Nothing Left But Love

A spiritual mentor of mine reminded me recently of a theological truth we rarely embrace (in our hearts) as followers of Jesus. This is the truth: All of God's punishment has been completely expended. There’s none left for us. It’s all been unleashed upon Himself at the cross. This is called propitiation. There’s no punishment left for us. Not even ill will or grudges. In fact, He’s quite taken towards us, since we’re His very own children. We think He’s vengeful, fickle, uncertain, or plain uncaring--this is simply a defect of our own thinking. I myself am prone to such thinking. Yet, this is furthest from the truth. The gospel is that there is now no condemnation (Rom 8:1). The only thing left is love.

Grandma and Heaven

When I was six or seven years old, I remember talking with my grandma in my parents' backyard. I said, "Grandma, how do you know there is a God?" She said, "I just know. I have faith." At the time, she didn't convince me with her words. Several years later, she died at the age of 74. I was 15.

My mom relates to me that when my grandma died, even though my mom was grieving and distraught, she could feel nothing but joy all around her. She felt as though Grandma was present, walking her through each step, preparing for the funeral and caring for my grandpa. She kept telling my grandma, "I know you have places to go." The feelings of joy around my mom were intense all the way until shortly after the funeral. My mom laughs a little bit about this memory because she says that she finds it amazing she had such a tangible experience with heaven, but didn't come to believe in God or Jesus until years later.

I have similar feelings. When my grandma died, I knew that she knew she was entering heaven. I think I sort of believed she went to heaven as well. Yet, it never dawned on me that this should transfer to my own belief. I never did anything about it. Four years later, when I was searching for answers about God and spirituality, I remember thinking to myself, "Steven, do you realize what you believe? You believe Grandma went to heaven. This means that you believe in heaven as well!" It was two years later that I was baptized. My mom began attending church shortly thereafter. Today, my mom and I go to church together every Sunday. It took a long time before my grandma's simple faith caught up to us, but it did. Do I believe in heaven? Yes. My grandma is there and maybe you'll get to meet her someday.