Exploring the Afterlife

From Salt Lake City, Utah
The Mecca of Mormonism
This is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. SHORT SHOW
Where we are learning together how to walk the Christian life in the age of fulfillment

And I’m your host Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion.

Show 4s We Get What We Want
Heart of the Matter Short Show
Taped Sunday October 25th
Aired Monday October 26th

It’s quite an interesting thing this life. It really gets interesting when we consider – sort of postulate – into the next life and how this life plays into it. In the Christian world there is an idea that God grants us life, we live it according to his rules (or not), and if do, we will have a really good afterlife, and if we don’t then we won’t. Some take the biblical narrative, written to another people of another age and under other circumstances, and are convinced that those who follow God’s plan written there go to heaven and those who don’t go to hell – forever.

In that thinking they tend to omit factors like the Fall, circumstances, environment, genetics, but they always seem to remember the freewill of everyone who chooses their own path – unless they are a Calvinist. When we look at the Nation of Israel whom God made his bride, and all the opportunities He gave them to turn and repent from their idolatrous ways, (including prophets, signs, wonders, blessings, curses, the Law and ultimately the Messiah,) the results of faith on their part, verses faithlessness, were merited.

The New Age

And when Yeshua returned for the faithful in 70 AD with reward, I have no issue with the judgement that fell upon the Nation. They were blessed and they were warned – over and over and over again – that if they didn’t repent, they would die. But once that age wrapped up, and Christ took his bride (from it) to the New JerusalemThe spiritual reality of God's fulfilled presence with humanity—replacing Sheol after 70 A.D. above, having had victory over all things, the realities of heaven and hell that were once ever so applicable to them/then were complete. And we entered into a new Age.

And in this Age, I am not so sure about the heaven/hell rhetoric anymore – as popular as it is among believers today. I mean, the heavenly realm is there for all of us but the hell, or even the punishment side of the afterlife, I have sort of concluding, after everything is said and done, that every single one of us, in the end, really gets what we want (at the end of the day).

The Desires of Our Hearts

I’ve come to this conclusion by the fact that God is Good – a Good Father. And as freewill agents created in his image, I think our Good God grants each of us the truest desires of our hearts. Oh sure, there is probably going to be room for disappointment. Those notions of “why didn’t I do this,” or “why was I so obsessed with all that” will probably play a role, but at the end of the day, it seems reasonable to me, since God has reconciled the world to himself through the shed blood of his Son, that all of us are ultimately responsible for our eternal status.

That can be a sobering thought (right out the gate) and gets more and more sobering the closer we get to the home stretch and finish line. Personally, however, I have always been pretty sold out on the idea that people do what they want to do – what I mean by this is they live, in many cases, at least in free countries, how they want to live, and that in the end we all rise to the heights we truly desire or sink to the depths of the same.

I know, I really do know, how hard things can be for some people – and again, I do not like to speak of exceptions – on either extreme. But generally speaking, human beings live, do and think how we want to live, act and think. And if we reach a point that we don’t like relative to how we are living, we will make changes to our attitudes and behaviors as a means to overcome the pain of current circumstances. See, if the pain of change is greater than the pain of our circumstances, we will most likely remain where they are at.

I mean certainly there are external factors that step in and hinder people from succeeding. Things like red tape, burocracies, bad people and the like. But in my estimation, and again generally

Central Desire for a Relationship with God

Speaking, we bloom where we are planted and once stable in that place, most of us are too lazy, too comfortable, too satisfied or too fearful to move. One generalization I think I am safe making is Sons and Daughters of God are not satisfied with anything less than 100% allegiance to God through Christ. Yes, they can get side-tracked by sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. and attractions, but Sons and Daughters of God want – desire – a relationship with the living God and will not settle for anything less. This is their desire. And their faith – and love for God and others – prove this desire.

True Faith and Love

And this relationship is central to true faith, if someone really desires and loves God, they will follow Him. Since his commandments are to believe on His Son and love as His Son commands, then the statement by Christ that by their love people will be known as his disciples rings true. Unlike most of the rest of the world, but as a means to serve Him, Sons and Daughters do not do what they want. Through self-denial they instead prove their desires to live with the Lord God Almighty after this life. And I think God grants them the desires of their hearts. That is the point of tonight's short show.

God's Goodness and Human Choice

Our God is Good and as such He will give all people the true desires of their hearts – whether it's an eternity in relationship with him, or an eternity without, really depends on the person involved and the true desires of their heart.

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