This Side of Heaven

We are caught on this side of heaven, where we await our complete transformation, when we cross the threshold to the other side. There we will spend eternity with the Three-in-One who sacrificed His Divine rights out of majestic love for humankind. For many, this future hope is enough. Fire insurance has been received, so to speak. The here and now is theirs to keep, without God, enslaved in sin.

Yet, God came to set us free here and now.

Your Daddy and I are taking in a Sunday School class where we are pondering the writings of Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp through their co-authored booked How People Change. It speaks of the “Gospel Gap”, where Christians struggle with Christ’s redemption in their present day situation. It is easy to present the Gospel as forgiveness of our past sins and hope for eternity. But what about “the now”? How can the implications of Christ’s death and resurrection make a difference as we struggle with sin day-to-day? What does it mean that Christ has given us everything we need to live a godly life, so much so that we can share in His Divine Nature and escape the power of sin (2 Peter 1:3-5). If this stuff is really true, how can it make an impact in our lives now?

I am not writing this post to spew out a five step formula for change. Because the more I read this book (I’m not finished yet) and the more I read scripture as well as experience life, I realize, there is no set formula for lasting change in our lives. As our Sunday School teacher reminded us, “God is not a vending machine in which you put in a coin and out pops the perfect you. You are more complicated than that, and so is He.”

Maybe that is what I’ve found liberating over the past few years: ditching the formulas. Hey, I love formulas! I am a Math/Physics teacher by profession. It is comforting to know that distance = speed x time, as long as we are dealing with velocities well below the speed of light. Thus, I naturally gravitate to spiritual formulas. Read the Bible and pray every day, and you will grow. Tithe faithfully and give to the poor, and you will be financially blessed. Keep thankfulness lists, and you will experience joy. And while personal devotions, giving, and practicing thankfulness are all good things, they can become idols in our lives where we elevate the discipline of grace more than the God of Grace.

The other thing that I’ve found refreshing is that God chooses to work in our lives through different means, different methods, and different circumstances – so much so that there may be no distinct pattern as to what He is doing! This is crazy for me to feel liberated about, because I thoroughly enjoy analyzing situations for patterns. Yet, I am becoming more and more content in knowing that God knows even if it makes no sense to me! Take Jeremiah in the Bible. Faithful to God. Preaches and prophesies with obedience. Result? One convert: Jeremiah’s scribe. Then there is Jonah. Runs from God. Eventually obeys after a nasty whale incident. Preaches reluctantly. Result? Many, many conversions: a city full. Yet, in both situations, God is still spilling out His message of repentance and grace, in spite of the messenger.*

Lastly, I am encouraged by two phrases that I’ve discovered through the book How People Change, namely “thankful discontent” and "joyfully dissatisfied". It is a state of being where a Christian thankfully rests in God’s grace, love, and transformative powers and embraces the reality that she is a work in progress. Yet, she chooses to be discontent with the sin that so easily entangles her. Thus, she leans hard on God to change her in whatever way He desires to change her. Why do I find this so encouraging? Because I finally feel that I am getting to a state of “thankful discontent” where I realize that (1) I am a mess, I am sinful (don’t get me started); (2) I don’t have to try to be perfect with God, because He knows me inside out and still chooses to redeem me; (3) I don’t have to frantically try to find the right formula to change myself; (4) I can bring my mess to God and cry out to Him for transformation and grace; AND (5) God will do it, in His way, in His time.

Now, that's good news on this side of heaven.

*I owe this illustration to a Missionary who visited our church recently. Thank you J.

Popular posts from this blog

Is God Good?

During "at home learning", I helped my daughter design an experiment on plants. She set up four identical pots with the same amount of soil in the same location on our deck (controlling her variables, right?). She planted two bean seeds in each pot. She watered three out of the four plants with various amounts of water (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 1 cup). The fourth plant only received whatever water naturally fell from the sky. At the end of one month, her hypothesis was partially verified. She thought the 1/4 cup water plant and 1/2 cup water plant would grow the best, which was true in the end. On the other hand, she guessed the others would not germinate at all. Interestingly enough, while the one that was drench in water (1 cup) did not germinate, the one she did not water at all actually grew! It germinated late but had the most steady growth. Is God good? I have been thinking about this question a lot these days. A global pandemic is still raging over our planet decimat...
Read more

Daunting {But Not Impossible}

I rarely watch the news. I catch up on the world's happenings -- where often the horror is reported -- via Google News. Or the brief blurb before classic rock on our favourite radio station. But very occasionally, at the end of the day, I take in the images of national and global headlines. Yesterday I watched the masses trek across Europe, searching for a safe haven away from war-torn Syria. I witnessed little kids crying as they tried to rub away tear gas sprayed by unrelenting border police. The message? You are not welcome in this country. I choked up as a father and his son fell to the ground after being tripped up by guards. The look of desperation on people's faces was heart breaking. Our country is nearing a Federal Election in October. Many voters are curious how the next Prime Minister will address the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Here is an excerpt from The Globe and Mail : Mr. Mulcair [NDP] and Mr. Trudeau [Liberal] condemn Mr. Harper [Conservative] for lacking...
Read more

Banking in the Now

This month we are trying something different: banking in the now instead of the tomorrow. Oh, it is nothing new, really. I used to operate like this in my single days. But then the lure of credit cards with reward programs persuaded me otherwise. While I never gave Visa the joy in collecting any interest payments from our bank accounts and I always payed our credit card bill before the 21 days of grace were up, I probably spent more than I should have some months. Why? Because I didn't have to pay for it immediately . It was not until last year that my credit card habits started to bother my conscience. Up to that point, I felt proud of the fact that the credit card company was paying me to use their plastic. I received stuff for free, even after paying my annual fee. Free fuel. Free flights. Free hotels. Free is good, right? My perspective started to change after I read a blog post penned by my sister. Her and her husband cut up their credit cards after a series of events, o...
Read more