I think
most off us hope to see our loved ones, who have died, once more, after we have
died, sometime in the future.
Whether we
go to church or not, whether we outwardly admit to faith or not, if for no
other reason, because of our Christian culture, many of us have this quiet hope
within us.
But when we
come to faith, sometimes our hope wavers, having a more developed understanding
of hell, separation, and the work of Jesus.
I certainly
believe there is no other way to go to heaven than “The Way”, meaning “Jesus”.
I say this knowing that many put their faith in Allah, Mohamed, Buddha, Jehovah,
and others I can’t think to name.
My
understanding is that there is only one name under heaven, one Lord on whom we
call, one King of Kings and Lord of Lords, only one Lamb that was found worthy
to open the scroll.
Jesus said “I
am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through
me.”
The early
Christians spoke of their faith as following “The Way”.
Without the
work of Jesus on the cross and the power of his resurrection, no one is able to
stand before God and be accepted into his Holy presence, forever.
Yet we as Christians
believe that we are saved. Meaning we have been “processed” into new beings.
Re-created. Born again. Circumcised in the heart. And this process makes us
members of the family of God both now, and after we die, forever, meaning eternity,
heaven, etc.
Various
denominations have varying understandings of the steps we have to go through to
achieve this outcome. For many, as long as you participate in the “sacraments”,
whether you understand them or not, you are safe and sound. For others, it
requires a personal act of confession and prayer, in which the seeker speaks
out their submission and allegiance to Christ Jesus, and then continues in the fellowship of
that congregation.
Still
others require strict adhesion to baptism as full immersion in water, with
others requiring speaking in tongues as evidence.
Whatever
process is required, what of our loved ones who have not been “processed” in
that way?
Some would
say there is no doubt that they are lost, hence it would be naïve to think that
we would meet again in heaven.
More
liberal denominations have the sense that everyone is saved, whether or not
they showed evidence of faith, went to church etc.
My personal
view is that there is only one way to heaven, as I stated above. So best to put
our faith and trust in Jesus and call on his name for forgiveness and salvation
and hold onto him for all our lives (it all comes in one package). It also means
we publicly identify ourselves as followers of Jesus, and accept the positives and
negatives of this.
I believe all is a gift. (Faith repentance,
baptism, understanding, fellowship etc, it all comes from God, he is the initiator
and giver, we simply receive with joy)
But I also
believe in an amazing God with great mercy, who is able to do things outside of
our knowledge, and despite our rebellion.
The thief
on the cross was saved in his final hours, after a life of possibly no faith or
church. Somehow, his condemnation on a cross became his salvation, when he happened to be crucified next to our Saviour. Who would have thought that his death sentence was his biggest blessing?
So it is
possible that God arranges a point in a person’s life to come to faith,
sometime before they die, that doesn't involve a church service, and we don’t necessarily know about it. Therefore, we
ought not to be dogmatic about who actually makes it to heaven and those who don’t.
All we can be dogmatic about is that Jesus is the only one who saves us, and John
the Baptist identified him as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the “WORLD”.
That implies there is potential for all to be saved.
I do
believe there is a hell, and that those who are not “in” Jesus, will not go to
heaven, and will suffer eternal torment, the second death.
But the
point of interest I want to get around to is the reunion with loved ones.
There is at
least some degree of romanticism in the modern Christian culture, of a
wonderful reunion with loved ones as we reach the “other shore”.
Meaning
those who have reached heaven before us, meet us as we arrive.
This is
modern imagery. Not portrayed in the Bible.
I do hope
to see many who have gone before, including my father. Including the apostles.
But what the Bible speaks of is being with Jesus and the Father, and the Holy
Spirit. It also speaks of a great multitude, more than anyone can count. It
states that God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
So there
are many people, which hopefully includes our loved ones. But the highlight of
being in heaven will actually be, being with God.
I’ve been
thinking about the others including our loved ones.
What
follows is just reflection, nothing biblical.
I think we
will realize and identify our loved ones in heaven. But they will look
different, as will we. (we will all be "like" Jesus)
They will
be in awe of God, as will we.
We will be
so caught up in our awe of God, that our connection with each other will be a
much smaller thing.
If we have
a parent and a child in heaven, who will we be drawn to more?
Neither. We
will be drawn to the Lamb.
Does that
mean we won’t experience relationships?
Not at all.
But all these relationships will be transformed in the light of the Lamb. We
will all be brothers and sisters with one Father.
And the
best foretaste of this happens in our plain old gathering together as
Christians each week.
We will all
be together in joy, enjoying each other, but especially enjoying being with our
God.
So our
consolation, will not come from the embrace of our long lost child, or brother,
or best friend or parent or grandparent, or Paul, or Peter, or Elvis.
No our
consolation will come from our true Father, who himself will wipe away our
tears and fill us with great joy.
That deep
warm wonderful sense of belonging and acceptance that we get when we reunite with a loved one,
after a period of separation, is what we will experience a hundred fold from
God himself. He will be our resolution and consolation, the fulfiller of every
emotional emptiness, loss and hurt, in a true, physical and permanent way. But
the amazing thing is that he already is that to us now. And we can experience this in
faith even right at this moment.
Now to him
who is able to keep us from falling and present us without fault and with great
joy before his glorious presence, to the only God our saviour be glory, majesty,
power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and
forever more. Amen.
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