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kerygma
Registered Member
Date Joined Aug 2002
Total Posts : 45
| Posted 8/30/2002 11:39 AM (GMT -6) |   | Many talk of eternal life when speaking of their motivations in becoming a Christian. To me, a lot is usually left unspoken when we say "eternal life". We know it's a choice and consequence thing--choose Jesus, or choose sin and the world. And choosing Jesus means more than conviction, it means corresponding action.
But to me, the consequence as a Christian, the consequence I yearn for as I learn more about God, is spending eternity.....with Him.
The hope of Christians is that sure and certain reality to which our hearts are pinned. A future reality. "Who hopes for what he already has?" Paul asks (Romans 8:24). Yet eternity's dawn is more certain than tomorrow's: We are promised that the hope that is stored up for us will not be cut off (Proverbs 23:18) or disappoint us (Romans 5:4).
What is its substance, this certain, coming hope? "The glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). Other passages describe it in different terms but anchor our hope to the same event: the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23-25), our coming salvation (1 Thes. 5:8), the hope of glory (Col. 1:27), eternal life (Titus 1:2; Titus 3:7), and becoming at last like Christ. (1 John 3:2-3).
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved."-Romans 8:22-24
One day existence will speak its last line, take a bow, and draw the curtains. Jesus will come back, and when He does, our upside-down world will be upended and restored once and for all. He will do away with evil, craft a new heaven and earth, and make us fully human for the first time, bearing fully the likeness of Christ and enjoying the direct and immediate presence of God forever!
It is on this day, the culmination of God's loving purpose in human history when Christ returns, that we set our hope fully (1 Peter 1:13-16).
My soul and my heart longs for this promise. This is what makes hope so different from a mere wish. What is wished for has no basis in reality. It is simply desire speaking.
The hope of God, on the other hand, corresponds to something promised and real in His economy. It is longing pinned to something sure and certain. It is already ours, and I praise and worship Him and yearn with anticipation of that coming day!
In awe of His wonder,
Scott
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19 | | Back to Top | | |
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barneebus
Registered Member
Date Joined Sep 2002
Total Posts : 14
| Posted 9/2/2002 11:14 AM (GMT -6) | | Scott, you've found the "treasure hidden in a field". Unlike so many who are satisfied with just the tomatoes in the field.
Amen to what you wrote.
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kerygma
Registered Member
Date Joined Aug 2002
Total Posts : 45
| Posted 9/3/2002 1:23 AM (GMT -6) | | quote:
Scott, you've found the "treasure hidden in a field". Unlike so many who are satisfied with just the tomatoes in the field.
Amen to what you wrote.
Amen! And related to this, I love the ending of Blaise Pascal's confession to God, which he sewed in all his coats:
"Eternally in joy, for a day's training on earth" - Blaise Pascal
In His peace,
Scott
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19 | | Back to Top | | |
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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 9/3/2002 3:19 AM (GMT -6) | |
"Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven."
quote:
www.eomtc.com/aibi/tim2pray.htm ("Time to Pray")
There are three ways, biblically, of understanding time: chronos, kairos and aion. Chronos-time is measurable, chronological time. Kairos-time is "timeliness". The first is time-as-duration, the second time-as-harmony. Oscar Cullman, in his book Christ and Time, says aion-time designates both an exactly defined period of time (this present age), and eternity; both time-limited and time-unlimited.
"NOW" and "NOT YET"
The Christian, then, views time in different ways. We are "exiles in time", but we also possess "eternal" life here-and-now. So we must not only "number our days" to achieve certain goals, but also "gain wisdom of heart". (Psalm 90:12). We must strive for the fine balance between "doing", "being" and "becoming".
"Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven."
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