18.
Epilogue
So, being a parent is a frustrating,
almost impossible task. Even for the Lord Almighty, being our Parent has been a
daunting task that only He could possibly have managed with any success.
But the best part of being a parent, people
always say, is getting to be a grandparent down the road.
In the Lord’s case, it’s not so much
the grandparent-ness that would excite Him, but rather the other great
part of being advanced enough to have grandchildren – the implication that your
original children have matured into parents themselves. In the End, God will have mature
humans in heaven with Him, beings in their eternal shells, with their
sin wiped clean, with their flaws discarded – the perfect human beings He
wanted to walk with all along.
As a parent, this
is the part I envision when I think about the future with my progeny. (Maybe I don’t have a good enough
imagination to picture my as-yet-unborn grandchildren.) My oldest two sons
are nineteen and eighteen; the younger is a senior in high school, the older a
freshman at a nearby state university. They’re not quite “grown-up” yet, and they’d probably be the first to admit
that, but they’re getting there, and visiting with either of them is such a
satisfying experience because they’ve matured to the point where we can talk
and visit more as peers than ever
before. There will always be a slight
but narrowing gap because of the father-son relationship, but as they and their
siblings move out into the world as adults, that narrowing gap will be a slight
crevice of respect, rather than the communication gap it’s been throughout
their childhood.
When we reach spiritual maturity in
heaven, our relationship with God will change as well. There will always
be a gap there because, “well, He’s
God!” But the vast distance will be gone: we will see the Lord
face-to-face, in our immortal bodies, with the eyes that are designed for the
multi-dimensionality that undoubtedly is heaven. God will still
be our Father – but He’ll also be Someone we can connect with much more completely,
on a closer-to-parallel level. No, the
serpent wasn’t quite right – we won’t be “like God”…and frankly, I
don’t want to be. There’s only ONE God, and He’s already doing The Job as
perfectly as it can be done. But I’m truly looking forward to the day
when I can walk in the cool of the garden with Him, as He wanted to do with us
back in the day.
And, similarly, I’m looking forward to
the earlier day when I can walk with my son or daughter, talking about
their life and mine, sharing stories with each other as near-equals – maybe even walking in a cool garden of our
own.
Not that I’ll ever have a place for
the children to come home to like the Lord will – Revelation 21:18-21
describes the walls of the great New Earth city of Jerusalem, as seen by the apostle
John:
“The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure
gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned
with every kind of
jewel…jasper…sapphire…agate…emerald…onyx…carnelian…chrysolite…beryl…topaz…chrysoprase…jacinth…amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single
pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”
And the rest of our home to come? Just
as beautiful, just as incredible…
“Then the angel showed me the River of the Water of Life,
bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the
middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the Tree
of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The
leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev.
22: 1-2) “And night will be no more.
They will need no lamp or sin, for the Lord God will be their light, and they
will reign forever and ever.” (v. 5)
The best part? As parents, we can bring our children there after their
time on earth is done, too. Just as we are to walk in His Word, and
He rewards us with the greatest retirement plan in existence, so we are to raise
our children to walk in His Word the same way, and so as to have them join
us when the end of their earthly time
comes.
(And
it’s coming soon for all of us. Don’t hide your head in the sand – the Savior
shared the warning signs with us in Matthew 24-25, and they’re all here
already or approaching soon.
But that’s for a
different book. Just… Be prepared,
fellow scouts!)
Yes, parenting is
challenging, even for the best of us.
We all make mistakes. We all get into shouting matches when we should be more
understanding. We all allow kids to “get away with” things we shouldn’t on
occasion. But we do the best we can, we apologize when we screw up, repent when
we need to, and just keep swimming.
Just like the Lord does. Follow His example, and
you’ll be just fine.
Good luck, and God
Bless.
-gps
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