A STUNNING GIFT
For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal' what will die must be changed into what cannot die. 1 Cor. 15:53, T.E.V.
You are the manager of Tiffany's Jewelry Store, having in your charge the most lavish inventory of gems and jewelry in the country. And you are interviewing people for the position of head clerk.
One applicant seems to have extensive knowledge of premium jewelry and evident confidence in handling it. Naturally, you ask if he has a criminal record. Sheepishly, he nods the affirmative. "I've served fifteen years in prison," he admits. "For jewelry theft." Would you hire him and hand him the keys to the store? Or would you suddenly worry about that priceless inventory?
Paul tells us that God alone has immortality (1 Tim. 6:16). And yet in today's text he says that God is putting the finishing touches on a plan to begin distributing that Godlike quality to human beings! And what a stunning gift!
Stunning, not only because of the mind-jolting implications of living forever, but also because of the ones to whom God will give it: Sinners! Some would view it as similar to giving the keys to Tiffany's to a convicted jewelry thief, for the people to whom God will entrust eternal life will not be placed in solitary confinement. They will be free to travel the universe, openly sharing their values and convictions, acting out the longings of their hearts.
Why, then, will God give eternal life to sinners? Some see it as primarily an expression of love--that God is too generous to withhold such a treasure from those He loves. But loving can be indulgent if it grants treasures to those unable to handle them. For that matter, God loves the wicked, who will not receive eternal life, just as much as He loves those who will.
The gift of eternal life is profoundly an expression of trust. It is God's announcement that He trusts His own abilities to restore His people to complete loyalty. He has confidence that His methods surely will work. Therefore, when He gives out the gift of eternal life, He is announcing that He trusts His people to be fully restored. Former jewelry thieves, murderers, liars, and the rest--He will trust us all!
If our God will have ample reason to trust "sinners" with eternal life, shouldn't we sinners, even now, have ample reason fully to trust our God? For that is eternal life.
For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal' what will die must be changed into what cannot die. 1 Cor. 15:53, T.E.V.
You are the manager of Tiffany's Jewelry Store, having in your charge the most lavish inventory of gems and jewelry in the country. And you are interviewing people for the position of head clerk.
One applicant seems to have extensive knowledge of premium jewelry and evident confidence in handling it. Naturally, you ask if he has a criminal record. Sheepishly, he nods the affirmative. "I've served fifteen years in prison," he admits. "For jewelry theft." Would you hire him and hand him the keys to the store? Or would you suddenly worry about that priceless inventory?
Paul tells us that God alone has immortality (1 Tim. 6:16). And yet in today's text he says that God is putting the finishing touches on a plan to begin distributing that Godlike quality to human beings! And what a stunning gift!
Stunning, not only because of the mind-jolting implications of living forever, but also because of the ones to whom God will give it: Sinners! Some would view it as similar to giving the keys to Tiffany's to a convicted jewelry thief, for the people to whom God will entrust eternal life will not be placed in solitary confinement. They will be free to travel the universe, openly sharing their values and convictions, acting out the longings of their hearts.
Why, then, will God give eternal life to sinners? Some see it as primarily an expression of love--that God is too generous to withhold such a treasure from those He loves. But loving can be indulgent if it grants treasures to those unable to handle them. For that matter, God loves the wicked, who will not receive eternal life, just as much as He loves those who will.
The gift of eternal life is profoundly an expression of trust. It is God's announcement that He trusts His own abilities to restore His people to complete loyalty. He has confidence that His methods surely will work. Therefore, when He gives out the gift of eternal life, He is announcing that He trusts His people to be fully restored. Former jewelry thieves, murderers, liars, and the rest--He will trust us all!
If our God will have ample reason to trust "sinners" with eternal life, shouldn't we sinners, even now, have ample reason fully to trust our God? For that is eternal life.
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