Opening the future

God opens the future through the radical promises made by and through Jesus Christ.

That is a mouthful.  It is also a perspective on this world, this lifetime, the whole idea of eternity, and possibly a lot of other much more mundane things that I haven't even thought about.

God opens the future..........Was the future closed?  Well, of course.  Even though we try hard to ignore or deny this truth, we will all die.  That's about as closed a future as you can name.  Some day I will be no more.  Perhaps I will be a memory (both good and bad I expect) or a headstone in a cemetery.  Perhaps something I did will live on through the life of another.  But me?  I'm toast.  Gone. Caput.  Finito.

God opens the future beyond death.  A future for the dead me.  That's the claim.  God, who created this world and all that is in it, has a future for this world that is beyond the death that we know.  God is about life and life and life.  In spite of us watching as Uncle Harry is lowered into the grave and dirt is piled on top, God has a future for Uncle Harry.

That is a radical promise; in fact it is so radical many cannot even pretend to believe it is possible.  Believers point to the horrific death of Jesus on the cross, and the 3 more days surprise of resurrection and say - there you have it.  Hard to believe, but even we couldn't keep God down.

This means that God's life is more powerful than our death.  God's life can emerge from the ashes of death - any death: financial, spiritual, emotional, physical, relational.  God's life is emerging from within all those places even as the forces of death work to press it down.

Forces of death?  What about that power play that lost you your job but promoted several who the company could pay less?  What about a school system that ignores the fact that your child is not learning?  What about a government who promises health care to veterans and then runs such an incompetent system that some are dying?  What about an economic system that needs unskilled workers but refuses to pay them enough to live on.....and then complains when they seek help from the government to make up the difference?  What about a country that hoards its wealth, concentrating it in the hands of a very few and allowing others to go hungry?  What about those forces of death?

So, how can we be a part of God's radical future of life?  That's a great question.  Let's talk about it.