Tag: eternity

Perfect Recklessness

“He made us the lamps of His light, not the salesmen and customers of His fire. He fits no category, exceeds every attribution, defies all literary description. He is immeasurably more than the object of our study—He’s the subject of the universe itself. He is “the superlative of everything good you choose to call Him”, Rev. Lockwood preached— yet we still tread the waters of the Sea of Him seeking to stay afloat, waters in which He intended us to drown.” —JRM

We want to tread our own paths in Him. He is everywhere you go—get lost in Him.

We want to keep our heads above the waters of His dreadful depths. He is good—drown in Him.

We want to know all about Him. Know Him.

We fear the Lion. Let Him catch you—He won’t hurt you.

Sometimes reckless abandon is perfect.

—j

The Unimaginable Greatness of Christmas

Imagine eternity.

Imagine infinity—imagine absolute life and infinite power, with no beginning, with no end. Imagine infinite size, infinite mind, absolute knowledge, absolute holiness in being and motive—perfection beyond anything anyone ever dreamt—absolute power to create and destroy at will, with perfect absence of malice and perfect omniscient Justice.

Such power—such absolute personhood—holy and just, vast and unstoppable, light so bright and holiness so utterly blinding that only the perfectly holy could ever see His face. Yet He is perfectly compassionate, absolutely loving, full of grace, full of mercy—all characteristics directed at others—at corrupt others—directed at the rebellious, rejecting, wicked things that He, in the beginning, created to be recipients of His giving nature—His love and grace. Directed at us.

And suddenly the simple, often clichéd statement Jesus made to a desperate Pharisee takes on new force, new weight, fresh worship:

For God so loved—He gave…

Jesus even told us to address this One Infinite, Eternal, All-powerful, All-knowing, All-holy, All-righteous, All-discerning, utterly Just, utterly Vast God as Daddy.

That is miraculous. That is Christmas.

O, come let us adore Him.

—j

 

The Ruination of Man

Three apprentice devils were preparing to come to the earth to finish their apprenticeship. They first spent time talking to Satan about their plans to tempt and ruin men.
The first devil declared “I will tell men that there is no God”
Satan said to him, “That will not delude many, for they know there is a God”
The second devil boasted “I will tell men that there is no hell!”
Satan answered the second, “You will deceive no one that way. Men know even now that there is a hell for sin.”
The third devil thought for a moment, then said, “I will tell men that there is no hurry…”
Satan excitedly told the third “Go! and you will ruin men by the thousands!” (Adapted from William Barclay)

People are dying; Jesus is coming; Christians have eternity; the world doesn’t.

Give ’em heaven, while they still have time.

—j

Certainty (With Spoilers)

This week I buried my father-in-law; earlier this year I buried my mother. In-between I helped others bury loved-ones. There but for the grace of God we go? No, there we go. But a great certainty awaits. [Here comes a SPOILER] In the last book of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, the four children are killed. Tragic and bad, until Aslan the Lion reveals the children’s true fate—and ours—especially if you love the Lion…

Aslan: “…The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” And as He spoke He no longer looked like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures… had only been the cover and the title page [of the book]; now at last they are beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” —C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

This is you. Revel in His love—revel forever.

—j

What Will You Do With Forever?

What will we do with eternity? More than we know, I’m sure. But perhaps the Apostle John gave us a clue. He ended his gospel with these words: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” My pastor put it like this:

“Throughout all Eternity the story can be told. God through the ages to come shall be revealing to us the exceeding richness of His love and His mercies towards us in Christ Jesus. It’s going to take all of eternity for you to know it all. So enough is given to get you there and then once you’re there, you’ll have plenty of time to learn the rest—throughout eternity God revealing the exceeding richness of His love and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” —Chuck Smith

What a time it will be.

—j