Do we truly understand the depth and meaning of love? Do we realize the full potential we have to love? I doubt that we have even a pinch of an inkling as to what love, pure and true love, is. To know love is to know God. How can I presume to comprehend He who created all that is known and unknown? Yet I have a great appreciation for that love, because I have experienced it, known it, felt it, along my own spiritual journey.
The foundation of a truly fulfilled life, abundant in love, starts with knowing God. Knowing God is the essence of love. It may sound cliche, but God is love. Without God, love is incomplete. To really know God is to open the areas of our minds and our souls to a force so great that a single word, even if that word is LOVE, is inadequate to accurately describe all that it encompasses. It is more than a noun, more than a verb (sorry DC Talk.) It goes beyond a feeling, with a longing strong enough to move men and women to amazing acts of self sacrifice, bravery and art. And it all starts with God, for He is the One who gave us love in the first place. He created His people with this incredible attribute called love.
God loved us enough to send his Son to live, suffer, and die for us. As a parent, I can now, although still only in part, appreciate the enormity of that sacrifice. That Son, Jesus Christ, also loved His people. He was chosen, and He Himself chose to be our substitute in death. Not only did He take on our shame and guilt, but He returned, alive, to His followers, proving God's power and His never-ending love. I don't know when, or how, but He will return again to begin the rest of eternity with those who love Him. God did not send His Son to the world to condemn the world, but that through Him we may have eternal life.
The pop-culture portrayal of Heaven and Hell are so inaccurate, but what can we compare it to? How do you make a blind man truly understand a rainbow? I don't pretend to have those answers. I believe the Bible. I learn from those around me, trying to discern the truth through God's Spirit. Perhaps I seem childish in my faith, but I do have faith, not just belief. Even the demons believe in God, but they will not live with Him through eternity. That privilege is reserved for those who take the step past belief, into faith, falling with our hands held tightly to our sides in trust, knowing we will be caught and enveloped into God's love forever. I know it sounds like a fairytale, but I know this to be true, that I am secure in my eternal salvation because of God's true love for me. All I have ever known is this life God has given to me and the anticipation of His promised eternal life.
We need to wipe away the silly images of devils with pitch forks poking evil men in caverns filled with fire, and let go of chubby cherubs playing harps and hanging out on clouds. When we finally stand in His presence, we will probably shake our heads in disbelief at the naive, ridiculous representation of Heaven and of the absolute, hopeless agony of existing in a hell, devoid of God's love. When you think of modern prison, what part of that experience would you most dread? Is it being contained and controlled? I think the scariest part of that experience is being incarcerated with people who have decided to ignore God's love and have given over to their own selfish desires . This is the closest thing I can think of that could compare to the reality of Hell. I don't mean to imply that all men and women in jail are completely without love. On the contrary, I know that we all have, in part, God's love within us and around us. Even the lowest, most decrepit soul has the potential to know God's love. Eventually, we will finally see with clarity the horrendous prospect of a future devoid of goodness and love. That is the straightest rout to understanding the concept of Hell for me. It sucks, with no end in sight. No hope. No comfort. No love. No God.
The core to understanding the God's kingdom is to grasp the basic concepts of love (as described in the Bible, Corinthians 13.) Take what is the very best about our earthly life, and you can begin to see Heaven. Think about a whole new spectrum of colors and dimensions. How could we understand what we have never seen or experienced? For now, we can glimpse what Heaven will be like through God's love here and now, and enjoy and spread what love we can reflect from God into the lives around us. I have known God for such a very long time that I sometimes forget that others may not have the privilege of God's Spirit working around and through them. I wish for you all to feel the certainty that I have. My hope is that none go without knowing God's love. My words are motivated not out of selfish ambition to gain browny-points with the Big Guy, but from a deep desire to spare you pain and suffering. How can that be offensive?
Unfortunately, even those who believe in God and know his love are still, in fact and in deed, flawed and all too human. We are all hypocrites. We have hurt those who might have been seeking and turned them from knowing God's love with the careless words we say, the judgements we make. We are not to judge, but so many of us forget that criticism is not a spiritual gift. Please keep in mind that if you allow a fool to stand between you and God, the fool is still closer to God.
As God's adopted children, we have an obligation to share love with as many people as possible. Excitement and zeal can be effective, but in our enthusiasm, we cannot forget that faith begins as a personal connection with God. We don't have the power to save nor to condemn. My obligation to you is to tell the truth in love. I hope I have. I hope I am. God help me, I hope to do so with my dying breath. In sharing with you I hope not to offend, but I can't apologize for my desire that you know true love, that you know God in a deep and intimate manner, overflowing with joy and hope.
I offer these words to you, hoping that it encourages your own spiritual journey. We travel, sometimes wandering, towards the goal of a better life and an awesome eternity. My dear friend, I hope with all my heart that you will be there, celebrating God's love when our time here is done. Walk with me. I will hold your hand, perhaps you will be help me stay on the right path. We will hold each other up and work together to make sure that everyone has the chance to make a choice. Keep faith, even as this immediate existiance claws and pulls you down, for this is but a blink of the eye. Soon we will rejoice in paridise. What could be better?
I love you.
-jay-
