It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which,if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – These are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
~ C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
~ Paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 1 Corinthians 15
Oh beloved, it is true. We talk about our Christianity like it is some sort of idea to be bandied about, and then accepted or rejected based on the whims of the whimsical ragamuffins in the room. It seems like our view of the future is so small that we cannot really see it for what it is.
You, beloved reader, will live forever. And this immense scale of existence will be reflected in the form we shall take into the future. Those who know Him, and have allowed Him complete access to themselves, will be presented with great joy to the Father of forever.
Remember, no flesh can see G_d, and live to tell the story. The goodness of G_d is so blindingly brilliant so as to flash us to bits in His presence. So, for us to survive, we will have to be made into something completely different than what we are now, so that we will be able to bask (and not bake) in the Light of who He is.
And so, what we will become (those of us who are being made like Him), is a person who will be just like Jesus. Yes, the same Jesus who has burst forth from the grave, and who holds the keys to death and hades. This same Jesus is the One who will never die, and Whose face does shine like the sun at full strength. And this same Jesus is the One who is telling us to not be afraid, for He has much to show us as we run – laughing as we have never laughed – through the fields of forever with Him.
There is, however, a terrible other side to this story. There are those who have chosen to not allow this same Jesus to save them. And in His Love, He will not force Himself upon a soul. There is no capture and torture of the non-believer, or some “make-you-believe-or-you-are-in-trouble” kind of thing. No, Love allows the object of His Love to go away if that object pleases.
But know this, those of us who walk away, will be allowed to leave His presence forever. And none of us (read not one of us) can begin to comprehend living an existence outside the enormous umbrella of His mercy. However, there is such a place.
And in that place will those who reject His Love, feed only on the puny love they have for themselves. However, that tiny supply will be used up within milliseconds, and then the horrendous torturous task of trying to find the love that will never be there, will begin.
Minute after minute, spanning to aeons upon aeons of dryness and darkness will fold these souls who walked away into horrible representations of the milieu they have chosen. After the love is gone, the thing that covered the multitude of sins will be absent, and only the monstrous reality of what homo sapiens is (apart from Love) will be fully exposed.
It is indeed one way or the other. There is no via media.
Can we see it? We are not just trying to convince people that Jesus is some sort of good idea (though He is exceedingly that). We are indeed working to convince people that this same Jesus is a Person (the only Person) who truly Loves and who would make a recipient of His Love, Loved beyond measure and brought into a relationship beyond anything we could ever hope or imagine.
So, beloved, are you facing resistance in the fields you are working? Does it look like the harvest will be difficult to bring in? Fear not. Just keep working. The fruit of His labors through you will be astounding. And just the same, be driven by the desire to see that no one He puts before you would reject such a Love. The price is just too high. Tonight is your night beloved. Time to get to work.
