The Ability To Imagine The Future

The Christian author C. S. Lewis has said that one of the things that separates humans from any other creature is the ability to imagine the future. All other creatures from the largest whale to the smallest single-cell amoeba, only live in the moment, driven by God-given instinct. In other words, a bear knows when to hibernate, a bird knows when to migrate, and an owl knows when to hunt. But only humans can plan, reason, and make decisions about their future life. That doesn't mean that someone can foresee what will actually happen in the future, only God can do that. But we can imagine and plan what will or could happen. 

Since humans have the ability to imagine the future, they can have basically just 3 different views about the future: a positive view, a negative view, and a neutral view. One with a neutral view would be one who is indifferent about their future, and don't really care. The negative view would be the idea that the future is dim, and filled with failure and disappointment. However, the positive view looks to the future with expectation that good things will happen in the future. This positive view is called hope.

For sake of time, let's look at only the positive view of the future: Hope. A non-believer's definition of hope is much different than Christian's definition of hope. A non-believer will see hope as a positive outcome of some future situation, either by chance, by effort, or by personal skill. For example, winning a card game, or buying a newer car, or getting a better job, or developing a close relationship would be their hope.

A Christian's definition of hope differs greatly from a non-believer's definition in the fact that it involves faith in God. There's a supernatural aspect to it. So, for a Christian, hope can be defined as this: A confident expectation that some future situation or condition will turn out favorably based on faith in God's sovereignty, providence and promises. 

A Christian's confident hope is founded in Jesus, and if we are in Christ and He is in us, our hope can never be taken away. Our hope gives us peace. The question then becomes what does a Christian hope for? What does hope look like?

Below are 4 types of hope for believers.

1) HOPE IN HIS WORD

We put confident faith in every word of scripture -- that whatever God says is truth -- that His promises are trustworthy. 

"I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word." (Psalm 130:5)

2) HOPE IN HIS PROVIDENCE

We believe that, as God's children, whatever we go through in life, He will be aware of our situation, will go through it with us, and has the ability to intervene if it's His will. And God desires to work all things for our good. 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

3) HOPE IN HIS RETURN

As Christians, we have the hope and promise that Jesus will literally return in a visible, glorious, victorious way. His second coming will conclude the current age, and bring about the resurrection of the dead, and usher in a new heaven and earth. 

"...waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13 ESV)

4) HOPE IN ETERNAL LIFE

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 ESV)

 One of the core foundations of Christian faith is the belief in the promise of eternal life in Heaven.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 ESV)

In conclusion, as Christians we absolutely do have the ability to imagine the future, and we do it with faith and confident hope -- hope in His Word, hope in His Providence, hope in His Return, hope in Eternal Life.

"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance."  (Ephesians 1:18)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

Solved: The Location Of The Bible's Golden Calf

The Old Testament Book of Exodus describes the construction of a calf made of solid gold. It all occurred while Moses was up on Mount Sinai, receiving the 10 Commandments from God. Moses received a lot more than just the 10 Commandments. God gave him many rules and regulations for the people of Israel to live by. The Bible tells us that Moses was up on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights before he returned to the people. Unfortunately, the people became impatient. Let's pick up the story in Exodus:

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:1-4 NLT)

God knew exactly what they were doing, making a false idol to worship, and He became very angry.

The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” (Exodus 32:1-4 NLT)

As a matter of fact, God became so angry He wanted to wipe out the entire nation of Israel. Fortunately, Moses convinced Him to change His mind. Here's what happens next:

When they (Moses and Joshua) came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:19 NLT)

The next verse solves the mystery of what happened to the golden calf and reveals its final destination.

He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it. (Exodus 32:19 NLT)

Now we all know what happens when you ingest something. Since gold is not poisonous, it will pass through the intestines and eventually come out as you know what. In other words, God had the golden calf end up in the dung pile! And as far as trying to get their gold back, they certainly weren't going to try to retrieve any of it.

The morale of the story: When you worship a false idol and not the true God, everything turns to crap.