After
the departure of lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett
from the band and the release of the remaining trio's "...and Then There
Were Three", the band Genesis (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "No Reply At All")
took a brief hiatus to allow now lead singer Phil Collins an attempt at
saving his marriage as well as allowing time for Tony Banks, and Mike
Rutherford to record relatively successful solo albums. In 1980, after a
two months of recording, they released Duke, the album that
would bring Genesis to the forefront of popular music while maintaining
some of their progrock followers. Buoyed by the singles, "Turn It On
Again" (peaked at #58 in the Hot 100), "Duchess" (peaked at #46 in the
UK), and "Misunderstanding" (peaking at #14 in the US), Duke would be
the biggest commercial success for Genesis up to this point.
As one of Genesis' highest charting singles, "Misunderstanding" solidified the lead vocal position that Phil Collins began at the departure of Peter Gabriel. It is a song about the confusion that a young man has after trying to connect with his love all day long. His frustration with not being able to communicate with her is compounded when he goes to her house only to find another man leaving. Not wanting to confront the possiblities, he thinks that there is nothing wrong in their relationship and concludes..."there must be some misundertanding, there must be some kind of mistake..."
In
our world there are many who are in denial about the extent of their
relationships. Their desire for everything to be ok overrides the
reality that everything is not. This is especially true in the most
important relationship humans can have.
One
of the most misunderstood and pervasive thought processes that exist in
the world today is regarding heaven. Here is a great article regarding
a gallup poll conducted in 2004. Eternal Destinations: Americans Believe in Heaven, Hell One statement that sticks out in particular, "In 1988, Gallup asked Americans who said there is a heaven where
people who had led good lives are eternally rewarded what their
chances were of going there themselves. Seventy-seven percent rated
their chances as "good" or "excellent," while 19% rated them as
"only fair" or "poor." That same year, Americans who said there was
a hell where people who led bad lives without being sorry are
eternally damned were quite optimistic that they would not be going
there themselves. Only 6% said their chances of going there were
good or excellent, and 79% said their chances were poor." (emphasis mine).
Note
that the poll itself has a bias that is incorrect in its assumption.
"People who had led good lives are eternally rewarded" is a statement
that perpetuates a falsehood straight from the pit of hell. While the
poll identifies "Church goers" in some of its commentary breakdown, it
stops short of the real reason folks are eternally rewarded, herein lies
the misunderstanding by which far too many folks are staking their
eternity.
Jesus said this about heaven: "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:1-6 New American Standard Bible
Notice
that Jesus never says anything about our "goodness" being the way
anyone gets to heaven. He says that HE is the way. This means that no
matter how good/bad you are, there is only one thing that you do that
gets you into heaven. It is very simple. You must believe that the
shed blood, the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ paid for the bad stuff
you've done in your past, you are currently doing, and will do in the
future. That's right! Jesus is The way, His shed blood is the ONLY
way, that we can be clean in Creator God's eyes.
Jesus
tells us also that there will be people who are under the misconception
that the good they have done in their lives will guarantee their "room"
in heaven. In the seventh chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew
the tax collector, Jesus says the following from The Message paraphrase
of the Bible: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many
will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many
miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Can
you see the image? Good people from all over the world are standing in
front of God. When God says, "I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!", they reply, "but wait...there must be some
misunderstanding, there must be some kind of mistake." "We helped with
the flood victims in Louisiana, and we flew to Italy with the Red Cross
to provide support and relief after the earthquake." "We worked in the
soup kitchen at Christmas, and were in church every time the doors were
open." God still says, "depart from me..."
You
see, apart from Jesus, we have no hope of an eternity with God the
Father, Jesus the Son, and Holy Spirit. Without belief in the One Way,
we do not have a "dwelling place" in the Father's house. Without an
agreement between mind and spirit, head and heart about who Jesus is and
what He has done, there is only the misunderstanding that we could get
to heaven on our own merit. A pastor friend of mine has said, famously
amongst his circle, "I wouldn't trust my best 5 minutes to get me into
heaven."
When
a person truly believes that Jesus is who He said He was and did what
the Bible says, they want to go about doing the things that He did.
Being a believer makes helping flood/earthquake victims, working in soup
kitchens and having fellowship with other believers during church times
much different experiences. It takes belief to get to heaven. Good
things that we do are the outgrowth of that belief. In the 1st chapter
of James the nuances of this lifestyle are explained much better: James 1 NASB/The Message parallel
Unfortunately, far too many are trusting the "goodness" of their life to insure their eternity with God. This my friend is far more than some misunderstanding...
'Til Tuesday,
Randy
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