Matthew 4:16
The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
What is the light? It’s Jesus moving into the neighborhood. If you ever get scared in the dark, you’re pretty happy when dawn arrives, and you watch the Son come up. The Son is the Good News.
We can go back and forth between the light and dark, if we choose to. If the light is Jesus, what is the dark? In particular, what is hell? Here’s one definition by Jon Reid in Blog One Another:
If you walk away from the heat, you'll get cold.
If you walk away from the light, you'll be in the dark.
When Jesus moves into your neighborhood (and he always will), walk towards him, not away. Stay warm. Live in the Light.
2 comments:
Lisa, thank you for the link. I am surprised, since it's something I wrote six years ago!
I do think it is helpful to move beyond standard defined terms and back to metaphors, not just for evangelism but also for our own sake. Rather than doctrinal bullet points, let's see the kingdom of God as a mysterious joy to be explored.
"A mysterious joy to be explored"--I like your phrasing.
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