Living On the Cusp of Eternity (1)

 

My friend Joe and I talk about dying, we’re both looking forward to it. This isn’t to say that we are trying to accelerate the process, nor are we trying to force ourselves into the front of the line, but it is a glorious thought, to behold our Savior’s face. We both want to remain here for our wives, our families and friends, and those who are not yet our friends. Yet, there is a Divine pull that calls us onward and upward and inward and ever deeper into our Lord Jesus and the communion of the saints.

 

When Joe and I speak of dying we often recite 2 Corinthians 5:1 – 5. Here is Peterson’s paraphrase of the passage:

 

“We know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven – God-made, not handmade – and we’ll never have to relocate our ‘tents’ again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move – and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.”

 

While I love the “attitude” and sense of desire embedded in Peterson’s work, I also love the precision of traditional translations, they capture the depth and complexity of our calling and life in Christ, here is the NASB:

 

“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”

 

God our Father has given us a desire in Christ to be with Him for eternity. God Himself, the Holy Spirit, has come to live within us, He has pledged Himself to us (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14; Rom. 8:15 – 23) – to draw us to Himself for eternity, giving us a mysterious and glorious resurrection tent (see also 1 Corinthians 15).

 

Some folks might think that it is crazy to want to leave this tent, this body; but for the man or woman in Christ (at least according to the Bible), it is crazy not to want to! This is not escapism, it is acknowledging our destiny in Jesus Christ, it is affirming that we are “looking for a City whose Builder and Maker is God” (Hebrews 11:8 – 16), it is living as “citizens of heaven” (Phil. 3:20).

 

Yes, we can struggle with the timing of our departure (Phil. 1:21 – 26), for we want to serve others here, and yet we want to be in the Presence and with the saints “there.”

 

Living on the cusp of eternity entails, for me, a sense of transition, a passing of the baton as best I can…completion and new beginning…within our Author and Finisher…our Finisher and Author. There isn’t a day in which I don’t sense and don’t see Revelation chapters 21 – 22…some days and moments are clearer than others…I see the Light of that City…and even when there is fog…I know that the City is there…my Father and the Lamb are there.

 

And to think they are looking for me! Even as I desire to be with God, God even more so desires to be with me…with us! After all, God paid the price for me, I could not pay the price for God. God purchased me, I did not purchase God.

 

God loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son! You may want God; God most certainly wants you! You may love God; God deeply loves you! You may want to be with God for eternity; God has pledged Himself to you, to ensure that you will be with Him!

 

How are you seeing eternity today?

 

Do you feel the pull of that City?