Sunday: Hope Beyond This Life
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) wrote about a tribe that, at a birth, began a period of mourning because they anticipated the suffering that the infant would face if it lived to adulthood. However alien to us the ritual might seem, there is some logic to it.
Millennia later, an advertisement in America in the early 20th century read, “Why live, if you can be buried for ten dollars?”
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Life can be hard enough, we know, even if we believe in God and in the hope of eternity. Imagine, though, how hard it is for those who have no hope of anything beyond the short and often troubled existence here. More than one secular writer has commented on the meaninglessness of human existence, since we all not only die, but we all live with the realization that we are going to die. And this realization is what makes the whole project of human life, which is often hard and sorrowful in and of itself, seemingly of null and void. One thinker referred to humans as nothing but “hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones.” Rather macabre, but, again, it’s hard to argue with the logic.
Of course, in contrast to all this, we have the biblical promise of eternal life in Jesus. And that is the key: we have this hope in Jesus and what His death and resurrection offer us. Otherwise, what hope do we have?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. What is Paul saying here about how closely related Christ’s resurrection is to the hope of our own resurrection?
Paul is explicit: our resurrection is inseparably tied to Christ’s resurrection. And if we don’t rise, then it means that Christ has not risen, and if Christ has not risen, then — what? “Your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (NKJV). In other words, when we die we stay dead, and forever, too, and thus, it all is meaningless. Paul all but says that in 1 Corinthians 15:32 (NKJV) — “If the dead do not rise, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!’”
If our present existence as carbon-based protoplasm is all there is, and our “threescore and ten years” (if we are fortunate; more if we don’t smoke or eat too many hamburgers) is all that we get, ever — we’re in pretty tough shape. No wonder Ellen G. White adds, “Heaven is worth everything to us, and if we lose heaven we lose all.” — Sons and Daughters of God, p. 349.
| Think about how precious our hope and faith is. Why must we do all that we can, by God’s grace, to preserve it? |
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This week I’ve had a bit of a painful neck… you know, how you go to bed fine and wake up to “ouch”; you have to turn your whole body to look in almost any direction. I tend to move onto my stomach in the early a.m., and turn my face to the right, flat on the mattress. Holding that position for hours, without support for my neck, can give me a stiff neck. It’s an awkward, unnatural angle for those muscles. And the cool air blowing over me from my humidifier probably made them tense up more.
I’ve been in a mini-study in Exodus, contrasting God’s wrath against sin and God’s offer of a covenant relationship, as both being ways of Him showing love for His people. So when I read Exodus 32:9; 33:3,5 you can understand why the adjective “stiff-necked” stood out for me. I was experiencing a stiff neck. And I was thinking how that was caused by lack of support for my neck, trying to rest without adequate support.
Which made me think of Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus invites us to fasten His yoke upon our necks for support, to learn of Him for support. This yoke, rather than make our necks ache, actually gives us mobility and flexibility, and is the way we were created, is the natural position for our necks, fastened to Jesus. And when the chilling winds of evil, seemingly prevailing, blow over us, we won’t stiffen up even more as our own ways of coping are maxed out. But instead we can relax in the energy of Him pulling for us, forever living inside us.
Now, what’s the stiffest neck we could have? Yes, I think death. Rigor mortis. I read online, “Rigor mortis begins in the muscles of the jaw and neck and proceeds downwards in the body to the trunk and extremities and completes within 6 to 12 hours.” Interesting that it starts in the neck. Stiff necks may herald death in the body. Believers are sometimes accused of rigidity in worldview, but the most rigid stance we could have is as doubters, affected by every chilling new wind of logic and stiffened and contorted by beliefs that devalue Jesus’ death and resurrection, and our worth in God’s heart.
This matters to Jesus. That’s why He “cried” saying, “If any man thirst, let him come onto me and drink.” (John 7:37). And once we’ve accepted Him, out of our hearts will flow rivers of His living water to share (John 7:38).
Wow, I never thought of stiff necked in that way. Thank you, Esther, for the new perspective.
Well said! I believe you're saying that life on this earth is better w/Christ.
We should not be living for eternal life but for our selfless purpose on this earth to increase His harvest. Eternal life starts now as Christ lives in the heart/mind/soul. This lesson reminds me why Christians are supposed to be lights in this world. We are to demonstrate the difference Christ makes now. We do this by 'giving thanks in all things,' not by saying, 'this too shall pass.'
