I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose.—Clarence Darrow
No Gods -- No Masters. –Margaret Sanger
“Thus the existence of one God is according to reason; the existence of more than one God, contrary to reason; the resurrection of the dead, above reason.” --John Lock
"A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Let us fight valiantly, for this is our last pain; hereafter we shall rejoice with God in endless joy." - Joris, Wouter, a Christian martyr, Grietgen and Naentgen, p. 503
There will come a moment when the men and women here quoted and many more will be together. When waves upon waves of bodies and humans, and spirits, and angels, and demons will stand in rapt attention. When the billions upon billions of souls who have walked the earth will be called up, and when I will stand in this never-ending sea of humanity, stretching as far as I can see. Yet, despite the uncountable, inconceivable number surrounding me, it will be silent. Eerily silent—for it cannot feel natural to have such an unnatural amount of bodies making not a sound.
And then, there will be a moment—a moment I cannot imagine! Oh, a moment, when the eyes of the masses behold Jesus Himself, the Son of God and the Savior of the world. When the hearts of the billions begin to palpitate erratically, and the limbs of everyone go numb. I will be standing there, and I will hear Jesus’ name uttered. I will know, without a doubt, that this is my Lord before me; this is my King, my God, my Judge—my only hope, and my great undoing. I will be terrified at the perfection before me, and I will have only one course of action before. I will fall to my knees in worship, and I will declare with my mouth: “Jesus Christ is Lord!”
And as I prostrate myself before God, I probably won’t even notice the great rustling that now invades the silence. I will not care very much that billions of beings are falling hard to their knees and uttering the very words I spoke with such personal conviction. Not one will be left standing. The absolute force of the name of Jesus will leave no doubts, no atheists, no arguments, no agnostics, no denials, no Muslims. Everyone will know, and everyone will bow. Richard Dawkins will confess that Jesus is Lord beside Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Margaret Sanger and John Lock will utter identical words of confession. Chaplin and Darrow and Darwin and Hitchens and the Devil himself will be compelled to admit that Jesus Christ is Lord. Sadly, it will be too late for these and many other souls. Yes, they will confess Jesus as Lord, but they will confess after having lived a life rejecting their God. They will at that moment realize that their proud refusal to accept Jesus on earth now condemns them to an unspeakable eternity.
God said to them as He once said to me, "...Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (II Corinthians 6:2b)." God mercifully provides opportunities on earth, but after that time passes, there are no more opportunities. Everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but not everyone will live with Him in eternity. Only those covered in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ will be allowed into heaven. I will be oblivious to all this, though, because I will be busily occupied. I will be worshipping my God, my Savior, and my Lord, to His glory, in an intensity I never experienced on earth.
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Amen! Thanks for this amazing article that brings words to life!!
ReplyDeletep.s did you get my last email??
Hey! Great post as usual, Mikaela :) Although i do think that 'no Muslims' is a biased phrase. There are other religions in the world too, and there are a lot of similarities in Islam and Christianity.
ReplyDeleteThat was well said. I feel so sorry for those who will realize God's existence when it's too late for them to accept Him as their Savior.
ReplyDeletemay you continue in sharing God's words to humankind. God Bless!
Elizabeth--you're welcome! I'm so glad that it brought that verse to life for you, because as I was reading Scripture last week, I suddenly had to pause and imagine how such an event would be...and that was the beginning of this post. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSey--you took to heart what all of us Christians should be feeling right now: the urgency of letting as many people as possible know the Good News. On to the harvest, sister!
MK--You're right. For me to say that there will be no Muslims bowing before Jesus is indeed biased towards Christianity, but you already knew that I was partial to Christianity since I am a Christian. ;-) Each and every person, living or dead, will bow before Jesus and confess Him as Lord, as God, and as Savior of the world. Islam does not believe this, nor does any other religion in the world, except Christianity.
ReplyDeleteIf you are truly interested in this difference, please read what Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his lecture "Jesus Christ and the Essence of Christianity:"
"One admires Christ according aesthetic categories as an aesthetic genius, calls him the greatest ethicist; one admires his going to his death as a heroic sacrifice for his ideas. Only one thing one doesn't do: one doesn't take him seriously. That is, one doesn't bring the center of his or her own life into contact with the claim of Christ to speak the revelation of God and to be that revelation....I can doubtless live with or without Jesus as a religious genius, as an ethicist, as a gnetleman--just as, after all, I can also live without Plato and Kant....Should, however, there be something in Christ that claims my life entirely with the full seriousness that here God himself speaks and if the word of God once became present only in Christ, then Christ has not only relative but absolute, urgent significance for me....Understanding Christ means taking Christ seriously. Understanding this claim means taking seriously his absolute claim on our commitment. And it is now of importance for us to clarify the seriousness of this matter...."
MK, this is the difference between Islam and Christianity. This is the difference between your god and mine. Recognizing this difference and placing your trust in Jesus Christ is the difference between heaven and hell. Jesus is the only Way to heaven--there will be no Muslims, no athiests, no agnostics, and no Buddhists (to name but a few of the false religions) in heaven if they failed to confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior on earth. All will confess, but only those who do so before this moment spoken of in Philippians will be in heaven.
Well written. I feel a sense of urgency to share Him with the people in my life. It gives me comfort to know that God will present the opportunity to each and every person on this earth to accept Christ as their Savior. I'm excited to join you in worshiping Him on that day.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you again, Samantha! Isn't it awe-inspiring (and, as you say, creates a feeling of urgency) to think that we get to be a part of the opportunities God presents to the lost souls here on earth? Your last sentence gave me chills...if I don't have the privilege of meeting you here on earth, I sure will in heaven! Oh! To worship Him eternally with the saints! What a marvelous thought. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for clarifying that :)Yes, you're right, Muslims do not give Jesus that status, but the Quran refers to our god as the god of Moses and Jesus and the other prophets. Nevertheless, I must say, I admire the immediacy created by this post.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the link "opportunities on earth"-thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent post, Mikaela! What an incredible scene to try and imagine! Thank you for the reminder to make sure my life is in line with God's will, so that I will bow out of reverence and holy fear, not out of a fear of judgment that others will have.
ReplyDeleteMK--thank you for your sweet spirit! I admire your openness, your willingness to listen to another perspective, and your faithful reading/commenting/following of this blog. I pray that you will come to see the urgent significance of confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior here on earth.
ReplyDeleteBrandy--So glad you clicked on it! ;-) I hope others do as well.
Ruthie--I know I didn't do it half justice...I have a feeling that our imaginations (well, mine anyways--Anne Shirley's might have been equal to the task) can't possibly fathom the awesomeness of that scene.
That's kind of you to say that, but I'm kind of a devout Muslim, so there's probably no chance of that happening. To each our own beliefs :)
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