You Are Our Last Hope!!!

Galaxy Quest starring Tim Allen a while back has a great scene when the drunken erstwhile space hero is trying to find his pants. After a brief explanation by the head of the aliens about their need of him to command their real space ship, the alien leader calmly by firmly tells the former outer space TV commander that he is "their last hope."

Commander Taggart (Tim Allen) and the rest of his original TV crew are transported up to the aliens' space ship and do actually help the group with their immediate problem.

I think that I view God as this sort of assistant. More often than not , I try to work things out for myself and only when all hope is nearly lost does a nod toward heaven cross my mind. So far so good. No heresy yet. This is well-worn Christian territory: "Now if we all just submit to God's authority from the beginning of the problem, things would be that much better."

Would my life actually be better if I were to submit and turn things over to God earlier? Well, what is our standing with God?

We are as Holy as God could ever make us from the moment of our salvation onward. There is nothing I can DO to change my standing with God: that is something only God does (did). And He has made our standing in Him quite clear: "there is now no condemnation for those who love God..." . If this sounds conditional, it isn't. Think you don't love God all the time? Wrong. (Perfect... but still wrong.... weird). God's love flows from Him through you via the Holy Spirit living in you and back to God all the time.

Why are we a part of the equation? This question has a two part answer and a point of clarification. Clarification: we don't exist just to add imperfection to God, that can't be done. Answer 1- God makes the rules, not us. So acceptance of some mystery will make for a lot fewer questions. The rationalists may not like that , but remember that even rationality is extremely limited and isn't up to the task of positing everything about something infinite like God. Answer 2- We are in a unique (unlike Angels) position to have experienced imperfection as well as perfection.

That is our place, for now. We experience God's perfection (in very personal ways) as if looking through a very old pane of glass that is barely translucent. Imagine that kind of glass covering the Mona Lisa, or a sunset, or a bride and groom at the moment of first kiss as newlyweds. It would be possible to know that something amazing were on the other side of the glass even though it wouldn't be possible (in our still imperfect bodies and world) to fully realize it.

So, our last hope? God. In. Us. Now and forever. We know hope now. We won't even need hope in heaven. We will have that which we hoped for, AND we will have bodies and a physical (?) environment that doesn't cloud our view of God's love for us.