eternal life

A Taste of Heaven

Posted on by Betsy

I once performed a wedding for a bride who was on her seventh marriage. I know this to be true, as the wedding license that pastors sign indicate the number (if any) of previous marriages. Now lest we be too judgmental, her first marriage was when she was in her late teens, when few of us understand the consequences of choices made in the heat of the moment at such a young age. Two of her marriages ended when those husbands passed away, so there’s that. Still, it was a bit like officiating an Erica Kane wedding, but I am happy to say that they are still together, and she has found her happily ever after.

Jesus once encountered a question about multiple marriages and the resurrection. It came from a group known as the Sadducees, who were a conservative elite group of Jews who only accepted the first five books of the Torah as the authentic word of God. If you remember your Bible history, that meant that they pretty much were limited to the creation stories, Abraham and his many sons, Moses and the exodus, and a whole lot of Law. They did not believe in the resurrection. This made the Sadducees sad, you see. (Sorry for that. I just wanna be a sheep.)

Luke 20 (New Revised Standard Version)

27 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28 and asked him a question: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman and died childless; 30 then the second 31 and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

You can see that for folks to ask such a question when they didn’t believe in the resurrection meant they were hoping to trap or embarrass Jesus. The fact that the question was framed in the extreme of seven marriages was meant almost as a taunt. Of course that can happen (as I discovered), but it truly is a rare thing.

34 Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37 And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.”

There is much to unpack here. Resurrection does not include marriage for the obvious reason that there will be no reason to procreate, as eternal life is just that: eternal. We will become “like angels” but we know from other Scriptures that we will be higher than the angels. (1 Corinthians 6:3.) It will be a true community of love, and Jesus pointed out that Moses’ own testimony was that the Lord IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ascribing them to be part of the living and not the dead. Such a clever piece of oratory, as the Sadducees were very attached to these Old Testament figures. Jesus spoke right into their belief system and spoke truth.

If you are happily married on earth, this may sadden you. On the other hand, if your marriage is filled with strife, a community of love will be just what you need. In any case, life in heaven will truly be nothing like life on earth.

And that is very good news indeed.

A Taste of Heaven

Rainbow Promises

Posted on by Betsy

Did you know that earth is the only planet that has rainbows? Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez recently noted that we’re on the only planet in the Solar System to get them. Rainbows form from suspended water droplets in the atmosphere that are hit by the direct sunlight when the sun is located between the horizon and 42 degrees altitude. This typically occurs just after a thunderstorm has passed and small droplets are still in the atmosphere, and the sky is clearing in front of the sun. No other planet has enough sunlight and moisture to produce the rainbow effect. We get amazing rainbows in the Outer Banks.

From a biblical perspective, God set the rainbow in the sky for one reason: To anchor his promise of a covenant relationship with us: 

Genesis (Common English Bible)

9 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to us that God is near when our hope has dried out. This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to us that God is near when our wisdom fails us. This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to trust that God is always near! When we feel helpless and find ourselves at a loss for what to do next, when some aspect of our joy has flamed out and we can’t reignite the spark anymore, and when something has truly died in us, that is when we need to remember that God can bring anything back to life by simply saying the word.

Your dead dreams, your lifeless marriage, your dry relationship with your teenager, your wasteland of a career, your hollow bank account, your terminal battle with addiction … even the division that daily is destroying our country … God can breathe life into all of these places. Jesus, the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that was God, is where we can place our hope and trust. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead ensures our eternal life. Because he lives, we shall live also.

So the next time you feel as though all the light has gone out of your life, look up. God can and will breathe new life by the power of his word into whatever you’ve lost. You can count on his promises.

From Heaven to Earth

To Know You

Posted on by Betsy

Think about the most complex dish you have ever eaten in a restaurant that you absolutely loved. I recently visited a water-side restaurant called Narcoosee’s, located at the Grand Floridian Resort in Walt Disney World, where I ate a plate of food that I am still thinking about. It had so many layers of flavor! It featured plancha-seared scallops that were served over smooth and creamy Parisian gnocchi, surrounded by bright English peas that burst with flavor when you bit in to them. Scattered around this mound of heaven were bits of Tasso ham that provided salty goodness, and dots of truffled Meyer lemon cream sauce that made me want to lick the plate. I didn’t because that would be rude, but boy was I tempted!! Every bite was a new revelation.

I thought about that dish when I read today’s Scripture. Okay, stay with me for a minute! This Scripture to me reads like a wonderfully layered entree that just keeps getting better with every forkful.

Jesus offered this one last prayer just before he is taken away by the authorities to be arrested, tried, and hung on a cross. What was in his mind in those last hours?

Actually, it was us.

John 17 (Common English Bible)

When Jesus finished saying these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you. 2 You gave him authority over everyone so that he could give eternal life to everyone you gave him. 

So the first layer of this offering is a bold statement about glory. Notice that Jesus looks “up to heaven,” assuring us that he was not downcast at the prospect of losing his life. He acknowledged several things in this first bite: He knew his time had come. He asked God to glorify him so that his sacrifice would bring glory to God. He reminded God that authority was given to him so that we, his followers, could have eternal life. That’s a mouthful right there.

3 This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. 

But the meat of this dish is found in this startling layer: Eternal life is defined by knowing God. Savor that for a moment! Does that mean that eternal life begins now, on earth, as we study, pray, worship, and learn who God is? John would certainly say so:

1 John 5 (Common English Bible)

11 And this is the testimony: God gave eternal life to us, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have God’s Son does not have life.

Not “will give.” Not “will have.” But eternal life is ours in the present if we believe in the Son. It is incumbent on us to spend these earthly days striving to know God better.

4 I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I shared with you before the world was created.

We finish this off with the delightful morsel in verse 5. Here, Jesus confirms his pre-existence with God at the beginning of the world. Here we see the declaration of the Father/Son relationship and confirm that the Word, Jesus, was with God and the Word indeed was God from the very beginning of time. There are so many beautiful layers of theology in this one brief passage!

Take a moment to read through this prayer again and try to digest it. Jesus is eternal life. Jesus is the glorification of the plan of salvation that he and his father had all along. Are you living out your present eternal life in a way that will prepare you for what is to come? Are you sharing this knowledge with others? Do you fully know God?

May we all relish the gift that Jesus gave, and invite others to the table to relish it, too.

Eternal Life by Mary Anne Mong