‘I Have a Problem, Houston…’ (An Allegory)

Houston, I have a problem here. As you are aware, I am a Religion Consultant (RC) making this space venture at the request of the United States Government in its efforts to please everyone – atheists included – in the misguided efforts to help prove or disprove the existence of a Creator. In previous reports to you from my venture into outer space I have asserted that I will not know Jesus in the life hereafter by the wounds in His hand because Jesus’ glorified body will have no such marks of mortality.  It couldn’t have, otherwise it would not be a resurrected body The two terms, glorification and wounds are mutually antithetic; they are polar opposites. I have also postulated that the only reason Thomas (well-known now for his doubts that Jesus had arisen) could see the marks was by special dispensation: Jesus caused the wounds in His hands and in His side to reappear in order to bolster Thomas’s weak faith.

Now this is my problem, Houston: In Rev. 5.6 I read the following:

“And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living beings and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, [in appearance] like a lamb that has been slain [bearing the wounds of the Cross in His glorified body]…”  (The New Testament, an Expanded Translation, Kenneth S. Wuest)

All the other versions of the Bible along with the King James agree with this, that the Lamb, which is Jesus of course, is standing there in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the living creatures and the elders. But surprisingly it looks as if the Lamb had been slain. Now how could this be if Jesus (the Lamb) had a glorified body that would have no marks of human imperfection in it? Where have I gone wrong, Houston? I need someone to set me straight.

Well – never mind, you guys sitting comfortably there in Houston watching me hurtling off into space – you wouldn’t know a biblical solution if it hit you in the middle of space, let alone in your secure setting there in Houston… and anyhow, I think I have the solution to my problem. There is literally no tactile Hand to guide me, no visible eye of divinity searching a way through the void of space and no Voice deep and assuring to soothe and comfort me in this Tempest in a Teapot my mind has conjured up.

 

It is so very crucial to God’s Plan of Salvation to have the Lamb, which is indeed the glorified Jesus, appear continually in His bloody, sacrificial role. On that horrible sacrifice hangs humankind’s eternal destiny. The LAMB SACRIFICED is a vital key to our redemption from the penalty of sin. Without the Lamb’s gruesome sacrifice we would suffer an eternity of torment in hell. That Lamb Sacrificed is dear to the heart of God because the Lamb has forever paid (and is at this moment continually presenting to the Father) the price in full for humanity’s sins. God on His throne could never have rest if there were no atoning blood (His own blood!) shed for our sins. His love would not let Him rest until a way was made through mankind’s mountainous sins into an ages-long era of unending peace and joy with God.

Oh, by the way, Houston, mark this in your records: Sometime prior to this memo I mentioned that the Lamb Sacrificed was one key to redemption. There is another key without which the first key will be ineffective. The second key is FAITH in Jesus and what He did to pay for our sins.

That’s all I have to say right now, Houston; I think the message is clear, but I’ll recap it for you. There are these two things required for humanity’s salvation: 1) Sacrifice on the part of the lowly Lamb “slain before the foundation of the world,” and 2) obedience to (having faith in) Jesus on humanity’s part. With the keys of sacrifice (of the Lamb) and faith (by humanity) in the Lamb of God, no devil, no angel, no other creature can separate us from the love and salvation of God.

Oh, here is another “by the way”: it seems crystal-clear that man does not need to fly off into space or intermeddle with the Solar System to triumphantly bring this wonderful treasure back to earth. All that man needs is there on earth at his fingertips – or perhaps I should say, at his heartip.

That is all I have to report for now, Houston. I hope you will take this latest memo seriously; it is indispensable for mankind’s future existence in this universe.

P.S.  The early Russian cosmonauts contended they, in all their traveling into space, never saw the face of God. They are blind leaders of the blind. The face of God is everywhere one looks; it is near at hand or far off. God is always here; He is always there; He is in every nook and cranny of space and beyond, if there is a “beyond.” The Russian cosmonauts’ lack of sight is their own fault; one cannot see if one refuses to look.

Think on that a while, Houston…