Just when I think I've pondered everything my mind can fathom about heaven, along comes a new idea that knocks me off my feet. This one particularly speaks to me, the girl who's always hated missing out.
I recently watched a Tim Keller message on the resurrection of Jesus. Yes, the resurrection is a fact. Yes, it changes everything. It's the basis of Christianity. That much I knew. Then Keller added this thought: The resurrection is the restoration of what we think we've irretrievably lost. Every life-giving opportunity we think we've lost is not really lost at all. It's yet to come. It's all ahead.
If that's true, then the application is pretty amazing.
The person who saw his dream job slip away hasn't missed out. For the person who dreams of a more fulfilling marriage--it's coming. To those who are single and have spent a lifetime longing to know the feeling of being in love, one day you'll know that and more. There's a wedding and a wedding feast coming, and it will surpass anything we've known on earth.Think of the mother who endured countless miscarriages, the orphan who was rejected by her parents, the paraplegic who spent life in a wheelchair, the businessman who watched his whole world collapse over one bad decision, all of them entering heaven and realizing, "I didn't miss a thing. Everything I ever wanted is here; every longing I ever had is fulfilled."
Keller's intention, and certainly mine in sharing it, is not to minimize the pain of this life. It's to breathe hope into our most hopeless places. And it's not some fingers-crossed, pie-in-the-sky hope. It's as real as the resurrected Jesus, standing on the beach using nail-scarred hands to cook fish for His friends. Jesus' resurrection is proof that there is life in the midst of death and hope in the midst of despair. Our greatest desires and could've-beens are fully satisfied in heaven. All the promises of God find their Yes in Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:20). We will not miss out on a thing.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)