We have an opportunity in this life to sincerely contemplate the things of God. We are provided with a window in time to question the hidden mysteries of scripture and truly discover who God is. The good news is that God has provided a path to salvation through Jesus Christ and the gospel contains the truths that solve the mysteries that have eluded men for millennia. No understanding of the pathway to God compares to the pathway provided by Jesus.
The human lifespan is extremely short. The Psalmist wrote, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” Psalm 39:4, and the prophet Isaiah wrote, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers in the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25.
Our lives are nothing more than a drop of water in an ocean of eternity. The finitude of life is a reality many people would rather avoid than confront. For those who cling to their mortality with an atheistic worldview this can be a devastating perspective at the end of their lives. You and I are but one tragedy away from stepping from this life into the afterlife, therefore it is incumbent upon us to prepare ourselves for the inevitability of that day.
Matthew 7:13-14 records Jesus saying, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” One important aspect of this passage of scripture that often goes unnoticed, is Christ wasn’t speaking of an exit, he was speaking about an entrance. He wasn’t speaking about an end, he was speaking about a beginning. Those who hold to a mortal perspective miss this in their logic.
Recognizing that humanity is just part of a greater existence is paramount to comprehending that we have a greater purpose and that life has a greater meaning than what is superficially evident. The Bible is God’s revelation to mankind that there is more to life than the physical presence we experience and that mankind has sinned against God. Additionally, because God is perfect and just, sin cannot go unpunished. However, God also loves us to the extent that he devised a perfect solution to redeem us and draw us into intimate fellowship with him.
The gospel of John states in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That is profound! The writer of Hebrews informs us, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27.
Jesus calls upon us to repent and follow him. He stands at the door to our hearts and knocks and for whoever hears him and invites him in, he will enter them and dwell within them (Revelation 3:20; 2 Timothy 1:14; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 2:27). When we answer Christ’s call to follow him we must forsake our former ways and become obedient to the Holy Spirit as our guide. In doing so, we will be led away from sin and closer to Christ in an intimate relationship that will produce the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23).
The apostle Paul instructs us not to continue to live with worldly values and to live to please the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:20-24 says, “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
The Bible calls this being born again. It is a spiritual rebirth that empowers us to overcome the temptation of sin through the strength of the Holy Spirit within us. 1 John 4:4 reminds us, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” Satan is the one who John is referring to here, and Paul calls him the god of this age in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
We are called to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus and be a true disciple of Christ (Luke 9:23; Matthew 16:24-26). It all begins with surrendering our hearts and minds to Jesus. What we contemplate in our minds, what we feel in our hearts, what we discuss with ourselves in our subconscious, these are the areas where Christ wants us to surrender to him. When we do that, our actions and outward persona will also change.
Psalm 139:1-4 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar, you discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” And Jesus said in Luke 8:17, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”
We have one life to live on this earth with no second chances. What we do during our earthly lives will resonate through eternity and our choices now will determine where we spend forever. We are called to come to Christ and bear good fruit now. Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4.
What will we have to show for a lifetime of work on earth that has value in heaven? Paul wrote in his second epistle to Timothy, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
Life on earth is just the beginning of our existence. If we were only created for this earthly existence there would be no reason to hope. There would be no reason to do good or to aspire to greatness. We were created to be eternal beings and through Christ we can be reconciled to that purpose. Once again, Paul tells us, “If for only this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19.
God is eternal and he offers us eternal life through Christ. If he wasn’t eternal, he couldn’t offer it. If he wasn’t eternal, he wouldn’t be God. Our time on earth may be short but it doesn’t have to be meaningless. We have a brief window of opportunity to make a difference and do the work that Christ calls us to do. He calls us to act on his behalf. To love others, to lift up the down-trodden, to feed the hungry, comfort the weak and clothe the poor.
Come to Jesus. Respond to the tugging on your heart strings that pulls you away from your worldly pursuits. Allow yourself to be overwhelmed by passion and love for Christ. Accept the water that becomes a spring within you welling up to eternal life (John 4:13-14). Religion can’t bring about intimacy with God. Only Jesus can. Religion wants you to follow laws. Jesus wrote the laws. In fact, the laws obey him! He calmed the storm and the sea in Mark 4:39, overriding the laws of nature! He made the deaf hear, the blind see, the dumb talk and he raised the dead. And he wants to have a personal relationship with you.
Get to know Jesus on a deep and personal level. Become unified with him to the point where it is indistinguishable where you end and he begins. This was his prayer for the disciples and for all believers: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be as one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23.
God created Adam in his own image to have a relationship with him; to walk with him daily and have intimate fellowship with him. We are meant to have a relationship with God. It is our inherent, intrinsic desire to seek God and without him there is a spiritual void that can never be filled. Sin separates us from God, and Jesus, by offering himself as atonement for our sin has reconciled man to God. Reconciliation is restoration and it is the action of making one view or belief compatible with another, according to Oxford. By bringing us together Christ bridged the chasm that separated man and God and facilitated the possibility of having that deep relationship once again. We have been reunited with our Creator! Jesus is the bridge and we simply have to cross it!
Come to Christ. Follow him. Learn from him. Become an extension of him by doing his will in an evil world. Love him completely and love each other. But first you must come. Come.
