The Second Chance

Jesus responded to this news by saying, “It is time.  It is time for the Messiah to be honored.  Listen carefully: A kernel of corn has to be torn from it’s life, thrown to the ground and allowed to die, or it will always be by itself.  But if it dies, then it will be transformed into many more.  Even so, whoever grasps onto his own life will lose it.  But whoever hates his life in this age will find that it is preserved by God for the next age, which is eternal.  The one who wants to be to be in my government, must follow me through death and beyond.  Wherever I am my follower will be as well.  The faithful servant will be honored by God.  So now I am in anguish, because of the difficulty I must face.  But should I ask God to save me from this fate?  But because it is my fate, it is my purpose.  Father, in my death, glorify Your name.”  John 12:23-27

He sat them down and began to lecture them about the doctrinal necessity of the suffering of the Son of Man of Daniel.  That the Son of Man would be declared guilty by the judges and bishops and the seminary professors and he would be sentenced to death, killed and after a three day appeal would be resurrected.  He spoke to them without metaphor, but straightforwardly.  After he was done, Peter gently took him aside and told him that such things could not happen to him, the Messiah.  Jesus turned toward all his disciples and raised his voice for all to hear, “Get away from me! You are not Peter, but Satan!  Stop tempting me to take the easy route!  You are speaking of God’s plan, but of human achievement!”

Then Jesus called the crowd to gather around him, beside his disciples, then he addressed them all: “Do you think that I have the way to life, the way to enter into God’s kingdom?  Then listen here: If you want to be a part of my school, you must give up on all the things that make up your life, accept that you will be killed as a revolutionary and go where I go. Since I am going to die, you must accept that for yourself as well.  If you want to preserve your life, then you will lose it.  If you lose your life for Me and my school, then you will retain your life.  If you surrender your life, you will obtain resurrection. Sure, you could gain everything in the world you want—happiness, security, wealth, fame—but what good is any of that if you lose your life in the long run?  Suppose someone had a gun to your head and wanted all you had for your life?  Isn’t it better to give all of that up, so you could live and obtain your stuff and happiness another day?  If anyone is fearful of speaking about Me before this sinning and faithless people, then the Messiah will dare not speak his name on the final day when he comes to rule the Father’s kingdom with all of God’s power behind him.  Mark 8:31-38

Eternal Life

Jesus’ goal was not to die, although it may seem like it in the above passages.  Rather, Jesus’ goal was what is called “eternal life”.  This eternal life is not life in heaven, as spirits floating around singing.  It is a second chance on life.

                In our current life, we are compromised from doing all we could for God.  We live in a corrupted world which strives to encourage us to do evil, to disobey God.  We have corrupted bodies which have corrupted desires and illnesses and weaknesses that the body encourages us to sidestep by doing more evil.  We live in a context of temptation and injustice and weakness.

                God is offering resurrection.  This means that we will come back after death into bodies that are uncorrupted and incorruptible.  We will be living in a context without injustice, and temptation is kept to a minimum.  We will be given an opportunity to live for God without weakness, in full strength and spiritual authority. 

And some will be chosen to rule over this utopia.  The Messiah will be chosen among people to rule over God’s kingdom and He will chose many to rule with Him.  The ones whom He will chose will create justice for all, provide the context of life for everyone.  This is the dream of the New Testament.  It is the goal of Jesus.

God’s Justice

But God doesn’t give this kind of resurrection, this opportunity to everyone.  Not everyone deserves to rule, not everyone can handle the power that will be given to people to rule.  Not everyone is prepared to deal with people as they are.  God is careful to choose the people who will create His utopia, and these will be given a second chance on life.

                Who are these people that God chooses?  God’s selection process begins first of all with those who didn’t really have a life to begin with.  This doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a chance of a good life.  Perhaps they surrendered the chance of a good life.  But God is looking for those who suffered injustice in their lives.  They did good for themselves, for their neighbors, for God’s kingdom, but they received shame and punishment for the good they did.  God will not look for the rich and powerful, the famous and lauded.  They have already had their life.  God will be looking for those who gave up their life and give them another chance.

Jesus’ Example

Jesus is the one who surrendered his chance at life for others.  He could have lived a quiet, but happy existence as a carpenter in Nazareth.  But he chose to give up on the good life so that a better life could be granted to everyone.  Jesus gave up on life, on happiness, on a good retirement, on hope of a peaceful death.  Jesus surrendered all the great possibilities to live in shalom.  He did this, not because he couldn’t have lived in peace, but because he saw so many who didn’t have the chance.  So he gave up on life to give others a chance.

