Adoption Rewrites our Ending
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“Later in life when I die, would you please do my funeral?” My first thought, random. Would you agree? Especially when the person asking is someone alive and well, in the prime of life. David, the love of my life and a pastor, is such a compassionate man that after he has officiated funerals, numerous people have come up to him and asked him to do their funerals.
Funny, how a funeral makes us more aware. More aware that our lives will one day come to an end. Have you ever attended a funeral where it hasn’t given you more perspective on your own life?
However, as a child of God our endings have been rewritten. Through Jesus Christ we have been given life eternal. If you’re like me, you may have gotten very comfortable with your heavenly destination. So comfortable, you have become de-sensitized to the alternate ending. If that is the case, I invite you to slowly read John 3:16 with fresh eyes by reading its translation from The Voice.
“For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life” (John 3:16 The Voice).
Did you catch that? “Everlasting destruction.” Meaning eternal separation from all that is good, pure, beautiful, and innocent. Unending silence from God. The bible calls it…hell.
Conversely, being a daughter of God means we don’t have a destiny of destruction! But rather with each new eternal dawn, we get to experience the radiance and wonder of God, where not a tinge of pain is felt nor a tear glistens the eye. The bible calls it…heaven.
I am overly confident I can’t adequately explain or even dream up heaven, but my mind can picture a glimpse of hell. When I pause to picture our alternate ending, I am overwhelmed with gratitude that God’s plan was to rescue and restore us at his expense.
The Savior secures us a happily-ever-after. Gratitude, peace, and joy should be feelings we regularly experience because of this reality. Compassion, urgency, and concern for those yet to be part of God’s family, should grip us. However if you’re like me, at times your heart has been a hotbed of these emotions and at other moments, unaffected to say the least.
If we are warm and tender to this gracious gift of God, worship and thanksgiving to our Dad will continuously add timbers to the fire in our hearts. If we sense we are sterile, cold, or unaffected, we need to pause and ask our Father to give us some perspective. To consider the alternate. To stoke the coals of our hearts and breathe new life into dead places. He can. He will. We just need to let him.
Father, your Son’s blood made a way for us. How can we really find the words to express our gratitude? What a sacrifice to pay the price for our life. All so we can call you, “Dad” and you can call us,” daughter”. Thank you! Show us how to share your compassion with those you have created, whom you dearly love as well. Love, Your Daughter
Visit ErinNicoleThompson.com for the Daughters Series videos and workbook.