Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. (John 14:1-7)
" + "Doubtless, we have all heard of Michelangelo's fresco, which adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City in Rome. While we do not endorse Michelangelo's artistic depiction, we recognize the power of its imagery. The fresco depicts God as an older man, flanked by cherubs, with one hand outstretched to man, who in like manner, extends his hand to God. In the fresco, God's index finger makes contact with man's index finger. The power of Michelangelo's imagery is that it exemplifies God's willingness to commune with man, that is, the divine prerogative of love (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
" + "In similar fashion, the movie adaptation of Carl Sagan's best-selling novel, Contact, while we do not endorse it, is equally powerful and instructive. Contact relates the story of a starry-eyed scientist named Ellie Arroway (played by Jodie Foster), who happens upon a faint radio frequency from space. Upon further investigation and the involvement of government officials, she discovers that intelligent life from space sent the signal (which is in actuality a feed of an inflammatory speech delivered by Hitler in Nazi Germany) to establish contact with humankind. In said signal, the sentient beings enclosed schematics for the building of a transport module, seemingly designed to carry one human astronaut to a predetermined rendezvous point among the stars. Amid a flurry of activity, the module is constructed and a commission is established to select the astronaut, who will man the module. In thrilling fashion and not without dramatic returns, the commission designated to select the human representative taps Ellie Arroway. Thus, she makes contact with intelligent beings in space; yet upon her arrival at the rendezvous point, she discovers that she is in a simulation: the setting is a pristine beach, and the intelligent being, that she meets, using some advanced technology, looks like her father. The intelligent being, who looks like her father, informs Ellie Arroway that signal has been continuously sent to earth in the hopes that, one day, it would be received.
" + "Make no mistake, in God's desire to establish meaningful contact with us, namely the intimacy that is apiece with Spirit-filled and Truthful relationship with God, God sent His Son, Jesus. God's call to us, the Word made flesh, is also that which allows us to respond efficaciously to God (Galatians 4:4 - 7). In truth, God has been issuing His call to us since the dawn of creation, for the Spirit of Christ was at work in the prophets of old, who delivered the word of the Lord to Israel, the divided kingdoms (Israel and Judah), and to the Israelites in exile (1 Peter 1:10 - 12). We just haven't been listening. What is more: when we do listen, we hear what we want hear. Anything not pleasing to our ears we discard; like Cracker Jack, we eat the popcorn and discard the little toy that comes in the box if we don't want it.
" + "As in Contact, God sent us a "signal" that "had no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). We consider God's word to us foreign, even at times disgusting, like the Hitler signal in Contact. Honestly, there are times when we find the call to fellowship, pray, fast, to turn the other cheek, to give up our coats, to go the extra mile, to give to everyone, who asks of us, to care for the orphans and widows to be repugnant and not in our best interest (Matthew 5:38 - 42: James 1:27 - 28). Yet, this "signal," Jesus Christ, is the model with which we must concur if we desire to see God. Like it or not, we cannot deviate from God's schematic; we must emulate Jesus Christ.
" + "God has given us His Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) that we might fashion ourselves into the "building fitly framed together" in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:18 - 22; 2 Corinthians 5:1). Any deviation from God's schematic hinders our relationship and reconciliation with God; brothers and sisters, through study of and obedience to the Word, we are engrafted into the Body of Christ (Galatians 6:7 - 9; James 1:21). As in Contact, this life is the simulation; there is that Reality which exists both in and beyond our sight (2 Corinthians 4:18). We must orient ourselves toward this Reality, God. Through lives of patience (Hebrews 10:36), confessional prayer - the sincere acknowledgement of sin, proclamation of faith, and praise of God (1 John 1:9), and fellowship and service in the assembly of believers, we must remember that what we do in life echoes in eternity (1 Corinthians 3:9 - 15). This is the only Way we lay hold of life eternal (John 17:3). May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all!
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