The last few days I have had a case of swirley-head. It has given me focus-issues. My head started swirling and when that happens my mouth does not work. And today I got the overwhelming need to sit -here, at my laptop --thanks Ross ;) -- and type some stuff out.
Last night at club we had Doubt night and ended up having a huge conversation about heaven and hell. At one point the kids were talking and feeding off one another, and I couldn't even remember what we'd started talking about initially. And there were some good points, some great questions, and we didn't even scratch the surface of an answer to most of them. And I didn't have a lot to say and I didn't feel like I could contribute very much to conversation.
I'm going to be honest. I don't spend much of my time thinking about Heaven and Hell. Okay, I spend none of my time thinking about Heaven and Hell. With the exception, I guess, of right now.
I've been a follower of Christ since I was nine years old. And I have run away from God and tried to do my own thing once or twice or 100 times, but I never doubted my salvation. The power of the Cross is that there is no question in it. The Cross is perfect, infallible... choosing the Cross is the only decision on this Earth that is fail-safe. God's promise that he made to His people is everlasting and true. He will never quit you. Nothing can separate me from the love of God through Christ. Nothing.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
The thing I'm most concerned about with my faith, with regard to other's salvation, is that I'm making the best of the new life Christ's death and resurrection has given me. Its not just about the life I'm going to live when I'm no longer on this Earth. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians, he says that any one who is in Christ is a new creation. Christ came to revolutionize the way we love God, the way we love ourselves and the way we love one another. Matt touched on that last night at club when he said Jesus' life, death and resurrection was about reconciling the entire world with God.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation --2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus had a plan to reconcile this world with God, and to bring his Kingdom to Earth. I think our main question, as Christ-followers, should be this--am I doing my part to see that His will is done? Jesus' gift of life to you is about heaven, but it is also, MOST EMPHATICALLY about how you are given a chance to live a new, better life in the here and now. And to me, that is what the Christian life is about. Figuring out how to live our lives for him right now. In every moment. Learning to love God more and more with every part of ourselves. I don't follow Christ because I'm afraid of Hell. I follow Christ because he loves me, and he has a better way for me.
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. -- Micah 6:8
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple - Psalm 27:4
I think that a lot of us wish there was something that we could do to deserve the love of God. If we ask him to forgive us enough, if we got to church enough times in one week, if we do kind things for enough people, we can become somewhat deserving of our salvation. God's followers in the Old Testament lived their entire lives doing things in order to be able to come to the Lord. They had to wear certain clothes, they had to hang scripture from their doorways, they had to sacrifice animals, rub oil on their heads, and a lot of other weird stuff. And they had to keep continually coming to God for forgiveness. There was no resolution, no absolution, no freedom in it.
But Jesus came to make a better way for us. God showed that his love for his people was so great that he sacrificed his only son so that we get a chance to live our lives free from sin--the thing that separated us from God. The great thing about God's resolution is that now we have time to live our lives in response to his love.
I could keep going and going forever. That's just how much my CL students inspired me last night. You all are beautiful, and so smart and I see so much goodness in you. And all goodness comes from God. And I'm thankful He's given me the opportunity to have been a part of last night, and all the other great nights we've had with Campus Life.
To any CL students, if you ever need to talk, I'm here. :)
