make us restorers of justice, your justice. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.