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Eternity: No longer a slave to fear

“I have no need to live forever.” I’ve heard that comment; maybe you have, too. And I wonder if a person might feel that way because “living” here has not been a satisfactory, fulfilling, or joyous experience. Or, more likely, I suspect, this statement is made because to live forever—well, we just have no idea what that might be like, and so it is hard to hope and dream that this might even be possible.

But here is something we can all relate to: Jesus came to free us from the fear of death. We are all acquainted with this fear; we’ve felt the demon of fear clutching at us as we consider our own death or the passing of people we do not want to lose. Death holds a grip on our thoughts and hearts.

The shadow of death hangs over every person born to a human life. And while young people are often more inclined to ignore it than their elders, every day takes each of us closer to the moment our earthly life will end. Physical death can be ignored, but it cannot be avoided. Our bodies, in their flesh-and-blood existence, grow old and die. We fear what lies ahead for ourselves and we fear the loss of others dear to us.

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying (Hebrews 2:14-15). NLT

Christ lived on earth under the same cloud; He was flesh and blood, and He would die. There was no avoiding it. And when we read of His agony in Gethsemane, we know that facing death and accepting that this was the Father’s will for His Son was no easy thing for Jesus. He was the Son of God, who would soon be given supreme power over everything on earth and in heaven—yet that night, He suffered as a human in the face of death.

But His resurrection was something new. When Christ—in His body—came out of the grave and again walked among His friends on earth, God was announcing to the world that the devil’s greatest weapon, death, has been conquered and need no longer be feared. For all who believe, the power of death has been broken.

I have to examine my own life. In what ways do I continue to allow the fear of dying control me? How can shedding this fear of death change my life? What freedom will that bring?

Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave” (Revelation 1:17-18) NLT.

Years after He left this earth, the Son of God, alive and glorious and powerful, came to the apostle John to give him a glimpse of what was happening in human history and what is still to come in God’s plan for heaven and earth; and He commanded John to write a book recounting what he saw.

But faced with the appearance of his Lord in all His blazing glory, John reported that “I fell at his feet like a dead person.” (I probably would, too, if the Lord came to me today in such a way!)

Can you hear our Lord’s voice in His words above? His words reassure my heart and soul as they must have reassured John. “No need to be afraid. I am the beginning of all, the end of all. Everything exists in me. Yes, I died—but look! I am alive now and forever. And I have all power and authority over both life and death. Don’t be afraid.”

Isn’t that a comfort? The one we follow and call Lord is alive, and everything is under His control. When I try to peer into the future and feel tremors of apprehension, my Lord’s words quiet my soul.

Surely John must have recalled other things Jesus had said to His disciples: “Since I live, you also will live” (John 14:20). And as the Shepherd of our souls, Jesus promised, “I give [my sheep] eternal life, and…no one can snatch them away from me” (John 10:28).

“Don’t be afraid,” our King tells us.

Hope knows that death is not the end of us. God has planned an even greater future for those He has invited to become His children.

Lord Jesus, set us free from all our fear!

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Eternity: Hezekiah and the Promise of Life

Three books of the Old Testament—2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah—include the remarkable story of King Hezekiah’s grave illness. He was going to die. He knew it, all those around him knew it, and God even sent a prophet to make certain the king put his affairs in order, because he was going to die.

But the king pleaded with God, and the prophet had not even left the palace grounds before God told him to turn around and deliver a new message to Hezekiah: “I will give you fifteen more years.”

“I need a sign, so that I can be sure God will do this,” said Hezekiah.

In answer, God made the sundial go crazy—the shadow marking the passing of time moved backwards. Like turning back time! (I thought that was kind of a cool touch by God.)

In three days, King Hezekiah had recovered, and he lived fifteen more years.

I was intrigued by this story: What would it be like to have absolute assurance from God Himself that He was going to give me exactly fifteen more years to live? Many of us have probably pondered a similar question. If I had one year to live, how would I spend that allotted time? You may know a person who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and you wonder, If that were me, what would I do with the months I have left? Or you might already be faced with just such a decision, knowing that your time here is limited.

More and more I am intrigued by another thought:  I, too, have received a message from God that He will extend my life. So have you. However, instead of a message that I have limited time, Jesus brought this message for everyone: Those who belong to Him will live on forever.

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life…The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son” (John 5:24, 26). NLT

The Son of God is very clear as He tells us: “Listen to my message and believe. Then you will never be condemned for your sins and you have eternal life.” Jesus Christ holds the key. He holds life.

This is hope: The marking of your time on earth by days and years does not measure your life. The God who does not lie has made a firm promise to His children that they will live beyond years, beyond numbers, and beyond time. Listen. Believe Jesus. He can bestow life that goes on when flesh and blood ends.

And when we contemplate that promise, how will we spend our days?

