HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2011 / OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER / THE LIFE AFTER WITH CHRIS LEE
October November December 2011
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 4
D E P A R T M E N T S
The life AFTER with Chris Lee
Living in eternal Spring
Chris Lee
The cool, crisp air was invigorating and the golden sunshine glorious as I began my Saturday afternoon run. Rounding the corner onto Garret Lane I was dazzled by a corridor of blazing red formed by the fall-festooned oaks lining the street. Brilliant light shot through boughs as the scarlet leaves moved in the gentle breeze, giving the impression of dancing flame.
After church the next day I drove down the same street so my wife could share the majestic beauty. Disappointingly, the reds had faded a hue overnight, and leaves had begun to drop into the street. Just a few days later winter came in the form of large wet snow flakes clinging to the few remaining leaves.
Lately, I've been feeling a bit like those oaks. At 42, few would call me "old", but in a culture obsessed with the blazing flash of celebrity and beauty, my colors are beginning to fade. I see it every time I look in the mirror and feel it during and after those jogs. If God grants me an average life span, this body is more than halfway through. Spring and summer have gone; I'm entering fall, and winter is coming.
For the believer, however, this inexorable march through life isn't the whole story. Every year, in the midst of winter, we celebrate a birth, the birth of the One who gave us new life. To be born again is not a metaphor, but a spiritual reality. Through Jesus, we have gone from being spiritually dead and separated from God, to having a live spirit that is now in union and communion with God's Spirit. We have eternal life now as a present possession. Even though this body will die, we will live on and never die. But it's so much more than that.
This life we have in Jesus is not just quantitative, but qualitative. Through Jesus Christ we are equipped in every good thing to do His will because God is working in us for His own glory (Heb. 12:21). What's more, God has prepared good works for us in advance in order to show His workmanship (Eph. 2:10). That's life with purpose!
The world whiles away the boredom and emptiness by killing time with trivial entertainments, possessions, and other things that can't last. Most people drift though life with no real sense of purpose as, over and over again, spring turns to summer, summer to fall, fall to winter, and all of it fades away to nothing.
Honestly, I'm not so different some of the time, but I don't want to live like that. I lived the first half of my life for a lie. I want to live the last half for something that matters. I want to invest my time, talent, and treasure in that which lasts for all eternity. However much time I have left here, be it a little or a lot, I want to finish well. I want to be on task and about the work that God has prepared for me to do.
This Christmas let us remember that Jesus came to this world not just to make us free, but to give us a new birth, and with it, abundant life. It's not enough simply to be free of a false belief system. God has a purpose for your life. He wants to show you off as a masterpiece of His grace. No matter your season of life, if you've trusted Jesus, you are in eternal spiritual spring. What better season to start living for that which has eternal value?
It's time to start living the life after. †
Copyright 2011 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Casa Grande, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised December 3, 2011. Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
Chris Lee lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife, Carmen, and daughters, Ashlyn and Alyssa. They attend the Lincoln Berean Church. Chris is a self-described "theology junkie" whose mission is to proclaim the unfathomable grace of Christ in a clear, understandable, and Biblical way. He leads a Life Group Bible study for former Adventists at Lincoln Berean. You may contact Chris by email at ambulater@gmail.com.
