THE GIVER OF ETERNAL LIFE

Almost every religion has some sort of idea or concept of what Christians call Heaven.  It is, to some extent, the carrot at the end of the stick; if you are good enough, nice enough, jump through all of our hoops, do the right things in your life, give enough…blah…blah…blah – then you can get to “heaven” when you die.  For some religions “heaven” is not even someplace else, it’s just that you get to come back to this existence in a better form or a higher caste.  

I guess a big question is; who determines if I get to go to “heaven?”   If I have to do the work then I guess I am the determiner of whether or not I go.  How good do you think my work needs to be?  From my rudimentary understanding of Islam if I do the 5 Pillars then I can get there.  It’s nice to know eternal life is that easily obtained!  But if the determiner of who goes to heaven is perfect and won’t let anything that is imperfect into heaven, then my works have to be perfect – that will certainly be a problem for me!

When we read John 17 we come face-to-face with a rather disturbing sentence, “Since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him.”  This is particularly upsetting to all who look to their own efforts or other means for eternal life.  It seems, and from the passage it is, the Father who gives to the Son the authority to grant eternal life, and that eternal life is granted only to those whom the Father has given the Son.  Sure sounds like those who get eternal life are determined by the Father!  Of course, He is perfect in righteousness, holiness, justice, etc. so maybe He is the only One who is qualified to give eternal life.  If He is the only One qualified then He also determines how it will be given, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

JOY, UNSPEAKABLE JOY

A famous philosopher, whose name escapes me at the moment, is said to have written three pages in his journal with nothing but the word “joy” on them upon his conversion to Christianity.  He was apparently known for his rather melancholy disposition and when Christ entered his life a joy that he had never before known also entered his life.

I have seen happy people come to Christ and their lives seem not to change all that much as far as their joy goes.  I have seen the “worst” of sinners come to Christ and their lives have changed completely and they have found joy outside of drugs and abuse.  What we know for certain about the Christian life is that it comes with a joy the non-believing world does not know and can never understand.  

Joy is something that undergirds the life of the believer.  Joy contrasts with happiness in the same way in the same way Scripture contrast the man who built his house on the rock with the man who built his house on sand.  The biblical illustration is clear if you understand what a Wadi is. A Wadi is a dry river bed found in the Middle East.  It seems peaceful enough since it hardly ever rains where you find them.  It looks like a great place for a house; wide, flat with plenty of room to let the kids play.  Unfortunately, when it rains 20 miles away and the waters begin to collect and rush downhill, the Wadi you built your house in becomes a raging river.  Because of the nature of sand – your house is now gone.  If you build a house on a rock (The Rock) then when the rains come your foundation is not moved and your house remains.  This is the way happiness and joy are; happiness can be washed away by the rains of the week, day, even the hour or minute.  Joy is part of the foundation that everything is laid upon; of course this type of joy on comes with Christ.  He is the Cornerstone and Foundation, and He brings a joy that can never be taken from us, because it, just like His love, is eternal.

Where is your joy, or are you still just hoping to have happiness?  I wouldn’t build my house there if I were you!

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

I heard the phrase, “guilt is the gift that keeps on giving” a few years ago.  It’s true, isn’t it?  We feel guilty, sometimes because we are guilty of something and should feel that way, sometimes because someone wants us to because they think we should or they just like to make others feel guilty because of their own issues, or maybe even sometimes because we think we should feel guilty.

There is good guilt – “yes officer I was going too fast.”  This type is a necessary function of an informed conscience.  If you never feel guilty then you have no understanding of sin, right and wrong, or the feelings of others. 

There is bad guilt – Freud blamed everything on his mother, so we will too.

There is satanic guilt – This is when you know you have been forgiven, but you still feel this weight of guilt that keeps you from experiencing the freedom you have in Christ.

Under the category of “good guilt” we must include the word “conviction.”  This is what the Holy Spirit does to us, although it is not exactly guilt.  Conviction is becoming aware of what we were not aware of – theologically speaking that means sin.  The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to our sin, we are convicted of it, and the Lord draws us unto Himself in the act of justification.  When the believer understands sin he wants to get away from it because he knows how God hates it.

We can’t blame our guilt on God – sin belongs to us.  We can blame the knowledge of our sin on the Holy Spirit because He opens our eyes to it.  We can also blame our way out of sin on God, because He provides our salvation.  So not only is guilt the gift that keeps on giving, at least in this life, but salvation is the gift that keeps on giving on into the next!