When Seeking Him Becomes Tragic

Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." (John 8:21)

I want to process this more and see some of the implications embedded within this text.

It seems that the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders certainly wanted Jesus to go away. He was a major pain in their system, undermining their influence and tearing apart all that they had spent so many years working to perfect. He threatened their whole routine of religion, their power over the people, their credibility and their perceived piety before God. His views of what God was like made them look like hypocrites and He was infecting more and more people with ideas about God that threatened to destroy the very foundation of religion as they viewed it. And worst of all they could not seem to control Him or even intimidate or stop Him from spreading these damnable heresies. So with all of this going on, why would this statement about going away have this reaction from these men? They seemed intent on figuring out where He might go, but why? Did they still want to find Him for some reason?

What is not yet so clear is why they would want to seek Him when He went away. All throughout the passage here it keeps referring to the fact that they repeatedly sought to kill Him. But if He went away it doesn't make as much sense me why they would still be trying to seek Him. To kill Him? That is possible. What does come to mind through my spirit is something much larger, much more ominous that can only be glimpsed when viewed from the larger perspective which Jesus tended to speak from so often.

In my growing understanding of the greater context of the war between evil and good, I am starting to see a little more clearly what the final showdown between these two cosmic forces may look like. Unlike what many assume will take place – a battle between the two sides to see which has more brute power and strength like we are so used to seeing in this world – I am starting to perceive that the final showdown is going to be quite different in orientation from what most of us expect. This comes from careful consideration of the very nature and hidden strength of the real kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of God is not about brute power, intimidation, fear or force. It is the hidden but far greater power created through love, selflessness, service, humility, kindness, transparency and absolute truthfulness. It centers on and receives its power from the principles of God's character and the advantages of living in total loyalty to Him. From our fallen perspective this kingdom appears extremely weak and vulnerable, but that is what hides its true power, for within the apparent weakness of the kingdom of heaven is hidden true strength.

Paul understood this truth and stated it this way. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV)

In the final showdown, that great day of judgment, or in other terms the great time of revelation about what is real but hidden, the truth will be fully exposed about the true principles of God's universe and how they are irrevocable, unbreakable and are perfectly harmonious. These are not arbitrary rules that must be obeyed or will elicit imposed punishments by an offended God; these are principles that have their own natural consequences if violated just like the principles of physics or any other science that we easily accept in our lives. All principles, or what we often call laws, were designed by God to work together harmoniously for good, and if we align ourselves with these principles and remain in harmony with them we find true joy and fulfillment and satisfaction as we were designed to live. If we choose to live apart from or in violation of these principles of life, we suffer the natural consequence of death and the related pain and suffering that go along with it.

God has actually interfered with these natural consequences to a great extent by preventing for a very long time the full natural results of these violations from taking place, both in the lives of angels and in fallen humanity. This is what we have come to call grace. Grace is God's restraint of the natural laws of cause and effect to prevent all who have sinned from being immediately extinguished by their own choices to live outside of His perfect system of life. But He will not extend this artificial life-support arrangement forever. But at the same time He is not going to artificially impose the penalties that are naturally involved in violations of these eternal principles. He is simply going to guide circumstances in such a way so that all intelligent beings everywhere will come to see clearly for themselves what He has been doing all along and thus will vindicate His character. But more importantly He is going to first allow all His created beings to judge His own role throughout all of this struggle with sin to determine whether or not He has been totally fair in every aspect of His dealings with sinners.

Sin and its followers are in rebellion against the natural principles of reality. Because of this sin's results eventually happen naturally and those results involve pain and death. God's artificial interference in this natural progression toward death is the gift of undeserved life in spite of our repeated violations of natural law (which all true law is really natural). God's artificial sustaining of our our existence to give us opportunities to repent and turn back to synchronize with life is a suspension of the natural principle of cause and effect, yet it is the only way in which He can salvage all who might respond to His gracious and extravagant offer of a second chance to live in harmony with life.

Sin is against and in violation of the natural principles that govern all the universe and it also produces intense resentment against God and all that He represents. Jesus came to reveal the truth about the Father and to expose these eternal principles of reality to our darkened understanding. He came to reveal both the truth about God and by contrast the absurdity of the claims and assertions of Satan. This is what Jesus called light which He mentioned just previous to this opening verse. Jesus is the light of the world because He is the only human who ever lived in full harmony with the principles of reality and therefore did not naturally induce any consequences of sin upon Himself.

But in doing so He exposed the intense resistance produced by sin in the attitudes and treatment He received from those who refused to believe in Him. They hated Him more and more and resented His very presence. To hear that He would go away would seem to have been the best news they might have heard in a long time. But what they did not realize in their ignorance was that to have Him go away they were really wishing to have the only source of grace and life leave them abandoned. And the result of our only Source of life leaving us is to suffer the only other option – death.

In the final day of judgment and revelation of what is really true and right and real, the great surprise for most people will be the discovery that God is not at all what His enemies have made Him out to be. He is not the arbitrary, vengeful, unforgiving and severe deity that He is thought by so many to be. And at first that will make Him and all of those who have chosen His ways to appear vulnerable and weak. Indeed, they are very vulnerable in some respects, for vulnerability and openness are some of the hallmarks of God's true kingdom. But vulnerability does not mean that His kingdom can be overcome or destroyed, for God's way of living in total transparency and humility is one of the greatest strengths and the secret of His true power.