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Eternity

I’ve been wrestling with some of our oft-used words like hope and eternal life. And I thank the Lord that when we are wrestling, He sheds light on truths we need to discover. I’ve been amazed sometimes that just when I’m pondering a certain point … along comes a conversation or a devotional or a Scripture that is exactly what I needed to hear right then. Is it God sending me answers? Or the Spirit tuning me in to hear what I need? However or whatever, I am thankful.

And the word that has been on my mind—and in God’s spotlight for me—lately is eternity.  

Not an easy subject. And one quite foreign to our usual see-hear-touch-prove mentality. Nevertheless, for the next seven days I’d like to share some of the thoughts and truths that have come recently. And I’ll also revisit old, familiar truths that have hit me with new impact.

Just a few questions to get us focused:

Do we really believe we will live forever? Do we believe we will go on living even after these bodies give out and die?

Do we think in eternal terms? Does the eternal have anything to do with today, or is it just some nice, comforting words we say because we are afraid of thinking about the end of our earthly lives?

Do we need some new ways to think about immortality? 

Well, if you’re ready to dive into eternity ….   

 

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Whittling

In response to my post on being thankful for the difficult in our lives, a friend’s comments included this line: “A whittling down of ourselves to make us what we need to be.”

That’s a fascinating word. Whittle. It immediately brings ups a related word: carve.

Think of the words we pair with those two.

We whittle away or whittle down. Skilled fingers take a piece of wood and cut away a bit here and a chunk there until eventually, they hold a work of art. We even use this phrase to describe working , bit by bit, at a large project. We whittle away at it; and eventually—the finished result!

We carve out. Sculptors are sometimes quoted as saying they see what is in a piece of marble or a slab of wood before they even start their work. Carving is a prying away of the unnecessary, inessential, inappropriate, irrelevant—until the image the creator has “seen” finally emerges.

Isn’t that the way God forms and molds us? He is at work, whittling away the things in our lives that need to go in order for His masterpiece to finally emerge. “Whittling down of ourselves to make us what we need to be.”

We were created in the image of God! (Doesn’t that just take your breath away?) But as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we’ve inherited so much that sullies and burdens and binds and tarnishes that image. We’ve taken on selfishness and disobedience and pride. All of us had trained as citizens of the kingdom of darkness instead of sons and daughters in the kingdom of light.

Yet God’s promise is that we are now His masterpiece, created anew! There are many days I don’t feel like a masterpiece of any kind … let alone a masterpiece of the great Creator. But this word “whittling” has opened a new thought for me. God is whittling away at this chunk of wood I know as Me. He sees the image within; He knows what He has created there (a new person, with a new life born of HIS Spirit!) and He is carving out that image, bit by bit cutting away everything else.

And that is exactly why we can be thankful in all things, even the difficult and trying and painful. God promises that He is at work on His new creation within us. He knows what He intends to make us. He knows what needs to go. He whittles away all the old stuff Self has collected, so that the new life He has given us can grow and thrive. 

Most of the time, we don’t like the whittling. It often means going through hard times. It involves learning new habits and discarding old and comfortable attitudes. It’s discipline, and that requires effort and stretching. Yet Scriptures says this is a sign the Lord loves us!

We often erroneously equate discipline with punishment. Discipline is training, forming, instruction, and exercise. (Think about the discipline of an athlete.) The Lord is disciplining, training, and forming us as His masterpiece. Through everything, He’s whittling away.

From the testing and trials—and remember, those tests and trials are in the day-to-day details just as much as they are in outright persecution—He builds endurance and faith and patience and godliness. As He whittles down ourselves, the image He intends to create in us emerges.

“So be truly glad,” says Peter. “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while” (1 Peter 1:6). What better hope than to know that the Creator is still at work on His creation in me!

 

 

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We Want More! We Want More!

A guest post today from Lana Turner.

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WE WANT MORE! WE WANT MORE!

The little girl in the commercial tries to explain why more is better than less.  “You might want to have some more. But then, your parents won’t let you because there’s only a little. If you really like something, you’ll want more of it. We want more. We want more. Like, you really like it, you want more.”

She echoes a theme I hear over and over again when I listen closely to what others and myself are saying. We want more freedoms, more liberties, more property, more food, more control, more money, more power and more, more, more. We live in a “more-ish” society.

There is someone who wants to give us more.

In Ephesians 1, Paul was asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give us spiritual wisdom and revelation so that we can know him better. Paul’s prayer was that our eyes would be enlightened so we can know the hope God has called us to, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for all who believe. That power is the same mighty strength that raised Christ from the dead!

Wow! Talk about more…!

Jesus Christ wants to give us more. Ephesians 3 talks about the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

This is the “more” we should be seeking. We need to be rooted and established in love, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where we get glorious riches and power through the Spirit, and this is what makes us “complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:19 NLT ).

Wow!!