She couldn’t quite have understood it until she had seen it. And even after she had seen it I wonder if she really got it. Just as I wonder if we really get it today. Who is she? What is “it”? This is what I hope to flesh out today.
Let’s start with two connected ideas, ‘Eternal Life’ and ‘The Rest of God’.
Eternal Life (John 11:1-44)
Lazarus was dead. Martha was doing the best she could to decipher what Jesus had just said, “Your brother will rise again”. I imagine her almost stuttering as she proffered a response that any one of us would have given, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day”.
The last day - that beautiful final assurance that all who belong to Christ have. In this world death and its cohorts have their way but final victory is ours! What a comfort.
Ok, I added that last paragraph but that’s basically what she was saying!
Then Jesus said “it”. A deliberate challenge to her narrow, linear thinking. Three sentences with theology-breaking implications…
“Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
Do you believe this?””
John 11:25-26 NIV (numbering added)
In common people’s language:
Eternal life is not about a timeline its about a person - Jesus Christ. Wherever He is; life; in limitless quantity, quality and longevity is available and possible.
Activating Eternal Life is up to you not up to God. He has already made it freely available in Jesus Christ through faith.
What are you gonna do about it?
Eternal life is not about a timeline, its about a person - Jesus Christ
The Rest of God
The rest of God is a subject I will tackle more fully at at later stage, but there is one particular aspect I want to highlight…
In scripture the rest of God is always used to describe entrance into a new beginning. A space or land where the will and way of God has preeminence and prevalence. Where His divine nature and eternal power are the natural order of the day.
In Genesis, that rest was the entrance into the paradise God created for humanity to live in after He himself rested on the 7th day. The 8th day was the first day of new beginnings.
In Exodus that rest was entrance into the promised land after the desert trial of the Israelites.
In the gospels that rest was access to eternal life for all who believe, after the passion of the Christ on the cross.
I assert that in Revelation, that rest is our inclusion in that lofty place it describes as “The City of God”
Hebrews does an excellent treatment of “the Rest of God”. Let’s look at some scripture and draw some thoughts out of it…
“So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today.“
Hebrews 4:7a NLT
“For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.”
Hebrews 4:3 NLT
“For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
Hebrews 3:14 NLT
There is a rest - a place of God’s preeminence, prevalence, provision and protection that God has made available for us TODAY! It is a place where we have access to all that belongs to Christ - Eternal Life.
This place has been available since the creation of the world and anyone could have entered it ever since. It was never meant to be reserved for the end of the age.
The onus of entering into our rest rests on us. Access was granted a long time ago. It is ours for the taking through enduring faith.
The Connection
Hebrews 4:11 NIV charges us to ‘make every effort’ to enter that rest. Some translations say we are to ‘labour‘ to enter that rest. Effort. Labour. Work. They carry the same connotation. In John 6:29 Jesus declares that the work of God is to believe in the one He has sent. The one He has sent is, of course, Jesus Christ - who is, Himself, Eternal Life. He is our rest, and He is not reserved for the end of the age. He is for TODAY!
So,
We are to “work” to enter that rest
That “work” looks like believing in Jesus Christ - who is Eternal Life
Therefore,
We are to believe in Jesus - who is Eternal Life - in order to enter that rest
Which, in our specific context, is represented by the City of God
The City of God is a manifestation of the eternal kingdom of heaven and is therefore constant. What does change is the degree to which we experience it on earth. Scripture weaves between describing it in various stages of its manifestation on the human timeline. Revelation 21:4 describes it in its pure perfected stage, possibly even in the age to come...
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.””
Isaiah 65:20 describes it in a lesser state of manifestation still building towards perfection…
““No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young!”
These are a fraction of the things that describe what rest looks like - what the City of God looks like - for those who believe in Jesus.
Believe in Jesus
“The one who believes in me will live…”
Let’s pause a minute and answer this question. What does it actually mean to believe in Jesus? There seems to be something deeper being implied in the text. This is not the post where we explore the ancient halls of what it means to believe, but consider what James says:
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
James 2:17 NIV
Action is an activator of belief.
There is a way in which we can live our lives that activates the reality of who Jesus is into physical manifestation. To learn to live this way is to do the work of believing in Christ. It is the Christian journey. That’s all the explanation I have room for now… May all that have ears to hear hear what the Spirit is saying.
There is a way in which we can live our lives that activates the reality of who Jesus is into physical manifestation
Scripture implores us to pursue Christ and to enter His rest by believing in Him. To, today, discover and unearth the treasures of what He has prepared for us. To not be found to have made nothing of the deposit/investment of His presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Waiting passively for His return. Using His sovereignty and terrible omnipotence as an excuse for personal inactivity. The parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 19:11-27 is a sobering reminder that the Kingdom of God is not about a sudden appearance at the end of the age but something that is to grow in time with our faithful participation.
My Argument
My argument is this: Whatever we subscribe to in terms of the biblical timeline of events is irrelevant. The City of God is available to us today, it has always been. For especially us, who live in this time of the resurrected Christ, the reality of the City of God is at hand and it is to His glory and ours that we enter and establish it.
Matthew 24:14 suggests that our participation in the process (faith in action); at least in part; will determine the advent of certain eternally tabled events:
[14] And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:14 NLT
Once the good news of the Kingdom is preached throughout the world (our participation in the process) then the end will come.
I believe that there is a way that we as the Church can engage our faith - participate in the process - such that we see what scripture describes as the City of God begin to materialise in our day.
How do we conclude?
Let’s revisit the questions we asked at the beginning.
Who is she?
She is Martha. But she is really all of us.
What is ”it”?
”it” is a radical rethinking of our view on eternity and our access to it. ”it” is the fact that Jesus is Eternal Life available to us today. And there is a challenge in the “it“ that I believe Jesus is still holding out to us today. A challenge that would have glorious ramifications if we were to rise to it. Its the same challenge He presented to Martha in 4 words:
“Do you believe this?”
In the final instalment of this introductory series, The Impossible City 3, we will dive deeper into the characteristics of the City of God. The Church is doing many wonderful things all around the world. We are seeing Christ preached and the power of God displayed. We are not yet ‘the City of God, though. There is still a particular way in which the Church must show up that will result in it manifesting as this peculiar and extraordinary entity scripture specifically and deliberately describes as the City of God.
This is so inspiring Mandla. Thank you for filling us with courage to continue doing good.