Many people just do not understand the basics of the Christian message. Concepts such as sacrifice, confession, and even sin itself, leave many utterly confused. I would contend that unless the following fundamental concept is taken on board, the message will never begin to make sense.
Of course, one still has to take it on faith.
We will never understand the Christian message
If we don’t appreciate that it is a tale of two lives:
This present life of two score years and ten, and
The life to come, from which all meaning derives.
Jesus was born into the one, to lead us to the other.
He came from the Father, and went back to the Father.
All He did and said pointed to this great pilgrimage:
Stay awake, and let nothing compromise that treasure!
For we are, all of us, immortal, and will never cease to be.
What God has begun in us He will never give up on.
What matters then is the nature of what we will become:
Choose love now, or forever sulk in dreadful isolation.
Death will come to all of us, but what is death but a
Doorway to eternity, to face not judgment but mercy.
For no man can merit heaven and Jesus made it clear:
Pride is the danger – all that endures is divine charity.
This present life is wonderful and good, but fleeting:
The days and years charge by, and all our busy efforts
Will amount to what? Just so much noise and dust…
If all we do is take, we will indeed get our just deserts.
For God will not force Himself upon us, and although
The eternal kingdom is ours now, and death’s grim hold
Disarmed by Jesus’ Easter dawn, we can still choose the
Hell of selfishness and elect to remain in loveless cold.
Could a brief span of selfishness really deny unending joy?
Could grabbing and grasping leave us with empty hands?
The rich man in hell begged a message to be sent to his kin:
We have that message now – who is there who understands?
If someone was to come back from the dead – wow, people
Would take notice then! Wouldn’t that make all the difference?
Someone to come back and tell us all about the life to come.
Perhaps we should suggest it to Him with all due deference?