Rob Bell, you ask, "Who says that God can't pursue people's hearts even after our physical death?"
Good point. We don't know the answers to the afterlife. We can only rest in 100% confidence in the knowledge that there is an afterlife and what we do in this life effect where we will go when we die... Heaven (whatever that means, with Jesus) or Hell (whatever that means, without Jesus).
Maybe God will save sinners in the afterlife... but what if he doesn't?
How can someone be sure that there will still be a chance in the afterlife to ask for forgiveness and live with Jesus? We can't be sure. I think its awfully foolish to wait for an option that may never be available. Maybe it will be. But why put all your eggs in a basket that may have a huge, gapping hole in it? Why deny love now?
I think the right questions to ask is, "What are we going to do in this life time that will make lasting impact for God's glory now?"
The Bible says eternity is now. We must live in that truth. We must live with eternal minds now. What happens today, in this moment, will have lasting impact. Therefore, I will focus my heart on loving God, living for Him, making Him my savior every day, doing what I can to save more of God's people now, and to bring God glory all the days of my life... on earth and in heaven. This is my mission.
I will not wait or rest on a possibility that may not exist... and I believe that this idea may cause people to wait. We must not stray. We must hold on to the truths that the Bible proclaims. God is Lord. Jesus is Savior. And we each have the choice to put our faith in Him and live in Freedom form our bondage, today.
You see, Love already won.
Love already beat death. Love already offers the gift of salvation and freedom to each and everyone of us NOW. It is our simple choice... today and tomorrow... to choose to live in Freedom, or not.
I think we put God in a box whenever we say "this is how God is. and this is how God does things." Yes, God is love. But perhaps giving us a chance on earth to proclaim God's glory and accept the gift of Jesus' death and resurrection that saves us from our sins is love enough. Who can say there is any bigger expression of love than that? Why are we always looking for something else? Something that makes that simple fact better, as if anything more than that could be better?
Rob Bell, yes it is ok to ask questions and ponder the unknowns. I myself wonder what Heaven will be like... if there really are streets of gold, and what worship will look like when we get to be with the Lord. But I will not stand for you labeling how God chooses to love or proclaim ideas that we have no way of knowing if they are truth. They may be... who knows? But that's just it... no one knows.
God says... "I Am who I Am." That is all we need to know. Now is the time to trust. Now is the time to believe. Now is the time to make eternal decisions.
Please don't wait on any idea that may just be that... an idea. Please, make your decisions on truth, now.
1 comment:
Hey Dawn!
I love your thoughts about "Love Wins." I think it's important to talk about these things.
This book was so mind blowing for me. I wanted to respond to what you said. I believe that Rob Bell would say that there IS absolute urgency in the present to know and love Christ, so the suffering felt from His absence in "hell" wouldn't have to be experienced. I agree with what you're saying that banking on another chance after our death is very risky, but I also don't think he was implying you should bank on that. What I took from what he wrote, was that belief in Jesus NOW saves us from the torment and anguish that could be felt in the "age to come" -as he would say. And that there is torment and anguish after our physical death, if we've decided we want nothing to do with God, now because he respects our choices, and that "hell" is living in the reality of our choices. We tell people of Jesus NOW, and believe in him now, so we can live in his fullness and love today, and not even worry about feeling that kind of suffering in the next life. Which to me, says that how we live our life in the present, is very significant. Eternity is absolutely now, and I think that is exactly what Rob Bell is trying to communicate. That what we do and believe now, matters deeply, and has eternal implications.
If Christ's death and resurrection has eternal significance, then the power and meaning of it doesn't lose any importance through our death. So, it could be possible that those who are in "hell" in the next age, would be able to make a choice to "die the kind of death, that leads to the only life worth living..." to quote the book. And that's death to self, loving others, and loving Jesus. Maybe there will opportunities to choose life, when they realize what it is like apart from God's love. Just a thought! Rob Bell gave a lot of scriptures about this idea that the lost is searched for until it's found, and I would think he'd say that that can pertain to people's hearts, not dependent on our time. We'll never know, but I like thinking about these things :)
I didn't see Rob Bell claim anywhere in the book that what he is saying is the absolute truth. What he would say, and that I've heard him say in every interview, is that he is participating in the conversation, that he is asking questions, provoking thought. In fact, he leaves things open ended precisely so we can think and believe for ourselves what resonates with us. I think what he has to say is important, but by no means is he claiming he has heaven and hell figured out.
I would also say that Rob Bell is far from putting God's love in a box. I think he would say that there is so much more than just what we see and know now about the Cross. That it is cosmic, universal, and beyond what we can even understand right now. And for that exact reason, there is room for conversation about it. I actually think oppositely, that by taking the Cross for just what we see, is putting it in a box. I think it's bigger than we can even begin to imagine.
This is tough stuff to dissect! I'm glad you're talking about it. Of course, we'll never know the answers, but if we gain knowledge, depth, and meaning along the way, then I think that's great!
Keep talking! :)
Love,
~Jessica
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