Title: Escape or Instinct? (Ec 3:10-11)
Content Escape or Instinct? (Ec 3:10-11)
Escape or instinct?
(Ecclesiastes 3:10-11)
Life in the world we live in is finite and there is an eternal world. Life is like a stranger and you have to go home at the end of your trip. Also, like an ambassador sent from his home country, he must return to his home country after completing the task assigned to him. People of great faith are people who know this, and they are people who tried to have the character of the people of the kingdom of heaven rather than trying to settle here. That is why I took the suffering in this world for granted. I said that this life is a temporary life. Temporary buildings will be demolished without remorse once the main building is built. The day will come when we too will take off our bodies.
This is the gist of what I said last time. When I say this, I think that you may be misunderstood. ‘Then, do you mean that there is nothing of value in this world, do you have to die quickly to live in a good world, isn’t heaven a world made by humans who have lost their lives in this world? Today, I want to make an apologetic for this. Is heaven really just an utopia of paradise created by the garbage of life? This issue has been the subject of debate for many. I don't want to have such a philosophical argument. I just want to introduce what the Bible says. What does the Bible say about this?
not an escape
God says that the unseen life is more valuable than the visible life. So, you have to look for that valuable thing. [2 Corinthians 4:18] “We do not look at the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal.” I'm worried that I might misunderstand what I've said so far. But don't listen to your own inner voice that makes you think so. It is probably not the voice of the Holy Spirit.
To critics of writing escapist novels, Tolkien, author of the famous fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, said there are two types of escapism. One is to run away from life because it cannot bear the frustrations and responsibilities of life, and the other is for prisoners of war to run away. These include Gauguin, who abandoned his family to capture the scenery of Tahiti, a paradise on earth, or Rousseau, who ruthlessly threw his illegitimate child into an orphanage out of a desire to complete an educational philosophy. People who commit suicide for any reason belong here. But there's nothing wrong with escaping from a concentration camp where brutal soldiers kick in, whip-wielding guards glaring at you, growling guard dogs, guns that seem to spit fire, germs and bone-breaking torture. Tolkien is said to have written about the latter.
That's right. If I had to say that heaven is an escape, I would say the latter, like Tolkien. Churches these days are losing their preaching about heaven. For that reason, there are some people who think of heaven as a money person. This corruption of the church was expressed by Conius as “a solar eclipse in heaven.” As if the sun is obscured by the moon, the world is so good that the church only says that, so the heavens have been hit by an eclipse.
The world is being destroyed not by those who miss heaven, but by those who do not have it. As Marc Buchanan said, "Only those whose hearts are filled with heaven can truly desire and appreciate this world." The hope of heaven is not an escape, but an attitude of true life. Even in the face of a terrible death, neighbors who were marginalized by true believers such as deacon Stephen, who “saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55), can eat and give right advice to corrupt authorities. There is.
It's instinct
Everyone has a desire to return home. There is a desire to escape from germs or bullets. This desire is God-given. It's so natural. “God created all things, and made them beautiful in their seasons, and he has given man a longing for eternity” (11). Who can blame this for evil? It is not an escape, but a response to the will of God. However, the reason people do not miss Heaven the same as they long for their hometown is because “God has made it impossible to measure the beginning of the work of God”.
People miss the past. I miss my hometown, where I used to live. I miss the food I used to eat. I don't miss what I don't know. Of course, there is a longing for strangers. But it is nothing compared to the longing for the past. Humans have a so-called homing instinct. This instinct is God-given. When the Israelites returned from captivity in Babylon, they built a new temple with Zerubbabel as their leader. However, on the day of laying the ground, many elderly people wept bitterly. what's the reason? Because it was too shabby compared to the old Solomon's Temple.
In other words, those who knew the appearance of the old temple wept, and those who did not know the appearance of the old temple did not cry. This is the instinct to long for the old. It is the instinct to draw a better hometown. Pascal said, "No man misses what he has never had." Having this instinct means that heaven is our hometown. Some of you may think that there is no longing instinct for heaven. Try telling such a person to go to hell, he will probably use his full temper. Yes, because of our heavenly instinct. It is our instinct to want to become the people of heaven, not to escape.
Emerson said, "When God wants to communicate something to his children, he puts a point in their instincts." God has given man the instinct to long for heaven. If you have a lot, know a lot, and do anything, you will be happy. But it is not. The preacher says: [Ecclesiastes 2:10] “I did not forbid my eyes to do anything, nor did I stop my heart from rejoicing, for in all my labor my heart rejoiced.” Noble, vulgar, intellect, sense, culture, lust, I tried everything. And draw conclusions. [Ecclesiastes 1:2] “The preacher said, Vanity, vanity, vanity, vanity, all things are vanity.”
The evangelist groans about this world. mourn. I am not a person who does not know that the world is developing and beautiful. “God made everything, but he made it beautiful in its time,” he says. He is not a pessimist. The world knows its own beauty enough. Still, it clearly states that man is a being who longs for eternity. This is because man was not created to live on this earth, but to live forever. As Mark Buchanan puts it, God intentionally created man to be flawed on this earth. He created you with a metaphysical handicap. So it is impossible to fill everything in this world. This is not a mistake of God, but an intentional defect, a planned degeneration.
Dear saints,
In this world, both me and you, it is an unfinished work anyway. So they miss heaven, not escape from reality. The persecutors say that people with nostalgia for heaven are abnormal, but in fact, people who do not miss heaven are strange people. If a man with a hometown is not homesick, then he is obviously wood or iron. God is ashamed of being the God of those who do not have the instinct for heaven. God made us aim for heaven from creation. God has put eternity in me and in your hearts. Sometimes he pokes me and induces me to miss him. There are things in the world where we can be affluent and moderately satisfied, but we must live knowing that our hometown is not here. Hallelujah!