“The Kingdom of God is like”….
What is it that makes a good movie or novel?
No doubt we could all identify several key aspects or ingredients that we look for, but there are a couple of things that are probably essential.
The first, I would say, is where the story takes us. When we get to that final scene or chapter, we want to reach a point of genuine satisfaction with the resolution. It no doubt is part of the reason why we will recall the story, perhaps read it again or recommend it to others – we feel it got somewhere. The other, which is equally important, is our journey with one or more of the characters in the tale. We often connect with their thoughts, insights and desires. We recognize and even identify with their growth and perhaps triumph through hardship and we revel in their moments of joy. It’s all (to re-work a phrase from a popular movie) ‘ a pleasant fiction’, but the really good stories, of course, are much more – they often reflect and can even teach or confirm to us the realities of life.
This week I’ve been thinking that the ‘story’ of Creation may well be just like that.
Becoming thirsty allows us to truly appreciate the value of a cool refreshing drink. The bleakness of winter brings into sharp relief the majesty and joy of the arrival of Spring. Could it be that all the present travail of our present world is actually the pain of purpose – the ‘birth pangs’ that are necessary for a creation not merely complete in the glory of its physical splendour, but crowned with a life which resonates with the knowledge of the healing goodness and mercy of God?
The Scriptures make it clear that the events which have unfolded since we exiled ourselves from Eden are not a mystery to our Creator. The pain and misery we have brought upon ourselves have been allowed to run their course, but not without purpose. Amidst the very ugliness of such trauma, God has woven a use to death, an engagement with our agony, a point where all that is broken and violated by sin meets with the rich depths of His unmerited mercy and become changed by such. The place is in the broken body, the shed blood, the resplendent forgiveness given in the death of Jesus Christ.
This one moment is where all the pain and anguish of our existence in a ‘far country’ is drawn and salved, that we might taste of a far greater life, made possible by His bruising for our transgressions.
At the end of the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, Red and Andy meet for the first time in many years on the edge of a faraway ocean. They have been deeply changed by their lives, by their experiences and by their knowing of one another, and all of this has brought them to the point where they can now begin a new life – building a boat to explore a new vista.
All of history is moving to a point when the trails will end and such a new day can begin, but it will be a day where all that has been done of value, all that has been learned that holds meaning, will underpin that venture that is to come.
– Howard Nowlan
Rebel by Nature, Righteous by Force
Filed under: Assurance, Realization |
The Old Adam Lives! 
“The Scriptures make it clear that the events which have unfolded since we exiled ourselves from Eden are not a mystery to our Creator. The pain and misery we have brought upon ourselves have been allowed to run their course, but not without purpose. Amidst the very ugliness of such trauma, God has woven a use to death, an engagement with our agony, a point where all that is broken and violated by sin meets with the rich depths of His unmerited mercy and become changed by such. The place is in the broken body, the shed blood, the resplendent forgiveness given in the death of Jesus Christ.”
That is one awesome paragraph!
Thanks Howard!
– Steve
Simply BREATHTAKING Howard!
Well done my friend!
The only response is to break out into doxology and heap praises unto God for His unwavering, steadfast love and commitment to sinful men (and women) like us. Why He would pour Himself out to such depths as the humiliating death of the cross , for us, is beyond comprehension. I am reduced to slack jawed, bewilderment and gratitude , for even the moments of clarity that befall me , when I am taken hold by His promise. As my days grow shorter and shorter, the vision and future that your article conjure in my imagination, sets my heart tittering with anticipation and curiosity of what God has in store for the new Heavens and earth. I then stop and ask myself why, just why do I suppose I will be include in such splendor.. I then reflect and take hold once again of the promise of God given to me in my baptism, that offers me such audacity and confidence, that my sins will not be held against me on that day, and for the sake of Christ Jesus, God has already opened the gates of His paradise to even the last like me.
Keep ’em coming Howard. These words you write carry the Holy promise of Christ and it is powerful enough to wake the dead!
Brent
Many thanks for your encouragement, Steve and Brent.
So much of this came into sharp relief for me a few years ago. I was attending a service at an evangelical church through a series on the early chapters on Genesis. The Pastor had preached a very good message on the fall, and proceeded to his conclusion – what does this mean? He concluded that we’re finished with the physical, finsihed with world, finished with the body – heaven, the haven of souls, is the great hope…
I was vexed to my core. The words of Romans 8 burned in me, and for the only time in twenty years, I ‘disturbed’ the end of the service by saying calmly but firmly standing at the front of the congregation and saying “NO”, and reading the passage.
In a conversation with the Pastor after the service was over, I discovered he had no assurance whatsoever that the earth and creation would be redeemed. The dualism of Gnosticism is alive and well, and we so need to convey the message of “God was in Christ to reconcile the world to Himself”.
Yours,
Howard.