Theoretically, there are an unbounded number of potential possibilities for someone who chooses Not to follow Jesus Christ.
To a certain kind of (common) modern mind, this suggests that following Jesus is just one among many possibilities 'and therefore' it cannot be the one path.
However; another possibility is that all of those who do not follow Christ are actually making-up a single group - those who follow Satan.
To put this more exactly in terms of our post-mortal destination - there are those who choose to follow Jesus Christ to resurrected life in Heaven. There are those who choose to oppose God the creator and to follow Satan to a spiritual existence in Hell. But are there any other alternatives?
In theory; there are several (or many) alternatives - and I have written of these in the past - there are those who want annihilation, Nirvana, paradise and so forth. I think it was the case that in the past, in various places, some of these were real possibilities.
But if these are the End Times, the final days of this earthly and mortal manifestation - then it has been suggested that the possibilities collapse into just two: Heaven or Hell.
In other words, it may be that in 'Ragnarok' - in the Last Battle: there are only two sides.
There are those on the side of God and Jesus Christ; and there are those who are against them - who reject creation and the divine plan for this world.
The side of those who choose Heaven; and the side of those who choose Hell.
And if there are only two sides, and if the battle grows to include the whole world; then everybody alive must be on one or other side.
(To remain 'neutral' in a final and universal battle, one must remove oneself from the conflict. One must die - but then the choice will be faced after death.)
Every-body alive will be on one side or the other; but not everybody has consciously chosen their side.
So, I would say that the characteristic of End Times is that before The End there were several or many possibilities; but during the End Times there are only two possibilities.
Those who reject Heaven will find that they have thereby chosen Hell - even if that was not their original intention. Such is the consequence of a final and all-encompassing battle.
As war continues, and escalates, and eventually comes to include everybody, everywhere; multiple theoretical possibilities close-off: actual realities condense down into two-only.
The real life choice is binary: yes or no, for or against, us or them.
Is this not what we see all around us since 2020?
What you say in this post may well be true, but I think it is extremely important to remember that in 'the end' - it is The Lord, Himself who will judge everyone as to which side each individual is 'truly' on...
ReplyDeleteChapter 15 of C.S. Lewis's "The Last Battle" illustrates this perfectly, in the story of the Calormene, Emeth - who though technically had been one of the soldiers on the side of evil - turned out (in his heart, and without even knowing it) to have been 'serving and seeking' Aslan all along.
Carol
@Carol
ReplyDeleteAs you may know, I regard the Fourth Gospel ('John') as by far our most authoritative source; and there is seems clear that salvation depends on acknowledging the divinity of Jesus, and then loving and following Jesus through death to life everlasting.
@cae
ReplyDeleteI find that in the time we live in that it is usually very obvious who fits where. Yes, in an ultimate sense God has the bottom line judgment but we are being called to make that discernment for ourselves, much as an adolescent has to begin taking certain responsibilities (or ignoring them).
Simply put, we can't expect God to do all the discernment for us. He gave us the ability to discern, for a reason.