Yes, dear Sister, what a beautiful truth that eternal life starts here and now! Before we are born again, we're merely existing and groaning along with the rest of nature. Jesus is LIVING water. We're yoked to a living partner, not a dead poet guru. Living a kingdom-of-heaven life is totally different than a self-improved earthly life. Knowledge has increased, everyone knows a plant-based diet is healthier, but not everyone knows that he/she has an option to be a branch on an eternally-living Vine, to be made whole forever and not just better for awhile.
2022.11.13 Sabbath School Sunday Hope Beyond This LIfe
Think about how precious our hope and faith is. Why must we do all that we can, by God’s grace, to preserve it?
Yes, Jesus' atoning sacrifice, death, and resurrection are precious to our hope and faith. We must do all we can to protect and preserve our salvation in Christ.
How do we protect our salvation in Jesus?
We must constantly stay connected to the Vine (Christ) by being His branches. If we remain in the Vine we live by HIm producing righteousness (John 15:5). If we don’t remain in the Vine then we are cut off from Him resulting in death (John 15:6).
How do we preserve our salvation in Jesus?
There are many ways to preserve our salvation, but my favorite way is getting to know your Lord and Saviour intimately little by little.
Three ways to know your Lord: (1) talking, (2) listening, and (3) connecting.
(1) We talk to God by praying to Him. When we pray to God we are telling Him our worries, concerns, sadness, happiness, and thankfulness. Additionally, we tell Him our mistakes and how to learn from them. We talk to Him like a friend, but with reverence and respect since He is Lord. We cry out to Him through the good and bad times. Importantly, we ask forgiveness of sins and repent from them by asking His help. We form a long lasting bond and build a stronger relationship by spending quality time praying. In other words, talking. For example, an obedient child will talk to a loving parent like a friend, but with utmost respect since the loving parent who protects the obedient child is a higher authority. The Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is an example of how to talk to HIm like a friend, but with reverence, humility and respect. Other verses to learn from are Philippians 4:6; Luke 11:9-13.
(2) We listen to God’s voice by reading the Holy Bible. The Bible is God’s voice and that is how He speaks back to us. When we study His words, we learn to understand Him more deeply. We find in His everlasting voice (words) answers to our prayers. Many people collect Bibles in their homes and don’t read them as they collect dust. Reading the Bible is God’s powerful voice. When He speaks, life is created. I recommend not to close your Bible, but read it every day by studying His words. Reading the Bible is a good starting point, but studying His words deeply gives more meaning and develops trust. Trust is another word for faith. Keep your faith grounded by reading His voice. This is how God speaks back to us by our reading the Bible. Verses to learn from are Romans 10:17; John 20:31.
(3) We tell our loved ones and friends to keep in touch or stay connected. Staying connected to God keeps the relationship solid. We connect to God by asking the Holy Spirit to help us understand God. The Holy Spirit reveals the love of Christ. Many people pray and read the bible with no benefit because the Spirit of God has not been living in them or requested their service. The Holy Spirit is that Wi-fi signal for us to connect to the Internet (Christ). Jesus promises to baptize us with the Spirit of Truth to lead us to the Truth (Christ) when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour (Matthew 3:11). Importantly, when we connect to Christ we find the best rest in Him from our earthly sorrows and hardship. A verse to learn from is Matthew 11:29.
My plea to you, brothers and sisters, is to get to know the Master of the Universe. And, it doesn’t stop there. You should be a living witness and a light to the world by sharing God’s love to others. Because you know the Lord by preserving your hope and faith in Him.
While I understand some of the pessimism that is attributed to non-believers in the lesson discussion above. I disagree with the notion that all atheists share that attitude to life. Maybe the Atheists I know are not typical, but many of them explain that since this life is all they have they may as well use it to make a difference. Surprisingly most of them do not degenerate into a hedonistic frenzy of self-gratification but want to do something to make this world a better place. I find myself resonating with that attitude.
We do have the hope of eternal life and I don't want to diminish the importance of that hope. But, so often I see Christians so focused on the hereafter that they trip over the present. We have all heard the expression; "They were so heavenly-minded that they were no earthly use!"
I will use an illustration that I have used before to try and give a perspective to the issue. I have on occasion driven a tractor pulling a 12-furrow disk-plough (plow for the Americans) in a paddock that was a kilometre long. For some reason, farmers like furrows to be straight. In order to achieve straight furrows you fix your eyes on a distant object and drive the tractor directly toward it. By keeping your eyes on the distant object you achieved the work that you set out to do.