                And this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to.  If we want to have a better life, we have to give up on the one the world offers us.  Yes, for some of us, perhaps we could have a solid job, a quiet existence, a good family, the American dream.  But for many, this life is out of reach.  Jesus is asking us to give up the good life, so we could give an opportunity for a better life for others. 

·                Just like Jesus, we are called to give up the pursuit of the “good life”, the American Dream.

·                Just like Jesus, we are called to live in rebellion against the world political system which denies peace and justice for so many.

·                Just like Jesus, we are to allow ourselves to be persecuted, to be punished for doing good.

·                Just like Jesus, we are called to even die in our innocence, to die because of our life in God’s compassion.

                These who give up their shots at the good life to live and die for others, they will be given the second chance.  They will be God’s rulers in the coming revolution.

As It Was Prophecied

This is also nothing new.  There are only a few places in the Old Testament that talks about the resurrection of God’s people, and every passage speaks of God giving a second chance to those who didn’t have a life to begin with:

• Psalm 22—The author of this Psalm is surrounded by enemies and killed, but he relies on God for deliverance.  God then gives him a second chance at life, which is happy and good.
• Psalm 37—The people of God suffer under oppression because the wealthy wicked are causing them to live in poverty.  The point of the psalm is that God will give the poor who wait for God a second chance at life without such oppression.
• Daniel 12—The people of God are under a terrible trial and oppression.  They are surrounded and destroyed and killed by their enemies.  God destroys their enemies and resurrects the killed, giving them a second chance to live under God’s rule.

Jesus sees the fulfillment of these prophecies, but he adds one more factor.  There are some who will choose to suffer, who will chose to die for the sake of God’s kingdom and righteousness.  These will also gain resurrection with those who had no choice to suffer.  And some of them will rule in God’s kingdom.

Who get resurrected?  The rejected by the world.

What is the Gospel of Jesus?

One of the tracts I used to hand out in front of churches in 1993-94. Before I was Mennonite.

As Christians, it is our privilege, commitment and responsibility to follow Jesus as our Lord and Christ. Thus, we want to commit our ways to the teachings of Christ. Because of this, these words have special significance for us: “Repent for the kingdom is heaven is near.” (Matt. 4:17) Why should this statement have special significance? Because this phrase is Matthew’s way of summarizing the gospel that Jesus taught. As followers of Christ, the gospel of Christ is of the highest importance.

But what is the kingdom of heaven? Is it some far off place where everyone sits playing harps all day with wings on their backs? I don’t think so. For Jesus said it is near. And the rest of Jesus’ teachings don’t say much about one’s musical talent, either.

At times, Jesus calls this realm something different than “the kingdom of heaven” or the “Kingdom of God” (Mark 10: 17-23. Notice the different names for the same idea!) There are many titles that he uses for the kingdom: eternal life, salvation, and the “age to come.” But perhaps the best way to understand the kingdom is by looking at its opposite, the world, or “this age.”

We all know about the world. It is society, civilization as we know it. This world is how we make our living and remain comfortable. This world consists of our friends, our family, and our co-workers. And this world gives us a structure to live our lives by. Frankly, although there are many things we dislike about this world, it is what we are comfortable surrounding ourselves with--the TV, music, movies and newspapers.

Jesus’ aim is to destroy the structure of this world and replace it with a new world, namely, the kingdom of God. In fact, when he returns, he will destroy the governments and other structures completely and establish his own rule on the ruins of the present civilization (Daniel 2:44). When he came 2000 years ago, his goal was the same (Luke 12: 49-53) But at that time he was working secretly and quietly with one man at a time to bring them into alignment with his kingdom (Luke 19:10)

What did he say his New Kingdom would be like? Very different from this world.
For example,
-In this world, you are convicted and thrown into prison for murdering someone. In the nest, even if you call someone “stupid” you’re thrown into hell (Matt. 5: 21-22).

-In this world, we give when it is convenient. In the next, we must give whenever someone asks us (Matt. 5:42).

-In this world, we prepare for our retirement and for potential calamities with insurance. In the next, we never worry about tomorrow but entrust God with our security (Matt. 6: 25-34).

-In this world, we fill our homes with treasures like TVs, VCRs, stereo systems, computers, nice furniture, mini-blinds, and piles and piles of sentimental trinkets. In the next, we build up treasures in heaven by selling what we have and giving to the poor (Luke 12: 33-34).

-In this world, we help someone out if it is not going out of our way--e.g. picking up a hitchhiker if he is going our direction. In the next, we help whoever is in need no matter what our schedule or direction (Luke 10: 25-37).

What a wonderful world to look forward to! There will be few needs because everyone will be selling, giving, helping, and trusting in God.

