Dear Brothers and Sisters,

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)

To be a Christian is to live in two worlds and yet to never quite feel a part of either. I know, in my head, that I belong to Jesus. I know, in my heart, that most days feel ordinary. I don’t normally feel like I am a part of something bigger or more powerful or eternal. Most days, I struggle from bed to the kitchen to make coffee.

And yet, our daily experience does not cancel the truth. Though we may not feel it, we are part of something eternal. In fact, to belong to Jesus is not merely to be a part of something eternal but to be eternal and to participate in the eternal. In his book, Remaking a broken world, Christopher Ash writes:

The Father and the Son come by the Spirit to make the home of God with the believer. The believer is drawn into the eternal fellowship of the Trinity.

This new life, even as it feels mundane, is what he goes on to describe as ”Eden restored.”

How can we live well in spite of this tension? By continuing to focus our eyes and our minds on those things.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Yesterday, Alistair showed us that Jesus wants us to hold on to him as we keep looking forward. Paul’s prayers show us repeatedly that we are to live in light of what is to come. In other words, keep looking to Jesus.

It is a tiring endeavour, but it is worth it the effort because one day, your head knowledge and heart knowledge will be in sync. They will match up.

Until then, I keep going with these words from C.S. Lewis’ final novel, Till we have faces:

‘The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing—to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from—‘

Coming up

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