Ultimately, if the hope does not make a difference in the present, then perhaps we are fooling ourselves about the meaning of the hope. If my atheist friends can see the importance of making a difference now, how much more should I, as a believing Christian, do likewise.
I totally agree Maurice. Even without the hope of eternal life, living a “Christ like life”, or another way to say it would be “a selfless life”, makes life on this earth better. It’s a rewarding life to be thinking of the good of others. The good news is that we do have the hope of eternal life with our Heavenly Father.
I also am close to so many beautiful people who state an unbelief in God and yet are the kindest and so generous with their hearts and resources. In fact, for me it was one of the draws away from organized religion for about 20 years....the marked change of what I could call a "pinched" way of relating to the world and others that I had experienced within the churches of my childhood. Unitarian and secular humanist groups I joined often seemed more cheerfully determined to expand their generosity farther outside the comfort zones of their own group and belief systems.
Two thoughts about this. (1) A person may claim to not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, and yet within their hearts they actually are still leaning on Him in some way. That was me for those years. I wasn't an atheist, but I was not sure if Jesus was still alive or if the whole salvation story was true. I looked away from the cross and resurrection because it was too confusing. I leaned on my own understanding. Outwardly I proclaimed what seemed to me at the time to be a more open-minded view, that all belief systems were equally valid. Even though I denied Jesus's divinity with my mouth, and sinned by doubting Romans 10:9, I still casually leaned on Him through all the years that I stopped reading the Bible. Jesus had been my "invisible friend" from birth and though I claimed to not be a Christian, I cared about Jesus and I believe He was still within me. Peter the apostle also denied knowing Jesus in the courtyard and yet his heart was clearly still connected to Jesus. I think there are atheists who have been introduced to Jesus somehow, even unknowingly, and have let Him in to some degree. Therefore, any acts they perform that truly make the world a better place, if it is true Godly Love, than of course it is the Holy Spirit working through them.
(2) There may be other atheists who decidedly do not want anything to do with Jesus and are certain about their choice. Beyond doubting or lack of knowledge, they have said "no" to the Holy Spirit's wooing. In those cases, it would seem that any "loving" acts coming from them would have to be counterfeit. Matthew 24:24 and 2 Thess. 2:9 warn us that outward appearances can be deceiving when it comes to Christlike behaviors.
It is of course not up to us to determine which camp people are in. And it is an important reminder you are giving us, Maurice, especially for SDA churches who sincerely care about being commandment-keepers. Is it possible to put careful obedience above our relationship with God Himself, so as to actually break the first 2 commandments? I think so. One could rightly argue that commandment-keeping IS part of our relationship with God. So it is definitely important. And yet Jesus summarized the commandments as love to God and others, and expanded a few of the 10 to show us how impossible it is to stick with our own one-size-fits-all, rigid interpretations. He said murder is also anger! He said adultery is also a thought. Jesus called Himself the "Lord of the Sabbath". He is the fulfillment of all laws and rules. I'll share a little story....when I was a small girl at church a kind lady handed me a cookie. My Mimi knocked it out of my surprised hand because it may have been cooked with lard. Would Jesus have knocked the cookie out of my hand?
The Apostle Paul even counsels us to identify with Jesus' Flesh and Bones: Hebrews 10:19,20; and Ephesians 5:30. (KJV)
I agree with Maurice that Christians are called to make a difference in the 'now' and find that life is given to increase the quality of life, not to destroy it. Anyone believing that man is created would also want to ask the question – for what purpose? Those who do not believe in the planned creation of man with the ability to meet/see his Creator, will live life in any way they find beneficial. This is also true for the believer, but 'beneficial' includes the understanding of living life in the context of everlasting life.
As a believer, we have already overcome one hurdle - we believe that mankind has a Creator. When we take our eyes off the circumstances and squarely place them on what we can learn, how we can improve what we find, how we can become an asset to anything by positively engaging in the betterment of that which we encounter, then we will fulfil the purpose of life; personally, in the betterment of life for others, which will ultimately culminate in life here-after.
Our life and hope is in Christ because we are God’s handiwork created to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to get involved with – Eph.2:10. With this perspective, it really does not matter how long one lives, because we live to the ‘fullest extend possible’ at every moment of every day by desiring to make things better.
The Beatitudes give us a good example of the hope we have in us; despite adverse circumstance, we are called to live a ‘hopeful’ life. Our eyes are not fixed on circumstances, but on God's spiritual Truth which we learn and apply throughout our life, therewith starting our resurrected life in the here and now.