I think I’ve always wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. Haven’t you? When my brothers and I would play in the back yard we imagined being warriors for some great cause. Or, when we were older we would set up back yard Olympics and compete for our country. There’s an allure to being a part of something outside of ourselves, something important, something bigger.
“What we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
Now there’s a great line. Maximus was about to lead his troops to battle. As he did, he was reminding them that they were part of something bigger than themselves. He wanted them to know, to understand, that what they were fighting for had meaning and purpose beyond the here and now.
Some say that the world is nothing more than what we can experience with our five senses. There is nothing else. When we die, there is no more. The Christian however believes that there is more, that there is life after death, that eternity awaits us all. The Christian therefore believes that, “What we do in this life, echoes in eternity.”
For us Christians eternity is wrapped up in the resurrection. It is in the resurrection, and the resurrection alone, that eternity makes any sense. This is why Paul writes,
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ESV)
That sounds extreme right? Everything is founded and centered in and on the resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection, “we are of all people most to be pitied.”
It is this eternal nature of life that wraps around and surrounds all that we do. It is the great kairos that envelopes the chronos within which we live our ordinary lives. The two words, kairos and chronos, are words for time. Chronos is the linear, the chronological. Kairos is when time seems to stop, a baby being born, saying your vows, or even just something that catches your breath for an instant. Christians understand kairos moments to be when the kingdom of heaven breaks into our world and intersects with it, even for the briefest moment.
When I was working with Campus Crusade for Christ we talked a lot about eternal perspective with college students. We wanted them to think about their lives from the big picture. For us, this meant coming on staff or going on summer missions. I’m realizing now that living with eternal perspective is so much more than that.
As I raise my kids I do so with an eye towards eternity. I want them to see and know how big the world is that they are stepping into. As I launch a church movement I want people to see that everything they do, everywhere they go, everything they say, has eternal significance. It’s tied up together.
The Lego Movie’s theme song said, “Everything is awesome!” For those of us following Christ we might change it to say, “Everything matters!” Every day counts. Every moment counts. They all matter.
I don’t have invent ways to be a part of something bigger than myself. I already am.
Why? Because everything has been touched by resurrection.
Paul said it really well,
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:2-11 ESV)
The post Eternity, It’s Bigger Than Us appeared first on The Journal by Daniel M. Rose. It was written by Daniel M. Rose.
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