“Have
you noticed that even though you call me ‘Lord’ and ‘King’; I have never really
acted in that capacity with you? I’ve never taken control of your choices or
forced you to do anything, even when what you were about to do was destructive
or hurtful to yourself and others”…
-Jesus
in “The Shack” by WM. Paul Young
I am continuing
on my thoughts on the Lordship of Jesus from my last post. I love Paul Young,
he expresses in one Novel volumes of theological thinking in a way that is
understandable and that hits the main point of the Gospel home i.e. God; the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit loves you. And in the passage from his book
that I quoted above, he drove home one simple fact; Love does not force its way.
Like I said in
my last post, Jesus is Lord over everything and everyone. That is the Gospel we
proclaim; the arrival of a new Emperor who has all authority and power in his
hands. The good news about it is that this Emperor is on our side. He loves us
deeply and dearly and wants us to partake of everything he’s got! Unlike the
emperors and Kingdoms of this world who go about imposing their will on their
subjects and forcing everyone in their path to either bow or be beheaded, this
King decides to pick ragtag men from unlikely places (The Apostles, lowly
Gentiles) and sends them into the ends of the Earth with one message; Jesus is
Lord and he wants you to reign with him.
For
approximately Two Thousand and Twelve years he has watched his brothers shun
him, denounce him, kill his emissaries and followers and make a mess of the
World he created. Yet he does not act in force, he does not destroy nations, he
does not punish them, neither does he engage in a great act of wonder to make
himself known to the World and to force his will to be done on Earth. He does
not turn us into robots that obey his every word without questioning it.
Why is he like
that? Because he is Love, and Love is patient and it is not self serving. He
does not force his way because Love does not operate that way. So even though
he is Lord of all things (and whether we like it or not, that is who he is), he
will never ‘Lord it over us’. He will speak his mind and give instructions but
if you choose to disobey, He will always respect your choice and the
consequence of your actions. When you repent of your choice and turn to him for
deliverance, he will deliver you instantly because he is bigger than your
mistakes and he loves you. He will never bring that mistake to remembrance
between the two of you because Love keeps no records of wrongs. Even if you
disobey again and start the cycle all over again, he will keep doing the same thing;
advising, respecting and delivering until you are ready to move on and get
healed.
This is why I
believe in Hell, I don’t believe it is the place where Jesus punishes those
that reject his Lordship and banishes them from his presence; I believe it is a
place where people exile themselves in a futile bid to run away from his
presence and rebel against him (in case you’re not aware, it is physically
impossible for a place to exist where God is not present, everything is in God;
specifically Jesus). Whether or not there will be any such people is left to be
seen and I will not speculate on that issue by giving a general statement for
or against it. I’d rather stay on the side of Christ and say whatever choice
you make will be respected, whatever torment you suffer as a result of that
choice is still your choice. But God will not stop loving you, chasing you and
drawing you unto himself. He has made the way open for all men to engage in a
relationship with him but a relationship is always a two way street, even for
the Lord.
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