so that.

I guess the feelings that were overwhelming me must have been written all over my face, because yesterday after our Thursday morning prayer for Campus America, David Blackwell comes up to me and said... well, he said a lot of encouraging things, but one of them was an assignment for me. "Go to Loose Park, sit by the water, and meditate on Ephesians 2." David usually hears from the Lord pretty clearly, so I took his word for it, borrowed Wendy's car, and headed over to the park, all the while fighting back the tears that threatened to overtake me.

Sitting by the little duck pond, I began to write out Ephesians 2 as if it were a letter from the Lord to me. It helps, ya know. It helps me hear from the Father more clearly.

I read the oh-so-familiar words about how God in His rich mercy and great love has loved us even in our sin. How He's made us alive in Christ and saved us by grace and set us at His right hand together with Jesus. And I was so grateful once again for the miracle and mystery of love, marveling over the enchanting absurdity of His mercy on us.

And then I got bam-blasted by verse 7. Yes, that's right. BAM-BLASTED. Look at these words! I've never given them any thought before...
"so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus"

What a dynamic little combination of words. So that. In the coming ages. What the heck?!??

I've always seen this grace that's been poured out on us that we call salvation as the epitome of God's goodness. I've always looked at verses 5-6 and considered them the pinnacle of mercy. God gives us a thousand good gifts everyday, but loving us in our sin and seating us with Him - that's IT. Ya know? That's the grand finale. That's the top of the roller coaster. That's the "big" present under the tree on Christmas- everything else is just stocking stuffers.

But what if God's loved us in our sin, made us alive again, given us mercy, and raised us up with Christ - JUST SO tomorrow He could heap incomprehensible magnificence upon our heads? What if everything we've received so far is just the ticket into the banquet room? What if salvation is like the cover charge and the party is rocking inside? These words I see in my Bible are leaping off the page and prancing across my brain... so that. He's seated us in the heavenly places so that He can show us even more kindness.

I had an amazing conversation with my friend Max Justus Spransy at The Brick last night. Max is a genius musician, and sadly enough I haven't seen him in ages. But we were sitting in a booth, chatting about all kinds of Jesus stuff while waiting for his show to start. I was sharing quite animatedly about "so that." And Max, being the whiz he is, points out that an "age" is a super long time - like thousands of years probably. "So that in the coming ages" means that... well, basically it means my mind just got plumb blown away. An eternity of unending riches and kindness that I can't even imagine? SHABA.

We always say that God did all this stuff - you know, the bridging of the gap stuff - in order to be in relationship with us. He likes relationship we say. So He goes to great lengths to restore the friendship between the Divine and humanity we say. Shoot, that doesn't even scratch the surface, people! "Be in relationship with us" sounds so passive and so... so LAME. Reality is the thing we can't get our heads around. Reality is that He went to all these lengths to get to us so that He could lavish abundance on us every day for eternity. Passion that doesn't die after the wedding happens, but only begins. Passion that doesn't simmer fifty years in, but that burns hotter and brighter with each passing minute.

"Who are we if we're not in love?" The words of Jon Foreman's song keep pounding over and over in my head. He's more of a theologian than he knows. Humanity was created to be in love. Passionately, unabashedly, and freely in love with the Creator. When we resign ourselves to anything different or anything less than that, it seems like we're giving up our humanity. Who are we if we're not in love with Jesus? Blobs of matter that breathe for a while and then die like the rest of what makes up the earth? Being swept up off our feet is the thing of eternity. I don't know anything else that is. After all, everything that is good and right and true follows love. If we're truly in love with the Lord, we'll work hard, be people of integrity, give generously, contend for justice, take care of ourselves and our world.

Blow our minds, God. Blow our minds with Your Word. Blow our minds for how You feel about us.

"I'm in love with God and God's in love with me. This is who I am and this is who I'll be. That settles it. Completely." - Misty Edwards