Living in the Light of Eternity

It is just seven weeks today since our precious son went to be with the Lord. There is no way I can put into words the pain and heartbreak I feel, and I will not attempt to do so. Those who have lost a son or daughter will know. But each time I have wept in the agony of grief a clear word of comfort and direction has come constantly from the Lord to my heart...

"Live in the light of eternity!"

Those words paint a picture so clearly in my mind and heart. Life now, down here on earth, is just a short period of time in the midst of eternity. In the light of eternity I can see that we will soon be together again. J.B. Phillips gives a beautiful translation of Colossians 1:9...

"We are asking God that you may see things, as it were, from his point of view by being given spiritual insight and understanding."

That is now my constant prayer and desire. That I may see life now totally from God's point of view...with the light of eternity shining upon it.

I have been amazed at how often the Lord Jesus spoke of eternal life. As a believer in Christ I guess I'd always taken those scriptures for granted. But now they are like precious gems to me. Even the most familiar scripture, John 3:16 - probably the first one a new believer memorises - has become far more meaningful to me...

"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."

And John 6:40...

"For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

This is why Jesus came into the world. Twelve days ago, all over the world, people were celebrating his coming to the earth. So many times the emphasis for the Christmas season, though with far deeper meaning than most give it, is the message the angels brought to the shepherds - peace on earth (Luke 2:14). But they also brought the announcement that the Saviour had been born. This is wonderful truth. He had come to save us from eternal death. He had come to bring us Life - eternal life. Because of this glorious truth that eternal life is the gift of God to every believer in Christ, Paul can boldly declare in 1 Corinthians 15:52-58...

"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body...And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven...Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable...When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you..."

And Paul exhorts us to encourage one another in the realisation of what will happen when Jesus returns...

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

What has been such a blessing to my heart as I have read this scripture in these recent days is the word "together". I suddenly realised what Paul was emphasising in his words of comfort to those who were grieving. We will be together with our loved ones for eternity. Together we will be with the Lord forever.

In my grief the Lord has also reminded me of what a friend told me a number of years ago when her father went to be with the Lord. She told me of the Lord's comfort to her heart -

"Forget the suffering, remember the glory."

How I would love to see David in the glory he is now experiencing. By faith I can. The Lord led me to a beautiful scripture the other day. Again so familiar, but I saw it in a new light...in the light of eternity. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Paul describes how he experienced "visions and revelations from the Lord". He was "caught up to the third heaven" "to paradise" (he speaks of it as though it were someone else but in the context it is obvious that it was himself). He describes two things he experienced...

1. He "heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell."
2. He saw "surpassingly great revelations."

Paul and I have shared together how we can just see David enjoying this so much. He always has had such a love of knowledge - creation, the universe, everything living both great and small. And always such a hunger to know the Lord more in all His glory. This is now what he is experiencing and we can rejoice with him in this. We can imagine him joining with the angels and the believers around the Throne worshipping the Lord. How he will be loving it.

Some time ago David wrote an article on the Christian's faith for the Online Bible College e-magazine, "CrossRoads". He wrote of the three types of faith a Christian experiences. He wrote of Instant Faith and of Enduring Faith. Here is the last section of his article on the 3rd type of faith...

Unshakable Faith

There is a third kind of faith, and it is just as important as the preceding two. It is the faith we express when things are so contrary to the covenantal promises that there appears no way that God can answer. For example, what happens when we have prayed for someone who is sick, but he has not only not been healed, he has then died of his illness? There are times when God doesn't answer our prayer at all! We have passed what some would call "the point of no return." And it doesn't matter how we theologize it, the fact remains that the big question, "Why?", remains unanswered.

Read: Hebrews 11:39

Speaking of the many heroes of faith, it records:

"And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise."

Now the writer is specifically speaking of the promise of the coming New Covenant, but there are times when the same thing happens to Christians. Does this mean that our faith was lacking? Does it mean that the covenantal promises of the New Covenant have failed? Does it mean that God has been unfaithful? No! We must always remember the wider perspective of the New Covenant. We should rightly apply the promises of the New Covenant to our lives. Should we believe for immediate healing? Of course, we should! Note that James, the same writer who described the perseverance that comes through the trying of our faith, goes on to say in James 5:14-15;

"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."

What we need to understand is that God's covenantal promises are never broken. In fact, you will notice that the only difference between the three types of faith described is the time of the answer! In all three cases, the promises of the New Covenant for health are fulfilled. In the case of instant faith, there is instant healing. In the case of enduring faith, the healing is progressive. And in the case of unshakable faith, the covenantal promise of health is fulfilled at the return of Christ, when death itself is overturned and the mortal body puts on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). Do you have a need? I encourage you to reach out in faith for God's immediate answer. Have you been praying to God for something, but the answer has not yet come? Then be encouraged to "always pray and not give up," for God does indeed reward those who earnestly seek him. Have you experienced a circumstance which seems to have moved past the "point of no return"? Then this is where faith in God is expressed more strongly than at any time. For in the end, every promise of the New Covenant will be fulfilled! And not only that, your faith will have been proved genuine and will "result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Posted by Bunty Collins