More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
But there is nothing about subparticle “matter” that indicates it is the final level of reality, dependent only on itself—as God has been traditionally assumed to be. And a thoughtful examination of it shows, I believe, that it is not.
And it is only the knowledge of this God whose deepest nature is love that is the source of the ancient prophecies with their radiant hopes. God has made himself known by personally approaching human beings and involving himself in their lives. The history is there for all who wish to see. But no one has to see—now. That is how the divine conspiracy works.
In the face of humanity at its worst, now eternally represented by the killing of Jesus himself, the gospel of the kingdom steadies us against believing anything bad about God.
in describing our life after the demise of our body, Jesus used symbols pointing to eternal life as limitlessly enhanced life, as a state of being more intensely alive in an existence which is both perfect fulfillment and yet also endless activity and newness. If death leads eventually to that, then although we shall still think of it…with trembling awe and apprehension, yet it will not evoke terror or despair; for beyond death we…will not be less alive but more alive than we are now.
In our present embodied position, by contrast, we always see things in distortion, “as in a mirror.” The mirrors that could be made in Paul’s day were quite unsatisfactory and never allowed one to see things in them as they really are.
Stated in other words, our experience will not be fundamentally different in character from what it is now, though it will change in significant details. The life we now have as the persons we now are will continue, and continue in the universe in which we now exist. Our experience will be much clearer, richer, and deeper, of course, because it will be unrestrained by the limitations now imposed upon us by our dependence upon our body.
time of growing steadily, the time of passage, and the time of reigning with Jesus.
THE TIME OF GROWING STEADILY.
Our old age is the scorching of the bush By life’s indwelling, incorruptible blaze. O life, burn at this feeble shell of me, Till I the sore singed garment off shall push, Flap out my Psyche wings, and to thee rush.
THE TIME OF PASSAGE.
Most notably, the person in the transition begins to “see the invisible.” Others whom they know come to meet them, often while they are still interacting with those left behind. If death is sudden, those nearby will have no opportunity to realize that this is happening. But we can be sure that even in such cases the person is not hurled into isolation. You would not do that, if you could help it, to anyone you loved. And neither will God.
Now this understanding of the passage into God’s full world spells out precisely the sense in which death has been abolished, in the New Testament vision, and in which we who live in the Logos will not die or experience death (John 8:51). Our personal existence will continue without interruption. Perhaps, by contrast, we must say that those who do not now enter the eternal life of God through confidence in Jesus will experience separation, isolation, and the end of their hopes. Perhaps this will be permitted in their case because they have chosen to be God themselves, to be their own ultimate
...more
I suspect there will be many surprises when the new creative responsibilities are assigned. Perhaps it would be a good exercise for each of us to ask ourselves: Really, how many cities could I now govern under God? If, for example, Baltimore or Liverpool were turned over to me, with power to do what I want with it, how would things turn out? An honest answer to this question might do much to prepare us for our eternal future in this universe.
In any case, we should expect that in due time we will be moved into our eternal destiny of creative activity with Jesus and his friends and associates in the “many mansions” of “his Father’s house.” Thus, we should not think of ourselves as destined to be celestial bureaucrats, involved eternally in celestial “administrivia.” That would be only slightly better than being caught in an everlasting church service. No, we should think of our destiny as being absorbed in a tremendously creative team effort, with unimaginably splendid leadership, on an inconceivably vast plane of activity, with
...more
It is, instead, peace as wholeness, as fullness of function, as the restful but unending creativity involved in a cosmoswide, cooperative pursuit of a created order that continuously approaches but never reaches the limitless goodness and greatness of the triune personality of God, its source.
Article “Heaven” in M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia, vol. 4, pp. 122–27.
the heavens by an additional birth, that “they are mistaken who think the Kingdom of God means Heaven. It is rather the spiritual life, which is begun by faith in this world and daily increases according to the continual progress of faith” (John Calvin,
Alfred Edersheim correctly sees that the subject of the Sermon on the Mount is “neither righteousness, nor yet the New Law (if such designation be proper in regard to what in no sense is a Law), but that which was innermost and uppermost in the Mind of Christ—the Kingdom of God. Notably, the Sermon on the Mount contains not any detailed or systematic doctrinal, nor any ritual teaching, nor yet does it prescribe the form of any outward observances…. Christ came to found a Kingdom, not a School; to institute a fellowship, not to propound a system. To the first disciples all doctrinal teaching
...more
In the latter, according to Guelich, “the beatitude is a declarative statement of future vindication and reward. It comes as assurance and encouragement in the face of trouble” (A Foundation for Understanding the Sermon on the Mount [Dallas: Word Publishing, 1982], p. 65). He finds that “Luke’s Beatitudes have been taken as eschatological blessings, whereas Matthew’s appear more like entrance requirements for the Kingdom.” He later indicates that, in his view, this is only appearance.
Beatitudes the blessing, whether concerning wisdom or future deliverance, comes not because of the condition cited but precisely in spite of it.
It may take our breath away to say it, but blessedness is possible to all now, regardless of what the situation may be. That is the hope of Jesus’ gospel—which is not the least excuse for failing to change situations that should be changed.
in which Jesus grew up and served, see the invaluable book by Richard A. Batey, Jesus and the Forgotten City: New Light on Sepphoris and the Urban World of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991).
The Gospel of Mark, written more for the gentile context, where, at least in some circles, it was not unheard of for a woman to divorce her husband, makes it clear that this discussion applies to women as well as men (Mark 10:12).
The books I have in mind are Prayer: The Mightiest Force in the World and Game with Minutes, by Frank Laubach; Prayer—Asking and Receiving, by John R. Rice; Prayer, by George Buttrick; and Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, by Richard J. Foster. In reading for spiritual understanding and growth, it is better not to read many books.
John Wimber’s little booklet Kingdom Mercy: Living in the Power of Forgiveness (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 1987).
calling to make disciples today, lectures 9, 10, and 11 of Charles G. Finney’s Revival Lectures (Fleming H. Revell, no location, no date) will be immeasurably helpful.
“The sole possible free moral action is concentration upon the ideas of the Ought which are already present. To sin is consciously to choose to forget, through a narrowing of the field of attention, an Ought that one already recognizes. For while I cannot avoid acting in accordance with the Ought so long as I clearly know it, I can through voluntary inattention, freely choose to forget it.” The World and the Individual, vol. II (New York: Dover Publications, 1959), p. 359.
DISCIPLINES OF ABSTINENCE DISCIPLINES OF ENGAGEMENT Solitude Study Silence Worship Fasting Celebration Frugality Service Chastity Prayer Secrecy Fellowship Sacrifice Confession Watching Submission
(Viktor E. Frankl, The Unheard Cry for Meaning [New York: Washington Square Press, 1985], p. 33).