While God's kingdom in its purest form may appear incredibly delicate and fragile, it is in this very truth that its real beauty is perfected. We are familiar with the fragility of some of the most beautiful things on earth and how easily they can be marred or destroyed by our clumsiness or disregard. Yet these very illustrations in nature give us examples of the true nature of God's kingdom and the need for all who want to live in that realm to live in purity, in maturity and in harmony with the principles exposed by these examples in order to live happily in safety and peace.

Those who resist living in harmony with the fragility of God's ways of living, who choose instead to exploit God's creation and His creatures for their own pleasure instead of living for the benefit of those around them, will discover too late that such selfish living only ends in destroying the very atmosphere needed for their own continued existence. In desiring that the very Author of life to go away from them they were in essence wishing upon themselves their own death without realizing it.

Part of God's character is respect and an intense jealousy for the freedom of all to choose their own direction. He invites, He warns of consequences, He gives abundant evidence, He entreats and draws in every way possible to attract all who will believe Him into intimate fellowship with Himself, to be transformed into harmony with the true ways of life. But for those who demand that He leave them alone, in the end He is going to respect their insistence and will finally allow them to suffer the natural results of choosing to live disconnected from the only Source of life that there is.

When the truth is fully and clearly exposed about God and His principles of reality in that final day of Judgment and it becomes clear that God is going to respect the wishes of all who want Him to leave them alone, with intense horror they will plainly realize their tragic mistake and will try to seek Him again. That is because it is in our nature to desire life; we call it the survival instinct. But the tragedy in this final seeking is that by this point they will have by their own repeated choices resisted His love and grace for so long that they have destroyed their very capacity to be truly converted. Too late they discover that choosing a life of rebellion and self-serving has permanently destroyed their very ability to live in the fragile but incredibly beautiful kingdom of perfect love and peace. In desperation they will seek Him, the only source of life, but only from a selfish desire for self-preservation. The motives and the timing with which we seek to embrace God's offer of life makes all the difference in our preparation for eternal life.

Those who resist Jesus to the very end and then realize that He is their only hope for continued life of any kind will end up dying in their sin; for sin is simply resisting the only possible way to live. By forming characters out of harmony with the delicate, vulnerable, joyful, interactive fellowship of heaven, they have ruined their own capacity to live any longer in a universe restored to its pristine condition of love. Like what was spoken of the angels who fell from their place in heaven, there will be no place found for them anymore. They will then see clearly that they have no one to blame but themselves for their final and eternal death.

But the glories of heaven that they are going to miss out on are so attractive and overwhelmingly beautiful that the misery and regret they will suffer can only be indescribably torturous. This is the surprising truth about the fires of hell, for it is a fire, not from an angry God getting even with His enemies but is actually caused by the far greater torture of realizing that their own choices have permanently disqualified them to live in harmony with the passionate power of love from a Father who has done everything possible to entice them to join Him in His kingdom of perfect love. They will die in their sin because that is the natural result of sin, which by simple definition is living apart from God and out of harmony with the principles of reality that make up His universe.

Where I am going, you cannot come. Jesus was not talking about traveling somewhere physically out of reach of these Jews or even killing Himself as they conjectured. He was speaking of going back to live in the reality in which all the rest of the universe thrives in total harmony, where sin cannot live because it is totally incompatible with that way of life. Jesus not only lived a human life free of all sin here on this earth, but He continues to live in a place with an atmosphere so intense that sinners cannot survive there. To follow Jesus inherently requires turning away from sin, for sin is the opposite of coming to Him. If we chose to remain in sin, it inherently means we are refusing to come to Jesus and to life, and the only end that this choice can ever produce is death in our sin.

Jesus temporarily visited our planet as a human to reveal to us the only path back into life and to provide us the ladder by which we can be rescued from this world plunging into self destruction. All those who turn away from their resistance to God (sin) can be elevated in character by staying on and clinging to the ladder of Jesus. In doing so they will be transformed by the renewing of their minds into harmony with His glorious kingdom of love and truth. But all those who put off or continue to refuse this incredible offer of salvation to be restored to their original design, will too late try to seek Him after their characters are permanently deformed.

It is all in the timing. Everyone will sooner or later seek Him. But timing makes all the difference between life or death for eternity. If we refuse to seek Him while He can be found to allow Him to live and dwell in us to prepare us for that coming kingdom by having it implanted into our hearts right now, then we will someday feel compelled to seek Him after it is too late; and in that seeking we will experience the tortures of hell. Hell in reality will be the torture experienced from the overwhelming agony of dying from the realization of all that we could have had but chose to turn down in our selfishness, pride and rebellion.

Father, I choose to embrace Your kingdom now, while You can still mold and reshape and conform me to live in harmony with Your principles of reality and truth. Have Your way in me today, dwell inside of my heart, capture all of my affections and attention and make me an example of what You want to do in each of our lives. Cleanse me of all the lies about You that keep me from resting in You fully. Fill me with Your Spirit, let Your sap of life flow through me as one of Your branches so that Your fruit can become abundant in my life. Do all of this for Your name's sake, for Your reputation, Amen.