“Without eternity in the center of our thinking, our picture of life is like a jigsaw puzzle missing a central piece.”
New Morning Mercies, by Paul David Tripp
A big thing happening at my church right now is called the More Than initiative – it’s a push for the congregation to adopt a forward-looking approach to the church, and also we are building a new building to replace the dilapidated and cricket-infested Education Building, and a new chapel where the old auditorium currently stands.
I was talking about this with a missionary friend of mine and she was saying how she struggled with the use of funds to build a building when, in her words, “It feels like this world is wrapping up,” she said, “I almost feel like we should just give all our money to the nations instead of worrying about construction.”
And I want to talk about that – the idea that this world may be wrapping up – it’s not a novel concept, in fact, what I said to her is “I’m pretty sure it started wrapping up at the resurrection,” Almost every generation since Jesus has felt like they’re living in the last days, and rather than viewing that as doom and gloom, it should, as my friend suggested, create a sense of urgency in each of us to give generously and to share the gospel as often and as widespread as we can.
A year or so ago this church hosted an in-depth look at Revelation in our women’s Bible Study. Before every class, Leslie, our women’s ministry admin, read a carefully worded statement meant to put our minds at ease that said (paraphrased) there’s no need to panic, but stay alert and watch because Jesus is coming back.
I was raised by a “prepper” – you may have heard of them, doomsday peppers – there was even a TV show about the most extreme ones who build nuclear bomb shelters in their back yards. My dad was former Air Force intelligence and a former boy scout, so he believed in being prepared. He kept MREs in our freezer, never threw away medication, and had water filters that would purify ditch water. And, of course, an armory of guns, knives, and ammo. We even used to play checkers on an old ammo box.
When I was 10, my dad gave my sister and I each a canvas cross body bag filled with a magnifying glass, a portable microscope, and a Swiss Army knife, and then took us both out hiking in the scrub-brush mesquite woods behind our house in hopes of igniting a lifelong love of nature and survivalism in each of us. My tomboy sister was super into it but Dad definitely underestimated his girly-girl little princess Elizabeth. I used the microscope to examine things inside the house instead, and the Swiss army knife sat forgotten in the bottom of that bag.
When I was about 15 or so he invited my sister and I into the living room with my mom to have a family meeting, we were finally old enough to be brought into the prepping strategy and we all discussed what we might need if society fell apart in an impending disaster – the disaster in question? Y2K.
My dad was a very strong Christian and follower of Christ, and he and other preppers have used Christian faith as an impetus for storing up supplies, believing this is the best way to keep watch. I love and respect my dad and I’m so grateful for everything he taught me, but I do think he was off target with the prepping, because, while Jesus warned his disciples to keep watch and to be prepared, he also told us in no uncertain terms not to stow away in barns, and that he would be our provider, just as he provides for the birds. But while I don’t plan to build a bomb shelter in my backyard, I do think it’s wise to be always aware of what’s going on, and to live life like Jesus is on his way back at any minute.
Going back to Paul David Tripp’s book New Morning Mercies, Tripp states –
“(God) doesn’t tell us everything, because we would not be able to understand everything or deal with it in our daily lives, but he does give us all the necessary pieces of an origin-to-destiny worldview so we can live as we were created to live.
Essential to this biblical worldview is eternity. The Bible confronts us with the reality that this is not all there is. It tells us that this world is marching toward a final conclusion. You and I are eternal beings who will spend eternity somewhere. It will either be in the presence of God forever and ever or separated from him in a place of eternal punishment forever and ever.
The reality of eternity infuses the here and now with seriousness and hope. The way you live is important because there is an eternity to follow. The choices you make are important because there is a forever. The things you believe are important because the world is moving toward eternity. The things you surrender your heart to are important because there is an eternal tomorrow. You simply cannot hold to an “all that’s important is the pleasures of the moment” view of life and believe in eternity at the same time. In light of eternity, it makes no sense to forget God and live for yourself. In the face of eternity, it is irrational to write your own rules and demand your own way. Eternity requires you to take life seriously.
But eternity also fills this moment with hope. Because I know that this is not all there is, I also know that the sin, trials, and sufferings of the present will not last forever. For God’s children, eternity promises that sin will die, suffering will end, our trials will be no more, and we will live with God in perfect peace forever and ever and ever. You just can’t make proper sense of life without viewing it from the perspective of eternity.
For further study and encouragement: John 5:19-29
