“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” Ro8.1 NKJV
It is true, that many, if not most of us come to Christ to escape condemnation. And although this is a good reason, it hardly captures the main reason and the other many wonderful reasons for coming to Him. My own life with God started in fear of His judgment. But through the years, I find dread being replaced with delight and my self-centered fear with a God entranced awe. My sin and its forgiveness is not the only topic we discuss and most of the time, I, not He, seem to be the one who gets stuck on it. I get the sense, that God is eager to show me so much more to this life in His Son, than just being forgiven and escaping judgment.
I remember a man who once told me that it did not matter much to him what heaven was like, so long as he missed hell. It is silly to think that our missing hell is the sole objective of Christ dying at the cross. I think that escaping the torments of self-rule is a necessary consequence of our real and present destination. Hell is behind all who are in Christ. Heaven awaits us. I have the feeling He wants us to get on with it, to follow Him into the greater and greater ecstasies of living in the delights of His love. We seem to be looking back at what we have narrowly escaped. He, is like an eager child trying to get mom and dad to come outside and see some new and great discovery. I am sure if we listen, we can hear the excitement in His voice, “Come here, I want to show you something.” 5/9/07 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
