The Rest of Eternity
When faithful Christians age, they not only know more about God, but they get to know God Himself better. When that is true, we rue the fact that we did not come to know God better sooner. We think or say, “Why did I not know or learn these truths earlier in my Christian life? I could have enjoyed them longer and shared Him more with others.” In my years of ministry, I heard this complaint often.
I call this the “thief on the cross syndrome.” Here is an imaginative story that can help us face this syndrome. The thief on the cross arrives in Paradise filled with joyous wonder at his new-found faith in Jesus. “Oh, my, he thinks this is magnificent. Why did I not come to know Jesus sooner? Think of all the good years I missed. I could have shared this joy with my family and friends. Instead, I wasted my life making myself and those I love miserable.”
When at last he is able to meet the risen Lord, he plans to apologize to Jesus for his errant lifestyle. Before a word comes out of his mouth, Jesus knowing his thoughts exclaims, “Not to worry, friend. We will enjoy the rest of eternity together.”
You may be struggling with my thief on the cross story. You are thinking, “Why would you concoct a story like that?” Here is why. We have lost our sense of the spiritual. The majority of our Christian service caters to the things of this world. Are you aware the New Testament speaks directly or indirectly on almost every page about the spirit within us. Who you are is not what one sees; that is just a body. The body is temporary. Who we are is within us i.e., what you cannot see.
J.B. Phillips had it right when he said we have become humanists with a tinge of piety. The Christians of the first century were driven by a sense of the spiritual, “One day, maybe sooner than you think, we will go to be with the Lord in heaven.”
To the unbeliever, heaven is a fantasy. It is difficult to communicate. We have no words adequate to describe it. It involves concepts difficult for us---spiritual bodies, living forever, walking with Jesus. But make no mistake, who we are is the spirit (the soul) within us and the proof is in the resurrection of Jesus.
