Saturday, May 21, 2011
Womb of Eternity
It seems like every people group on the face of the earth and every historical era has produced a person or group of people who is fascinated with the idea of living forever. The Greeks and Romans expressed it in myths, some have embarked on pilgrimages, and a few, like Juan Ponce de León, have even launched expensive explorations in search of places like “The Fountain of Youth”. The evidence points to a universal awareness that life consists of far more than our few short years on terra firma. Furthermore, mankind’s great scientific and educational advancements have not changed the innate awareness of eternity, rather they have provided new venues through which people have pursued immortality.
According to John Ortberg, “In Scottsdale, Arizona, there is a company called Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which is the largest cryonics foundation in the world. For a healthy fee, your body can be frozen at the point of death. Your blood will be filled with anticoagulants, and then you will be stored in a capsule of liquid nitrogen that will freeze you to minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit until you can be reheated later like a pizza and advanced medical technology can cure whatever diseases killed you. Or, if you don’t like being cold, a Seattle company called Immortal Genes offers “eternity in a paperweight.” For fifty dollars they will preserve your DNA in a little box for the next ten thousand years so you can be cloned whenever it’s convenient. They also offer a ten-thousand year, money-back guarantee, though it’s hard to say who will collect it if things go wrong.” (When The Game Is Over It All Goes Back In The Box)
Have you ever found yourself pondering the meaning of life… the possibility of life after death…. the curiousness of so many near death experiences and unexplainable stories about people who encounter the life beyond? How is it that, in spite of pressure from so many sources to suspend belief in heaven, so many well-educated, productive people throughout the world are so convinced that there is life after death?
Take Christians for an example. Have you ever wondered why the death of one teacher who lived two thousand years ago had such a lasting effect on mankind? He impacted his world before He died, but not nearly as dramatically as He has since His death. The reason: He didn’t just talk about life after death; He came back from the dead. Jesus demonstrated that His claims about being God in flesh and the giver of everlasting life were not just egotistical tirades. His empty grave, a befuddled Roman government, an outwitted Jewish Sanhedrin, and hundreds of eyewitnesses who were willing to give their lives to back the story of Jesus’ resurrection stand as evidence that eternal life is real.
In light of this understanding, believers have described this life as the “womb of eternity”. For children of God, death is just a birth canal. Meaning, there’s a whole eternity waiting for those who put their confidence in Christ. Just as a fetus has eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, lungs that cannot breath, a tongue that cannot taste, believers know that there’s a whole new dimension that has been prepared for them even though they have never experienced it. Like a baby who is feeling restricted and can’t wait to get out, believers are always longing for the eternal life that was promised to them that believe. Are you prepared for forever? Because, this life is just the womb of eternity.
According to John Ortberg, “In Scottsdale, Arizona, there is a company called Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which is the largest cryonics foundation in the world. For a healthy fee, your body can be frozen at the point of death. Your blood will be filled with anticoagulants, and then you will be stored in a capsule of liquid nitrogen that will freeze you to minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit until you can be reheated later like a pizza and advanced medical technology can cure whatever diseases killed you. Or, if you don’t like being cold, a Seattle company called Immortal Genes offers “eternity in a paperweight.” For fifty dollars they will preserve your DNA in a little box for the next ten thousand years so you can be cloned whenever it’s convenient. They also offer a ten-thousand year, money-back guarantee, though it’s hard to say who will collect it if things go wrong.” (When The Game Is Over It All Goes Back In The Box)
Have you ever found yourself pondering the meaning of life… the possibility of life after death…. the curiousness of so many near death experiences and unexplainable stories about people who encounter the life beyond? How is it that, in spite of pressure from so many sources to suspend belief in heaven, so many well-educated, productive people throughout the world are so convinced that there is life after death?
Take Christians for an example. Have you ever wondered why the death of one teacher who lived two thousand years ago had such a lasting effect on mankind? He impacted his world before He died, but not nearly as dramatically as He has since His death. The reason: He didn’t just talk about life after death; He came back from the dead. Jesus demonstrated that His claims about being God in flesh and the giver of everlasting life were not just egotistical tirades. His empty grave, a befuddled Roman government, an outwitted Jewish Sanhedrin, and hundreds of eyewitnesses who were willing to give their lives to back the story of Jesus’ resurrection stand as evidence that eternal life is real.
In light of this understanding, believers have described this life as the “womb of eternity”. For children of God, death is just a birth canal. Meaning, there’s a whole eternity waiting for those who put their confidence in Christ. Just as a fetus has eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, lungs that cannot breath, a tongue that cannot taste, believers know that there’s a whole new dimension that has been prepared for them even though they have never experienced it. Like a baby who is feeling restricted and can’t wait to get out, believers are always longing for the eternal life that was promised to them that believe. Are you prepared for forever? Because, this life is just the womb of eternity.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
