"Imagine there’s no heaven
its easy if you try...
No hell below us..
above us only sky..."
From the song “Imagine”
by John Lennon
|
November 2003
On October 11th I was running the Lake Tahoe Marathon and everything was going surprisingly well. That was until Mile 15. It is at this point in the Lake Tahoe Marathon that there is an extremely steep uphill grade that lasts aproximately 2 and a half miles.
Now running uphill is part of life and eventually you have to endure it so you might as well try to enjoy it as best you can. What bothered me more than the uphill grade was the song that was playing at the aid station at the bottom of the hill. It was John Lennon’s “Imagine”. This is one song that has bothered me since it came out. Because it collides with reality. As the incline slowly brought my slow running to a walk, I thought about the song all the way up the long, steep grade.
Imagination is a part of living. We picture possible worlds, dream, wish and fantasize. In John Lennon’s song, he writes about using your imagination to picture a wonderful world that has no need for heaven or hell. Many people believe it would be nice if his vision was true.
Of course, it would be nice if many of the things we imagine were true. For example, being able to play basketball as well as Michael Jordan, driving on the basket and seemingly gliding to the hoop to lay in the ball for two points. Or being able to fly to a land where no one grows old, like Peter Pan’s Never Never Land. These are fantasies on which we can spend time daydreaming. But we live in a world of reality, and in this state imagination and reality often collide. In the real world, unless you are extremely talented, fantasies such as playing for the NBA have very little chance of becoming reality.
In reality, you can’t wish something to be so and have it come true. Every action a person takes in the real world has consequences. If you sleep around you take the chance of getting an incurable sexually transmitted disease. If you step off the edge of a 30 story building without a parachute or some other safety device, you will be reduced to a messy splotch on the sidewalk below.
Reality and imagination collide in John Lennon’s song “Imagine.” That is because approximately 2000 years before John Lennon, another man went around saying emphatically there is a heaven and a hell. To add to this audacity, he said he was the way to heaven. Not that he could direct a person to heaven, or point the way. To get to heaven, you had to go through him. The alternative was hell.
This man is Jesus Christ. And some of the things he said are simply amazing. He claimed he could heal the sick, then went around and healed them. He said it was proper for men to worship him, and his followers did. Even the skeptical disciple, Thomas, fell at Jesus’s feet confessing, “My Lord and my God”. He claimed he would be put to death and on the third day he would rise again. One of his most astounding claims was that he would judge all humankind and each person’s destiny for eternity would be decided on their relationship with him.
See what we face when we come up against reality? On the one hand we have a popular songwriter talking about “imagining” there is no heaven or hell. On the other hand we have a first century man claiming they exist, and that He is God. Only one of them can be right and every person will find out when they breathe their last breath.
Jesus points out that our eternal destiny is based on our relationship with him and that he wants us to know him. We can imagine that he is wrong, but what if he is right? Imagining you can fly has serious consequences if you step off the edge of a tall building. Imagining there is no heaven and therefore discounting Jesus has just as serious a consequence. Both result in death.
Jesus said “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” [Rev 3:20 (NIV)] He wants to come into your life right now. All you have to do is ask. The Bible says we are separated from God by sin, (falling short of God’s standard of what is right), and the only way to close that separation is through Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, when Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the grave he paid the penalty for our sins making us right with God.
It is up to every individual to decide if he or she wants to accept this gift. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[John 3:16 (NIV)].
To receive Christ into your life you need to:
1. Admit your spiritual need. “I am a sinner.”
2. Repent, (feel regret) and be willing to turn from your sin.
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross.
4. Receive, through prayer, Jesus Christ into your heart and life.
Every time I hear the song, “Imagine,” I stop and think about the serious consequences brought up in this piece of music. Imagination vs. reality. Are heaven and hell real or something someone imagined? Each person must decide. Although I like John Lennon’s music, I believe what Jesus says and trust him as my Lord and Savior. I know that through his saving grace I will one day be with him in heaven.
Sincerely,
Your Brother in Christ,
Pastor Terry Johnson
Calvary Chapel Westwood
P.O. Box 1386
315 Ash Street
Westwood, Ca 96137
530.256.3309
http://ccwestwood.com