But Jesus wasn’t just giving a polite look t what is to come. To go into this wonderful kingdom, we need to do something. “Repent,” Jesus says (Luke 13: 1-5)

What is repenting? Biblically it is not feeling sorry or apologetic about what wrong we have done. Nor is it confessing your sins, although it might include that. Simply put, it is stopping whatever sin you are doing and then doing what is right before God. In the Old Testament, it is often called, “turning to the Lord.” It isn’t the change of attitude so much as the change of action.

So what is Jesus calling us to do? He wants us to change, to repent from our evil deeds. Which evil deeds are those? The deeds of this world! God wants us not to be concerned about tomorrow, concerned about what is “wise” in the eyes of those that look at one life alone (Matt. 11:25). Instead, we are to turn to the ways of the coming kingdom. We are to give to whoever asks, sell our possessions and give to the poor, seek the lower position to become slave to all (Luke 22: 26-27), we are to entrust everything to God and depend on him for our future. In essence, We are to live in this age as if we are in the age to come.

“Whoa,” you say. “This isn’t just a change in action. It is a whole new way of thinking!” That’s right! When Jesus was talking about being “born again,” he wasn’t just speaking of a mystical experience, or praying some prayer (John 3: 5-8). No, he was saying that to enter the kingdom you must turn your fundamental thoughts up side down.

Instead of thinking about yourself first, we think of others first. Instead of being concerned with what is wise, you focus on what is God’s will.

Common Misconceptions About Heaven

Talk about life after death scares some people and makes most people uncomfortable. We don’t like dealing with the many different ideas that seem so contradictory, even if everyone talking about it is a Christian. Usually, someone’s idea of life after death is related to their idea of what a perfect existence is, or should be. We are all striving for some sort of utopia or perfect state that everyone can live in. In this essay, I can’t promise that there won’t be controversial statements, or things you disagree with. But it is on the internet so you can read it in the privacy of your own computer, and complain about me if you don’t like what I’m saying without me having to hear it!

There is a lot that is assumed about life after death in Scripture, and so not explicitly stated. Because of this, many people have made guesses about heaven, trying to figure out what it’s all about. But in doing this, they have misunderstood what our life after death is really about.

Heaven is a spiritual existence
Most people think that in heaven we will be living without our bodies. This makes sense in some people’s philosophy, since they think that our bodies is what’s wrong with us. The Bible makes it clear, however, that the hope of eternal life is a physical life, being restored to our bodies which are perfected. (I Corinthians 15:36-43; John 5:28-29) Our bodies now are sick and full of mental weaknesses and pains. In the final day, however, our bodies will be restored to us, but without sickness, without suffering, fully healthy, without death.

There is no perfection for us without being both a physical and spiritual being. This is how we were created—both dirt and spirit mixed into a wonderful composition of life. And our eternal life will be no different.

Heaven is where my friends go
Death is frightening and it is painful. It makes us separate from our friends and loved family much too soon. So we often say to ourselves, “We will see them again in heaven. This isn’t a permanent separation, but only temporary.” However, the Bible gives us little assurance or comfort in this. First of all, every person must be judged by God to determine whether they will live in Jesus or live in eternal darkness. And God is the one who judges, not us. If we were perfectly in tune with God’s will, like Jesus is, then we could have a good notion of who would be with God and who would not. But it is interesting that Paul, one of the greatest saints who ever lived, said that he could not judge even himself. (I Corinthians 4:3-4).

Even so, we typically do not have enough information about those we love or knowledge of God’s will to make a determination of someone’s eternal state. Everyone, Scripture says, will be resurrected. But some will be resurrected to reward, and others to condemnation. Who are we to judge, here and now, who will get one destiny and one the other? We can make guesses, but to simply say, “I know they will be with us” is a kind untruth we tell ourselves. We must instead hand all judgment to God, who is the Judge of heaven and earth.

“Heaven” is in heaven
The very name “heaven” for our life with God leads us to a misconception. The idea is that we will live with God in the clouds for all eternity is a common, even stereotyped, idea of the Christian eternal life. However, even the location of our eternal life is misplaced.

It is true that our first existence after death will be without our bodies, in heaven. We see some of these folks in Revelation 6. However, they are begging God for a change in the world. Why is this? Because their place is on the earth, transformed by God. Jesus’ second “coming” means him coming to earth, to establish the kingdom of God here. Eternal life isn’t something we are going to, it is something that is coming to us, to change the existence we currently live in.

