A friend once told me, “Don’t bother me with that religion stuff now, I’ll wait until I’m on my deathbed to make peace with my Maker.” Besides being highly speculative as to how and when he was going to die, he was missing the whole point.
Talk about getting Christianity backward. God is not into selling “fire insurance” and leaving it at that.
God desires an intense personal relationship with you so that you can have life abundantly in the here and now, as well as eternally.
Death was never God’s idea.
Jesus spoke a mouthful when he once told his friend Martha, in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”
He then clearly contrasted what God is all about, resurrection and life, versus what this fallen world is all about, sin and death.
In John 11:33-34, Jesus then went on to miraculously demonstrate His power over death by raising his friend, Lazarus, from the dead. It was a deeply emotional moment for Jesus, who is the Author of Life, as He faced down His sworn enemy, Death:
“… when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept.”
Did you notice “Jesus wept?” Jesus, who brings life, cried over his friend’s death. He did not treat death as normal, but as a twisted aberration away from God’s nature and intentions for His creation.
Undoubtedly, He was also thinking of another encounter He would have with death in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He was crucified. It was on the cross that He personally experienced death FOR US, later to return in resurrection, securing salvation for all who believe in Him.
Jesus is the personification of life.
As one of Jesus’ closest apostles, John reminds us that Christianity is no myth cooked up in someone’s crazy mind, but a divinely revealed truth for all to see, hear, touch and experience for themselves in the Person of Jesus Christ. John’s conclusion, in 1 John 1:1-4? Jesus did all of this so we may live with joy!
“From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in — we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!”
And God wants to share His life with us.
Jesus died for our sins, giving anyone who believes in him a home in heaven. Before his ugly death, he also told his disciples about another special bonus that changes everything. He said, in John 16:7:
“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor (Spirit) will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you.”
In one of the greatest mysteries of all, Jesus promises to send God’s spirit to live with us, in us and through us. This makes life worth living. Why wait for your deathbed when you can have God’s great counselor along for the ride right now?
How About You?
Don’t wait until your last hours to enjoy being part of a never-ending cosmic adventure encompassing the entire universe, in partnership with your splendid Creator. Why limit yourself to a paltry earthly existence when Heaven beckons you higher?
Supercharge your life in the here and now, not just after you die, “I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” NOW.
And don’t even think about trying to “make peace with God” like my friend planned to do. Christ made peace FOR YOU, as written in Colossians 1:19-21, “For it was the Father’s good pleasure … to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His (Christ’s) cross.”
— D.C. Collier is a Bible teacher, discipleship mentor and writer focused on Christian apologetics. A mechanical engineer and internet entrepreneur, he is the author of My Origin, My Destiny, a book focused on Christianity’s basic “value proposition.” Click here for more information, or contact him at don@peervalue.com. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.