Heaven is boring
Many people think that heaven must be boring. We see this in cartoons of heaven—sitting on clouds, with wings, playing harps. This might be some Greek fantasy of bliss, but not the Christian ideal. First of all, Jesus said that on the final day many who are not followers of Jesus would remain in the kingdom of God, if they have assisted persecuted believers on earth (Matthew 25:31-40). So this means that there will be a mix of believers and unbelievers on the earth. Secondly, the resurrected believers Jesus calls to himself will be given positions of authority to rule over the world. (Luke 22:29-30; Luke 19:15-19). This means that there will be no sitting around, bored our of our minds. Instead, the resurrection means that we will be assisting Jesus in establishing peace and justice throughout the world, not as a small part of a democratic society, but as an integral part of a benevolent monarchy. Transformation of the earth is not an instant miracle, it is, rather, an ongoing miracle which we will be a part of.

And what will we do in our time off? Well, think about our resurrected bodies for a moment. We will have bodies just like Jesus. And Jesus could transport himself, instantly, from one place to another distant place (Luke 24:31-36; Acts 8:39-40). And, remember, after the resurrection there is no death, we are immortal (I Corinthians 15:26). What are the implications of this? Well, this is speculative, but I’m looking forward to exploring Jupiter. Some others might want to explore the bottom of the ocean. At the very least, we can all get our travel fantasies in. Want to visit the ruins of Thailand?—poof!

Heaven is eternal worship of God
Some people look at certain scenes in the book of Revelation and see that heaven is filled with worship of God. This has led some to speculate that eternal life will be one long worship session. I can see some, especially worship leaders, thinking this would be wonderful, for they would be exercising their gifts all the time. However, for those of us who are less musically inclined or gifted at worship, this doesn’t sound so great.

A careful examination of the scenes of Revelation, we find the heavenly creatures not simply worshipping God, but that is simply the preamble of God establishing justice on earth. And when God does establish justice, he uses his messengers and servants to fulfill His will. This gives us a more well-rounded idea of what eternal life will be like. We will be assisting God to create justice on earth. Yes, there will be worship of God, even as there is now. But eternity is not simply about worshipping God. If God wanted creatures to simply worship Him, He could have created people to be simply worshipping creatures. Rather, God created humanity to be ruling creatures, people who would follow His will to establish His rule over all the earth (Psalm 8). Eternal life is about reigning with God, not simply about honoring God.

Heaven is eternal bliss
For most people, their idea of eternal life is perfection. There is little difference between many Christians’ idea of heaven and a Buddhist Nirvana. It is eternal happiness, with no pain or sorrow, in unity with God, and there is no difficulties or mistakes.

The Scriptural idea of heaven isn’t as blissful as all that. Yes, it says that in the end there will be no tears (Revelation 21:3-4). But this really means that there will be no death or grieving for death, and a government that creates perfect justice. This doesn’t mean that there will be no pain. If we step on a nail, I hope it causes us a little bit of pain so we don’t have a bunch of stuff sticking into us. Mistakes will be made, but hopefully they will be corrected. We will probably be just as apt to make errors in our speech then as now, but we will be more likely to apologize for our mistakes and more likely to be forgiven. There will still be work, still be challenges, still be goals—this is the implication of ruling and the need to rule. But it will be work that suits us, challenges we can meet and goals that will be fulfilled. This isn’t exactly bliss, but it will be a life worth living.

Heaven is after we die
One of the strangest statements Jesus makes is that the future is now here, with us (John 5:25; Matt. 10:7; Luke 17:21). Jesus told the poor disciples that the kingdom IS theirs, not will be. And Jesus was preaching about the immediacy of God’s future. Certainly we can see how this is true in Jesus’ day. Jesus was the king and the presence of the future, so wherever Jesus was, the kingdom existed. But Jesus also said that His Spirit would rest on his people when He left. So, instead of having on representation of the kingdom on earth, Jesus left a hundred. A hundred people who would establish Jesus’ mercy to others, establish pockets of His justice and do miracles as Jesus did (John 14:12-21).

Thus the kingdom of God, Jesus says, is like a mustard seed. It is small at the beginning, having only one or twelve representatives. But over time, that seed of the future will grow and expand. The whole earth will be covered by this future only when Jesus arrives, but the work of mercy and justice and peace must be established now.

The big difference is that if we attempt to create pockets of Jesus’ mercy and justice, we will be persecuted for it, even killed. We have a hard time getting the resources we need for it. We have to convince others to join us in establishing Jesus’ peace. In Jesus’ future, we will have all the resources we need. We will never be harmed for doing what is right. And we will not be overwhelmed by the task. But even so, we can have a taste of that future now. Now is the day of salvation, now is the time to work together to create pockets of heaven, so we will be ready for it when it comes.